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PostPosted: 31 Mar 2014, 17:03 

Posts: 214
Maybe it's just me, but I didn't think AAU was a year-round thing. I'm not experienced with AAU, but my understanding (and maybe I've been wrong my whole life) is that AAU was a top level environment played when the actual basketball season was not going on. I always thought kids played for their school during the season and then the ones that were good enough could continue with an AAU program through the spring, summer and sometimes fall.

With that said, my view of AAU has always been that it's more about winning games and showcasing star players and less about building a team that had great comraderie and taught life lessons. Again, I don't have any direct experience with AAU, so it's possible that I'm way off base here. Either way, like every walk of life, I'm sure there are good AAU programs and coaches and there are bad AAU programs and coaches. I'm just generalizing and stereotyping for the sake of argument.

If these things are accurate, then it doesn't surprise me that things are being run the way they are.

Also, and this is not a knock on anybody so please don't take it that way. My limited understanding of the travel sports world has led me to believe that the "A team" was made up of the superior players that presented a better chance at success, while the "B team" was made up of lesser players that did not have as great a chance for success. Furthering my lack of shock at the way things are going for you and your son. It's not totally right, but that's the way the world works these days. Sometimes you get dealt a bad hand and you have to play it. I experienced both sides of this when I was young.

A couple questions:
How much research about this program did you guys do before deciding to tryout?
Did you son print those diagrams and decide to have the meeting on his own or was this something you pushed for?
If your son was on the A team and they were receiving "proper attention" according to your standards, would you still be willing to stick up for the B team that was not receiving enough attention?

I hope I haven't come off as an a-hole with these comments, but I have been following this thread and wanted to voice my thoughts finally.


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PostPosted: 31 Mar 2014, 17:52 
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Posts: 3139
Just tell your son to hang in there.... I had several kids come into our school that didn't even make their 8th grade team or didn't play who went on to be Varsity starters and some All Conference. One of them was about 4'10 as a freshman... I had to teach him a lot about what was right and wrong in life.. but he made it and is doing well now.

Funny, I met his wife last year on a visit to Florida and she asked me if I was always that quiet LOL We both looked at each other and laughed... my response was, sure, when I was sleeping. So, A & B mean nothing right now, 3 years down the road, thats a different thing. As long as he is playing... and obviously he is a leader... and that is hard to teach.

Good luck


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PostPosted: 02 Apr 2014, 11:35 

Posts: 900
The face of youth basketball has definitely changed over the past decade. In my city (major city), club/competitive ball runs all year long with different competitive leagues and tournaments throughout the year up through 8th grade. The middle school basketball scene isn't even on the radar, so the club players usually don't bother with it. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. On the upside, it gives kids who aren't in the club scene a chance to play for their middle school.

I have to differ with you in regards to the club coaches and players. I run into a few teams that place winning at all costs above sportsmanship and life lessons, but that isn't the norm. Most of the coaches I encounter are seasoned, fiercely competitive, yet understand sportsmanship and teaching life lessons. The kids are good students, look you in the eye when they shake your hand, and display good sportsmanship (on he whole). Quite honestly, I ran into more funk when coaching at the rec levels with coaches who took this whole business a tad to seriously.

It seems like every spring three new club teams emerge in our city. The competition is definitely heating up, so word spreads pretty fast if a club team has a funky coaching staff or kids aren't having a good experience. There's no shortage of teams to choose from if you're a good player looking for a team. Most of the coaches I know (myself included) have strict guidelines and rules for being on the team outside of the player's technical abilities.

I have a friend who started a new league here a few years ago. It's for high school players who didn't make their high school team and was a much needed addition to the youth basketball scene. Unfortunately, most kids quit playing if they don't make the high school team because there are no other options. Most of the leagues here (they go through high school level) offer different levels of play which allows the teams to choose according to their skill level. I'm all about giving parents and kids multiple options when it comes to basketball.

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