For some men, a different way to be a student-athlete

By Nicholas Pinkerton

As a former varsity high school basketball player from San Diego, Patrick Flanagan had always enjoyed playing competitively. When some of his friends at UCLA and Stanford mentioned their roles as practice players with the women's basketball teams, he was intrigued.

At the end of his freshman year at Santa Clara, he contacted assistant coach Jenn Bradley, hoping to earn a job as a male practice player for the women's basketball team. When it looked like his career was over, Flanagan re-emerged as a weapon that many collegiate women's teams are beginning to deploy across the nation.

At Santa Clara, both the women's soccer and basketball programs currently use male practice players for many of their workouts. Both teams have assembled male practice squads to help their teams out during practices, and have been doing so for several years, according to women's soccer Head Coach Jerry Smith.

A couple years ago, Jerry Smith decided to put together a practice squad composed of men from an intramural team to help the women prepare for future competition.

According to Jerry Smith, Santa Clara was officially granted the privilege of using male practice squads by the NCAA.

Practice squad teammates must first go through an eligibility clearance with the NCAA, as well as a university medical clearance, just like any other student-athlete would.

"It's actually like you're a student-athlete," said Flanagan.

While the women's basketball team frequently uses male practice players, it's the soccer program that has begun to notice immediate benefits.

"We kind of stole the idea from women's basketball," said Jerry Smith.

Jerry Smith's son, sophomore Cam Smith, and juniors Casey Elder and Brian Watson are the most recent Santa Clara students to assist the women's soccer team. They both participated in the spring scrimmages. Last season, Jerry Smith approached his son and asked him to participate in the practices. Cam Smith then contacted Elder.

Elder's story is similar to Flanagan's. Elder said that he wanted to participate with the team so that he had a chance to play soccer every day. Even on the three days the team does not practice, Elder finds time to work on his game with Cam Smith and other players.

The women's soccer team practices four times a week, and Cam Smith and Elder show up to all practices, regardless of how much Jerry Smith and his staff need them to help out.

According to Elder, both he and Cam Smith were already friends with many of the players on the women's team before the season began, making their transition to the practice squad easy.

"When the team was not at practice, many of the players would hang out with myself, Cam and other guys on the intramural team," said Elder.

Despite the help that Jerry Smith has drawn in, two players does not provide enough for 11 versus 11 scrimmaging.

"There's not that many students who want to make that kind of commitment," he said.

Although the practice squad is used mostly for scrimmage, it also assists in some drills and helps warm up the goalkeepers. Squad mates also perform tasks such as watering dry spots on the field and pumping up soccer balls.

"Whatever we ask them to do, they just do it," said Jerry Smith.

Jerry Smith added that in order to prepare for Stanford's 6-foot defender Allison Falk, the team worked on defending the 6-foot-3-inch Casey Elder from heading the ball.

"We use them in a variety of roles," said Jerry Smith about Cam Smith and Elder. "They're really good about it."

None of the men who have practiced with the women's team have ever made it onto the men's team, and neither Elder nor Cam Smith has aspirations of trying out.

"They must understand our role in the program," said Jerry Smith. "It's all about the girls on the team."

However, Elder has intentions of immersing himself in soccer even further.

He hopes to coach one day, beginning at the middle school or high school level, and then working his way up.

"My ideal job would be coaching a major soccer team, like college, but that would be a tough system to break into," he said.

The women's basketball team also uses a variety of male practice players in their preparation. While the squad features enough players to fill a starting lineup, there are two players who fully commit to practice. Seniors Patrick Flanagan and Brian Anderson practice with the team three to four times a week and have become integral components in the team's success.

Unlike Cam Smith and Elder, Flanagan came into practice not really knowing any of the players. Still, the transition was not difficult, he said.

"Many of the players were used to guys practicing with them, making it easier for me to adjust," said Flanagan.

According to Flanagan, the male practice squad is occasionally instructed by the coaches to run offenses and defenses that mimic the ones found in the scouting reports.

In addition, the male practice squad engages in some drills and scrimmages with the women, but less frequently.

"You don't want to be taking away repetitions from the players," said Flanagan.

Flanagan practiced with the team during his sophomore year, but chose to study abroad his junior year.

He will return to practice for his senior year, and he and Anderson will start with the team toward the end of the quarter.

Contact Nicholas Pinkerton at (408) 551-1918 or npinkerton@scu.edu.