Cincinnati Enquirer feature:
Is it fair for UC women's basketball, volleyball teams to play at St. Ursula?
The next time the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team plays a home game, it will be in a high school gym.
The team, which drew 4,000 spectators for its matchup against the University of Connecticut Huskies this year, will play at St. Ursula Academy, which has about 1,000 seats. Fans won't be cheering from behind the bench because there's only one set of bleachers.
The UC men's team will play its home games at Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena, which holds more than 9,000 people.
Both teams have to move next season while UC's Fifth Third Arena undergoes a major renovation. The vast differences in the venues men and women will play in have raised concerns following UC's announcement Monday that it had signed a contract with St. Ursula.
National experts and a local booster say the decision is both unfair and violates federal law on the equal treatment of male and female athletes. UC administrators say it's neither.
Coming off their most successful season in a decade, the Bearcat women will play all of their home games at the private Catholic high school in Walnut Hills. The women's volleyball team will also play in the school's gym.
"This is yet another indicator of the lack of respect for the women’s teams," said Tamaya Dennard, a donor to the UC women's basketball program. "That gym is not for a Division I athlete. They have no business playing there."
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/new...all-volleyball-teams-play-st-ursula/98805914/
Is it fair for UC women's basketball, volleyball teams to play at St. Ursula?
The next time the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team plays a home game, it will be in a high school gym.
The team, which drew 4,000 spectators for its matchup against the University of Connecticut Huskies this year, will play at St. Ursula Academy, which has about 1,000 seats. Fans won't be cheering from behind the bench because there's only one set of bleachers.
The UC men's team will play its home games at Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena, which holds more than 9,000 people.
Both teams have to move next season while UC's Fifth Third Arena undergoes a major renovation. The vast differences in the venues men and women will play in have raised concerns following UC's announcement Monday that it had signed a contract with St. Ursula.
National experts and a local booster say the decision is both unfair and violates federal law on the equal treatment of male and female athletes. UC administrators say it's neither.
Coming off their most successful season in a decade, the Bearcat women will play all of their home games at the private Catholic high school in Walnut Hills. The women's volleyball team will also play in the school's gym.
"This is yet another indicator of the lack of respect for the women’s teams," said Tamaya Dennard, a donor to the UC women's basketball program. "That gym is not for a Division I athlete. They have no business playing there."
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/new...all-volleyball-teams-play-st-ursula/98805914/
