How to set up an aau basketball team

How To Start An AAU Basketball Team: A Step-By-Step Guide

What is AAU basketball? AAU stands for Amateur Athletic Union. These teams are also referred to as club teams. Because they are just recreational sports clubs that offer athletic opportunities for children in the United States and Canada. AAU Basketball Teams follow a different set of rules than high school or college basketball. So if you want your child to play AAU basketball instead of taking on another sport. It’s important to know what those rules are! In this post, we’ll discuss how to start an AAU basketball team from scratch. From defining what an AAU team is to getting your first game scheduled.

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What is an AAU Basketball Team?

An AAU basketball team is a group of young athletes who compete against other AAU teams in their respective age groups. AAU stands for Amateur Athletic Union. And the acronym reflects the fact that it’s not just any sports organization – these are amateur athletic unions!

First Steps To Starting an AAU Basketball Team

Finding The Players

Find Other Parents Who Want To Start An AAU Basketball Team Once you’ve got AAU rules down. Meeting other parents who want to start an AAU team should be your next course of action! If there aren’t any existing AAU teams in your area that could become potential rivals later on. Which is common if you live outside major metropolitan areas like New York or San Francisco. Then you can start your AAU team from scratch!

Many families already have children who play basketball; however, not all of those families may want their child playing on a competitive AAU team. You’ll need to find at least five (five) other players and parents that are interested in joining forces as teammates before starting the official paperwork associated with forming an AAU club. Once you’ve got enough people together. It’s time to make arrangements for setting up practices and getting games scheduled against other teams!

Register Your Club

Register Your AAU Club With The Local Athletic Union to form a new sports organization. This means filling out forms and providing proof that everyone involved knows what they’re doing! AAU registration is a complicated process. But it’s the first step to getting your AAU basketball team off of the ground.

Onto The Paperwork

Applications and Waiver Forms

You’ll need to complete an AAU Club Application and Waiver Form. After that, you should receive a packet from your local amateur athletic union with specific rules associated with starting an AAAA club. Be sure to read this packet carefully before taking any further steps! You can find contact information for most local amateur athletic unions on the AAU website under “Contact Us”. Just enter your zip code and select “Elite Clubs National League (ECNL)” as well as “Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)” to find the local AAU office in your area.

Acquire Business Licenses, Tax ID Numbers, and Other Official Documents

Once you’ve registered with AAU, it’s time to get an official tax identification number (or TIN) for your club! This is a special type of business license that will allow you to accept payment from parents. Who want their children playing on your AAU team. Additionally, if any deals are made between individual players or families outside of the AAU organization itself – such as shoe endorsements. Then this document allows those deals to be officially recorded and accounted for by both parties involved. So there aren’t any misunderstandings down the line about how much money should go where.

How To Get A Federal Tax ID Number

To open a bank account for your AAU team and begin the process of accepting payments from parents. You’ll need an Employer Identification Number (or EIN) in addition to your TIN! The best way to get these official documents is by filling out paper forms. Either online or at a local IRS office. If you’d rather avoid making that trip. Then there are also private companies like this one that can provide both types of document numbers on-site with just a few pieces of information about yourself.

Before actually starting up any AAU basketball games against other teams. Especially if they’re not complementary ones like scrimmages or practice games. Make sure everyone involved has their official AAU documents to avoid any unnecessary issues or fines! You should try and get federal tax identification numbers for your team. At least two weeks before the first game of the AAU season!

What’s Next?

Once you’ve got an AAU club, open bank accounts for everyone involved, get business licenses and TINs to accept payment from parents – either online or through private companies. Then it’s time to start scheduling games against other teams in your area. Make sure that every player has a physical examination done by a doctor within one year. Before signing up with AAU clubs in addition to getting signed waivers from each family member who plays on your AAU basketball team.

How Much Does an AAU Team Cost?

You’ll need to pay AAU membership dues every year. Regardless of how much your team costs! This is typical $150 per family. Which can be split among multiple members if necessary for large groups. Additionally, you may also have to purchase uniforms and other equipment depending on the sport or activity that you’re taking part in. Basketball tends to require more gear than most sports like golf or track & field do.

It’s important to note that AAU doesn’t provide any AAU Basketball Team Uniforms itself; this isn’t something they offer as part of their service package. So keep an eye out for local businesses who might be able to help with buying everything at once. Rather than having different people buy, shoes, shorts/skirts, jerseys, and other gear separately.

How To Save Money On AAU Basketball Team Uniforms

The best way to get AAU basketball team uniforms for the lowest possible price is by partnering with local businesses in your area. Who are willing to offer discounts on their products! This can be done either through word-of-mouth or social media campaigns online. Just mention that you’re looking for AAU club sponsorship opportunities in exchange for a long-term contract if necessary when posting information about your upcoming games!

