• Mixed-league teams feature male and female players.basketball image by Marianna Poloskei from Fotolia.com
  
  Mixed basketball leagues are popular intramurals on college campuses and at local recreation centers. When playing in a mixed, or co-ed, basketball league, teams follow special rules to ensure that no team or player gains an unfair advantage.
  
  

Roster Rules

• Often, league rules will stipulate the number of total players on a team, as well as how many of those spots are reserved for players of a specific gender, ensuring an even mix of males and females among all teams. For example, a league can be set up with teams featuring 10 players, with a minimum of four of each gender on every team. For this type of league, teams can be assembled legally using six men and four women, six women and four men, or five men and five women. Structures such as this are ideal because they ensure the league is mixed fairly and maximize accessibility to the league.
  
  

In-Game Team Composition

• The rules mandating how many players of each gender are allowed on the court are the most important to ensure fair play within the league. As with roster rules, flexibility usually is allowed, with rules mandating that at least two players of the minority gender be on the court at all times. This rule prevents teams from building a illegal roster and avoids breaking the spirit of co-ed play by using only players of a single gender in the game.
  
  

Special Rules of Play

• During a game, special rules can dictate ways in which male players are permitted to play defense against female players. Rules regulating male players' abilities to block female players are the most common. A ban on raising the hands to defend a shot also can be enforced, or regulations can be looser, allowing male players from coming forward with their hands but allowing them to put their arms up to make a shot more difficult.