Depends on what you mean by close to DC. Fairfax Stars have a great girls program. Play in and around DC area.

Anonymous wrote:tryouts are just ending around the Alexandria area

What teams? The only one I ever could find in Alexandria was Hustle, and it is so disorganized and just terrible. We tried them for 2 years and had enough.

Same problem for Boys teams. We found several good competitive teams in PG county but driving from NoVA to Bowie in rush hour to make twice weeknight practices is not doable for full time working-in-office parents.

Not sure what to tell you about logistics. We are learning that parents being able to handle the time commitments and inconvenient practice locations to be part of the game. It is not easy!!

Are there any AAU girls teams that actually train in DC?
Just travelled out to Upper Marlboro for a tryout, and team seemed really good, but I would like to find some great coaching in DC, so we can handle the intense time commitment.

Anonymous wrote:Does AAU go by grade or age? My daughter is in 7th grade, but looking at the age ranges, she could actually qualify for a 5th grade team. Would that suggest she should focus on 6th grade teams? Advice most appreciated.

Real AAU (as opposed to club basketball that everybody calls AAU but that isn't affiliated with the Amatuer Athletic Union) is by age and they check ages. Many club teams play at tournaments that don't check ages, so you have 15U teams where most kids are 16 or 17. My kid's 15U team showed up for a game and a parent from the other team asked if they were playing up a year because they were all actually 15. This is super common for boys. Not sure for girls.

Does AAU go by grade or age? My daughter is in 7th grade, but looking at the age ranges, she could actually qualify for a 5th grade team. Would that suggest she should focus on 6th grade teams? Advice most appreciated.

Tryouts ended for us in February. We begin practice this week.

tryouts are just ending around the Alexandria area

OP, sorry you're not geting better answers. For high school boys, AAU tryouts were usually late February or early March when my kid was that age. I'd google "girls AAU DC" and then look for teams on social media (twitter and instagram). Most teams don't update their websites, but they do post via social media. Also, you can contact teams after tryouts and get a spot because there is always a shuffle for players except probably for top teams.

what grade is she in? 5th or 6th?

Wondering if there are tryouts we should be attending. DD is an exceptionally tall and has decent ball handling and shooting skills, as she has been working with a private trainers during covid, though her "game sense" is rusty. Live in downtown DC. Want to make sure we don't miss tryouts. Do not want to drive too far. Any advice on teams we should focus on, and when they are holding tryouts, or even when the season starts and ends, most appreciated!