AAU Basketball Newbie
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Anonymous
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I have read posts on here that have great detail about specific AAU teams, but I was hoping to ask a few more general questions. My son is 12, and has played travel/club soccer, but is interested in AAU basketball. As background, he has played basketball for years, a combination of his school teams, summer camps, and with kids of all ages on playgrounds, alley hoops, etc. We live in DC, Cap Hill area. From my research thus far, there are teams all over, some strong ones in PG County, some in NoVa, also in Montgomery County.
I know we will have to drive, but I am trying to avoid spending hours in the car. I also realize some teams are more competitive than others, but it is hard to discern that from the websites, Instagram, posts on here, etc. Is there a norm for how many days/week the AAU teams practice/play, or does it vary by team? Also, I know for soccer, there are some clubs that you can play/pay per season, and others that you need to pay for the whole year. My son still likes soccer and is not ready to become a single sport athlete just yet, so is there a way to participate in AAU basketball and continue to play in other sports as well? I don't need/expect him to be on the most competitive team out there. Lastly, from reading posts, I know there were tryouts in the spring - if we missed those, do we have to wait another year to try out for a team, or are there are other timelines/entry points for teams? Thanks for any answers to any of these questions - I have found that the information about AAU basketball is disjointed and I have been hopping from site to site - if there is a more central spot for info, that would be helpful too! |
Anonymous
| Check out Team Breakdown. |
Anonymous
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I don’t have a source of centralized information for you, but can share our experience with middle school AAU. Our team held tryouts for the following year in the summer. There may not be another round of formal tryouts after that (this may vary by team), but teams may have openings and might be willing to schedule an individual evaluation for your son (or have him attend a practice to see whether he’s a good fit). So if he wants to play next year you should reach out to teams to see if they’d be willing to consider him.
The middle school AAU season features tournaments in fall, winter, and spring. We did not play in the summer, but I’m sure there are teams that do. Our team held practice twice a week and played tournaments 1-2 times a month on average. We had kids on our team who played other sports and had to miss some practices and tournaments as a result. Tolerance for that will probably vary depending on the club and on the size of the roster. |
Anonymous
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I can't give you clubs for your area, but for your other questions:
Is there a norm for how many days/week the AAU teams practice/play, or does it vary by team? Varies by team, generally 2-3. Can be more for vary serious teams so is there a way to participate in AAU basketball and continue to play in other sports as well? Yes, basketball is generally a spring sport with teams wrapping up now. Some clubs also play fall and winter, but it is generally less serious do we have to wait another year to try out for a team, or are there are other timelines/entry points for teams? Reach out to teams now. I would be wary of any who would roster him right away because the season almost over (it might be a good way to spot the teams that are cash grabs), but lots will be having open gyms and shoot arounds in August and the fall. Some will roster kids for fall and winter based on that, others will have tryouts. Little is ever posted and that goes double for off season information- your best bet is to get on mailing lists. if there is a more central spot for info, that would be helpful too! Everyone with kids playing wishes that existed |
Anonymous
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AAU Basketball (Spring) will conflict with your son's travel soccer game/schedule. If soccer is his main sport, just supplement with winter and summer Travel/County/Rec Basketball.
If you insist on playing Spring AAU basketball, join a B/C team because they are flexible with multi-sport athletes. Start looking for posting for open gyms and tryouts in late Jan/Feb. |
Anonymous
Thanks all, this is helpful. I think he is on the fence if soccer or basketball is his top interest, so that can determine next steps. PP mentioned B/C teams - does each club have A/B/C teams, or are there certain clubs that are B/C and less intense? I appreciate the one recommendation, if anybody else has experience with teams close-ish to Cap Hill, let me know. From Google, word of mouth, and posts on here, I have reached out to Metroball, ProSkills Basketball, Breakaway, and Team Durant. Are there any others people have heard of? Theoretically nearby Arlington or Alexandria would not be too far away from where we are in DC. |
Anonymous
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See the other basketball thread… lots of info there.
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Anonymous
Is there another recent thread in addition to the Northern Virginia one? |
Anonymous
| Yes… |
Anonymous
If you wouldn't mind pasting a thread, I'll be great, I find the search feature on this page clunky. I came across another one titled something about ' how hard is it to make an AAU team?' But several pages of that post over a year old and it also focus a lot on Northern Virginia. Anyway, I appreciate the information shared yesterday, it for me started with some good contacts/ideas for next steps. |
cmcardile
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| Curious to know if you ended up finding a team? If not, I wanted to point out that there are a lot of teams out there that participate in AAU tournaments, but are more competetive than AAU teams and require much more of a commitment. So I would be sure to check the teams in that regard. |
Anonymous
You bumped up an old thread to make a completely nonsensical post? |
Anonymous
| Yup. Thanks for bumping it again |
Anonymous
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I have a son who was also a soccer player. He played soccer his entire life and started playing basketball at age 10. He played every other sport but not basketball. DS is athletic and did well in rec basketball. He tried out for both select and AAU teams at age 12 and did not make it. We naively thought he could show up and make the team like he did when he was 7 for soccer.
I still don’t know the hierarchy of the basketball teams. I tried to follow and read the threads. Some posters give helpful information while others seem to be mocking new to basketball parents asking questions. My son has been doing skills training and practicing daily but I’m not sure if it is too late for him at age 13 and 8th grade. He could always return to his other sports but his heart seems to be with basketball. |
Anonymous
I'd like to know too. What's the hierarchy/best way to try to move up the ranks? |