Girls basketball circuit teams
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Anonymous
| What is the difference between the different circuit teams for Girls basketball (Grade 8)? I'm specifically interested in GLP, Fairfax Stars, Team Thrill, Durant and Takeover. I know they practice at different places in the DMV area - we just moved from NJ and live at the border of DC and MD and are willing to travel. My daughter is super interested in putting in the effort to play on one of the circuit teams and I think she has potential (from what her former coaches tell me!). I would appreciate any advice you have for us. Her goal is to play for a D-1 Ivy League school in college (if her grades keep up). |
Anonymous
Grade 8 tryouts are happening very soon, so she should just contact teams immediately before it's too late for this year. |
Anonymous
| Team Thrill is holding tryouts and they seem to be right in your vicinity (DC/MD) |
Anonymous
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How good is she?
Takeover, Durant, Stars all all EYBL teams. You gotta be the best of the best to make these? Elevate Elite and Thrill are SSB and UAA teams. Also super hard to make and only Slightly less competitive. Your daughter should be the best oakier in her town and probably the best player on her county team to be able to make these. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| Also consider that even though tryouts are happening, most of these teams have recruited and set their teams already. They are not easy teams to make as a new person on the scene. |
Anonymous
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All those teams are either on Nike, Adidas or UA sponsored companies. Anyone of those will have coaches come to the tournaments and watch them plays. They all have few or more teams that have highly recruited kids that the coaches come lined wall to wall to watch them play.
Just make sure your kid gets placed on a team that she's top 8 or else she's sitting watching majority of the time and you are paying $$$ to travel with the team. You don't necessary need to make those teams. There's tournaments that have Live events like the Select Event ones that do have coaches come see you play but you will need to find non shoe company teams to do that. Before you join, make sure to ask the tournament schedule. |
Anonymous
Thank you- this is super useful information. On the tournaments, there seem to be so many Select Events -here's a potential schedule I have been able to source from a few teams (including non-shoe) - do these sound reasonable? Thank you again for your input. Annual Spring Class Meadowbrook Athletic 3/21-3/22 DMV Spring Warm Up Showcase 4/12 – 4/13 Who Got Next Meadowbrook Athletic 4/26-4/27 Western PA Bruins Spring Tip Off 4/18 – 4/20 Hoop Group – DMV Showcase 5/10 – 5/11 Hoops for Mom Meadowbrook Athletic 5/10-5/11 Atlantic City Showcase 5/16 – 5/18 The Prime Event East 6/7 – 6/8 (spooky nook) DMV Girls Challenge Meadowbrook Athletic 6/7-6/8 Hoop Group – DMV Jam Fest 6/21 – 6/22 Run 4 the Rose 7/10 – 7/12 Crossover Hoops Girls National 7/12-7/13 |
Anonymous
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If you care about the college coaches, pay attention to each year's Live Events. Usually 1-2 weekends a month from April - July that allows coaches to see the players.
Most teams would schedule those live events then a few ones in between those. I have experience in the following and confirm coaches do come: Western PA Bruins Spring Tip Off Atlantic City Showcase Run 4 the Rose I can't remember if Prime East one is also. Hoop group is mostly D3 and lower and I only seen a handful if any. People use those as warm up tournaments. I wouldn't travel to those if didn't need to. |
Anonymous
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One note: On the boys side on Live period weekends, I’ve seen coaches from power 4 conferences at HoopGroup and Elevate tournaments, but…. They are sitting in the coaches’ section at court one and two, which also have bleachers set up to accommodate crowds of people watching the best teams play.
Rando AAU teams, even if playing and winning in the platinum division, will mostly be on court 35, over in the corner with nobody watching. Your kid will never get recruited playing there. They may get film, but no coaches will ever see them, and the reserved coaches’ seating laid out at every single court is a joke. My kid’s B team occasionally got sent last minute in place of the A EYBL team to tournaments and played the A team’s level of opponents. They difference in terms of courts they played on and number of people watching was eye opening. |
Anonymous
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D1 level players usually are either physically or skill wise obvious on the court by the 8th grade. Usually they will be playing at least a grade or two up. If that's not a case for your kid then just focus on getting better and having fun while doing it, do not worry about exposure and all that other crap. I see so many kids even on the "elite" teams that should be just focused on actual basketball instead of these endless tournaments.
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Anonymous
This here is correct even on the girls side. If you are spooky, 95% of the coaches are watching on the main courts when you walk in to the right side. Sometimes, there's a combo day going on like GUAA and then select events on the other courts. Of the non shoe companies circuits, I can attest that Select events have the most coaches I seen come to see kids plays. Of course, they are the lower D1 to D3 schools. The major ones are at the shoe circuits. That's just how it is. |
Anonymous
| There's also a lot of politics involved and many of them if not all the coaches are ASF at the top teams. Be honest with your kid's abilities and with what you see. If they are good, the coaches will notice. If they play bad once you are on the team, it can turn south quickly. |
Anonymous
| Shady ASF... |
Anonymous
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Fairfax Stars, Team Durant, Team Takeover, and Elevate Elite are the top teams in the DMV. Your daughter will have to be good to make one of the top two teams for these programs, but if she is good enough, they do a great job at developing kids at the 8th grade+ level. Anything younger is a bit of a wash, but once you hit high school, these are the top teams to play for.
Potomac Valley Thunder is another nice option at this age. I wouldn't look at the Vogues or Hurricanes at all once past 7th grade. GTS Fusion used to be good, but have fallen off and lost sponsorships, so would avoid at all cost. |