 |
|
     
|
Coaches' Corner: Carleton's Metcalf-Filzen Discusses Male Practice Players - Dec 27, 2006
posted by: Josh
In today’s Coaches’ Corner post, Carleton women’s basketball coach Tammy Metcalf-Filzen continues our discussion about male practice players.
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tammy Metcalf-Filzen, and I've been the WBB coach here at Carleton, an NCAA DIII school for ten years. During that time, I have seen the introduction of male practice players as a viable option for folks like us who don't carry a large squad and also who have a significant number of multiple-sport athletes. We could carry a few more players, our budget would allow it, but it is very difficult to keep 15 players happy with significant playing time and our student-athletes prefer to be involved. If they are practicing, they expect to be playing. Over the course of the last seven years or so, we have had fall sport athletes who come in late to our practices. Our athletic department supports and encourages multiple sport involvement. This season, we are carrying 11 players on our roster - three of them are volleyball players. It would have been impossible to appropriately prepare our team for competitions without the male practice players we have – male students who are not good enough to make the men's team but have played high school basketball and are committed to our team and helping in any way they can. Our volleyball and soccer athletes miss anywhere from 2-4 weeks of our preseason practices. I have always understood the DIII level to be supportive of multiple sport student-athletes and a ruling against male practice players puts pressure on us to eliminate the involvement of student-athletes coming in late to our program. The most argued point in the whole male practice player controversy is that it takes away opportunities for women. We have a maximum of 15 opportunities for women on our squad. The women on our campus, who are good enough to play, make the team. If they are not good enough to make the team they don't. They prefer it that way. If they aren't going to play within a year or two they want to know it up front so they can choose to invest their time in other activities on campus. The number of players we have on our squad is not connected in any way to our male practice players. If we have 10 healthy players in practice and we can go 5 on 5, they get the nod every time. Our players don't sit and watch when we have enough. The male practice players do… every time. I believe the male practice players allow our players to develop in our system in a much faster and more productive manner than they would otherwise. I have seen this in action. When we did not have male practice players, our young players spent a great deal of their time learning and running our opponents’ offenses and defenses rather than getting the repetitions in running our stuff. This was a frustrating and confusing situation for them–they wanted to master our strategies so they could be in a position to help our team sooner and more effectively - the male practice players have allowed for that. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) has spent a great deal of time on this issue - getting feedback from the coaches at all levels - and have come up with the recommendation to allow the male practice players without restriction. The NCAA’s Committee on Women’s Athletics refuses to consider what the coaches are saying. They have not asked us for input. The assumptions being made are ill informed and are being made by folks with little or no understanding of what is being done on the practice floor every day across the country. 
CommentsFirst, using male practice players enables the team members to focus on their own team's systems, instead of having to learn an opposing team's plays. The women on the team can focus on their own plays and systems because the members of the scout team are practice players. Second, and perhaps most frequently repeated in the argument, is that the men are "often bigger, stronger and faster" and thus challenge the women student-athletes. Third, the use of male practice players I feel promotes good team harmony and better chemistry. And finally, playing against male practice players boosts team morale and is positive because teammates don't have to compete against each other on a day-to-day basis. The benefits out the cons. I do know that Committee on Women's Athletics said the use of male practice players "violates the spirit of gender equity and Title IX" because it takes on-the-court practice time away from non-starters. Committee on Women's Athletics stated that using male practice teams establishes an elitist mentality that only benefits a team's premiere players. The starters get the majority of reps against the men, while the bench players are left unused or may see less time against the men. I do feel that women athletes’ desires and needs should be the deciding factor. I'm a male practice player or, as the women on the team affectionately call us, a "practice boy." I'd like to refer people to Mechelle Voepel's comments at http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/columns/story?columnist=lieberman_nancy&id=2701428 (in the grey box). I agree wholeheartedly with everything Voepel writes, especially the part at the end about the opportunity for young men to gain respect for women's athletics and pass on their respect to others. When people laugh at the fact that I basically play women's basketball, I make sure they know that I compete with seriously talented basketball players. I completely agree with the coach on the subject of allowing a male practice squad for the sake of the team. It is like she said, she has a small bench to begin with, and with 3 of the players playing volleyball, then she is down to 8. And correct me if I am wrong, but to simulate a game situation, you need 10 players. If anything they should simply allow every team to have a 5 or 6 man roster that is strictly a practice squad. They could even allow male or female athletes. I don’t see what the big deal is though. Teams are at a huge disadvantage with the limited players that they have, and they need to be learning key plays and set defenses that their team runs, not other teams. There are many big college teams that pick and choose the people on their team and have a bench full of athletes, and then there are smaller schools who are scrapping for people to play and barely get 10 people out of it. I guess it goes to show that smaller schools will still be at a disadvantage; however, I am still 100% for the use of a male practice squad. I agree with the comments by the Carleton coach wholeheartedly. I think this brings a great opportunity in many various ways for both the women's and the men's players. It has provided great support for our team and helps prepare our players for upcoming games. They just move faster and jump higher. I heard a comment made by Pat Summit that if she had a female that was 6'2 and could move like that, she would be on our team, not our scout team. It allows our players to focus on what they need to work on to get out on the court and play successfully. Our scout team takes great pride in what they do and there is an appreciation for the game of basketball that comes from both sides. It is very beneficial when we have limited players or limited practice time, as we have three games in a week in our conference. I have never heard a complaint from other female athletes on our campus that this seems unfair. Most women on campus have praised the support and enthusiasm by male athletes it has created on our campus. Our young men on Hamline's campus that have worked with our women's basketball team have been an invaluable part of our program and I attribute some of our improvements on their dedication to our program. Post a Comment |
  
Sox-Yankees happens 18 times a year; this is Figgy's second major league start in four years. Always take the chance to see something you've never seen before.
- Adam
   
|
