As the discussion continues about whether or not male practice players should be allowed in women???s athletics, the Double-A Zone has asked for feedback from student-athletes and coaches on the issue. Today, Middle Tennessee women???s basketball standout Chrissy Givens shares her thoughts about the topic.

I think male practice players are vital to the success of a program for female athletics. I hate to admit it, but it has been proven that males are physically stronger and built differently than females. I have played with and against males my entire life. Having to prove that I could hang with them, I had to be physical and competitive. I had to find ways to get my shots off and defend them. When it was time for me to play with and against girls, it was a lot easier for me.

Last year we had a male practice team and I think it was beneficial. Because of the guys' jumping ability, we had to box out in order to get a rebound. We fine-tuned our fundamentals. They were more athletic, but we had to be more fundamental. They would block our shots and make us have to find ways to get our shots off. We had to be fundamentally sound on defense and not get faked out by all the crossovers and ???and1??? moves. After days of getting beat by them, we finally started to get our offense going and defending the guys. Being able to get your shot off on someone you know is more athletic than you gives you confidence that you can go against anybody. When it was time for us to play, we had no problem when the teams were bigger than us or more athletic than us. In our minds we knew that no matter how athletic a team was, the guys we played against were more athletic.

Playing with guys made me stronger and mentally tougher as well. They would look at me funny on the playground when I would go over and ask to play. They said all kinds of things like: ???Naw, we don???t want to hurt you,??? or, ???You can???t play no ball.??? Their talk motivated me to go out there and try to play just like them. Because I could not jump as well, I had to be physical. I pushed and shoved and did everything I could to prove that I could hang. Soon I was the first picked because I loved to win and was not going to let anybody deny me a chance to win, male or female.

Playing against guys and knowing that physically, they are stronger and can jump higher, makes a female have to reach inside and find other ways to compete and be successful. When it is time to face your equals, it becomes a little easier knowing that you were practicing against players that were stronger and more athletic.

My personal experience with a male practice team has been beneficial. Having males to practice against also allows for there to be more rotation during practice. The girls are able to sub in and out and no one has to stay in the entire practice. The team gets to play together the entire practice instead of compete against each other. Team cohesion and togetherness on the court can be built with players getting to play with different members on the team. Also time would not have to be spent with players flipping over jerseys due to changing from defense to offense or vice versa. This is just my opinion, but I feel male practice squads are very beneficial to a women???s sport.