Written by Both NCAA basketball tournaments have been very exciting and have proven that there are always Cinderella stories and games that come down to the final buzzer or whistle. There are heroes, villains, officials, and heartbreak around every corner. There is also at least one feel-good Disney story from each of the tournaments. Fortunes were also made and lost by bettors on games in the tournament.
One of the villains was the NCAA. For a couple of weeks, athletes, coaches, administrators, and the public were raising the issue of disparity between the men’s and women’s tournaments. It was not just one issue, it was almost everything from lodging, meals, facilities, swag, transportation, and about everything else. NCAA made a bunch of excuses that only the personnel at NCAA could believe. And now after a week of waning discussion about these issues, it will soon be forgotten. The only thing that will probably be remembered by the public is the weight room.
This is a perfect time for the NCAA to let the inequity and inequality fade into darkness where people will forget about it. People will assume or hope that things will be different next year…Most likely to be disappointed again. But will there be such an uproar next year? Big organizations hope for this result. People are tired of the same issues that they will eventually stop complaining.
However, now is the right time for the NCAA to make extremely positive change when nobody is looking. With proper planning, coordination, important and needful discussions, and with keeping athletes in their hearts and minds every day, the NCAA could drastically make a difference for all athletes. They can show all athletes, universities, colleges, and the entire United States what real change can accomplish, and what it would do for their image, followership, and bottom line. So many great opportunities for the NCAA to make themselves look better, become more powerful, and make even more money.
While the NCAA may make changes over the next year until the next women’s basketball tournament, it will most likely be the bare minimum, and only because they do not want negative publicity, they were feeling forced, or because they found a way to capitalize on making more money off of their athletes, women athletes. But what if the NCAA just made positive change when nobody was looking and because it was the right thing to do? That would be an amazing feat and they would become the organization that so many athletes need them to be. The NCAA would also become an organization where people would flock to and have an organizational culture that so many wish to be a part of. I hope for this day. I hope this day comes when nobody expects it and the NCAA positively changed because it was genuine and the right thing to do.