AAU Basketball Rules and Regulations

AAU basketball follows a different set of rules than high school or college basketball. The most important thing for parents to understand before signing their children up for an AAU team is that AAU players cannot receive any compensation, including shoe endorsements or other forms of payment. For the sports organization’s purposes, this means that all AAU athletes are amateurs – no professional contracts allowed! Here are some additional things you should know about how AAU basketball works:

• An AAU team consists of five (5) players on the court at one time. However, there can be six (six) alternates available in case someone is unable to play.
• AAU basketball games are two twenty (20) minute halves. With a five (five) minute halftime break in the middle. Games usually last around one and a half hours, give or take depending on how long it takes for all of the players to get used to playing together as part of their AAU team.
• If at the end of regulation time there is no clear winner between both teams, then each team will be given one three-point shot attempt to determine a victor by way of “sudden death”.
• AAU players are allowed five fouls before being disqualified from play for that game. However, if they commit their fifth personal foul in overtime – which means after the sudden death round. Then they’re automatically ruled out and unable to continue playing until the next game starts up!

Conclusion

After reading this blog post about how to start an AAU basketball team. It’s pretty easy to understand what you need to get involved with AAU basketball. AAU is the perfect way for children to explore their love of sports. And develop healthy habits that will last them a lifetime!

If you’d like to learn more about AAU. Then click here! You can also follow their official social media accounts for more updates.

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Steve Farrugia

I'm the 24-year-old former footballer, who could have gone pro was it not for my knee injury! Never heard that before, have you? Jokes aside, my life nowadays really revolves around work, fitness, watching A LOT of sports and spending time with the ones I love (add blogging to that!).

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How to Start an AAU Basketball Team

AAU basketball has long been a lynchpin of American amateur basketball. The majority of NBA players and the biggest names in professional basketball have played for AAU teams. This included Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant, and many others. So if you’re wondering how you can be in the thick of things, perhaps as a team sponsor or a coach, this article will guide you on how to start an AAU basketball team.

Before we go into all the details, let’s know a little history about AAU. AAU stands for Amateur Athletic Union, and it was founded by James E. Sullivan and William Buckingham Curtis back in 1888. AAU oversees amateur sports, but it’s more famously known and equated as a weekend basketball tournament, even though basketball is just one of the events that the Union supervises.

AAU basketball is an organization where independent groups of amateur basketball players form teams and compete against each other in tournaments sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union.

The history of AAU basketball began not long after basketball was invented by Dr James Naismith. Basketball was created in 1891, and in the same year, AAU took over YMCA basketball. The first Men’s National Basketball Championship sanctioned by the AAU was in 1897, and it was won by New York City’s 23rd Street YMCA.

Women’s AAU basketball was organized first in 1926, which was won by Pasadena Athletic and Country Club Flying Rings. A strange moniker for a basketball team, but they made history by becoming the very first women’s AAU basketball champions. 

Currently, AAU basketball tournaments allow kids as young as 7 and as old as 19. Some tournaments are played the whole year, but most of them go from February to July. Participants are often divided by age (7-under, 8-under, and so forth), grade (2nd grade, 3rd grade, and so on), or by high school level. High school level competitions in AAU basketball are from ages 15 and under up to 19 and under.

Tournaments are played in every age group and level. Teams can also qualify in a tournament for the national championship.

According to AAUboysbasketball.org, there are already around 700,000 members affiliated with AAU basketball. That includes non-athlete members, though, so it’s difficult to tell how many players are there as well as the number of AAU basketball teams. Memberships increase by the day, making it complicated to track. 

However, one source indicates that in the Southern California area alone, there are already 922 AAU teams. Southern California is only a part of one district, and there are 56 districts in AAU basketball. A district can be one whole state (such as Georgia, Colorado, Iowa, and Arizona) although more populated states can be divided into two or more districts. An example of this is Texas, which is divided into five districts, one of which includes the whole state of New Mexico.

It’s actually pretty easy to start an AAU team, much easier than you would think. (Maintaining a team or building a youth basketball program is a whole different ballgame, though, but that’s a story for another day.) You just need to have a coach, enough players, some cheap uniforms and have the money to register the team and pay for tournament registrations.

As soon as you have players and a coach, they have to buy an AAU membership card. This membership card costs $14 for the athlete or the players and $16 for the coach (as a non-athlete member) for one year of membership although you can opt for a two or three-year membership.

Other costs included team registration ($25) and insurance. A generic insurance certificate costs $30, but if the church or school district your team is practicing in requires their name on the certificate, you will need to purchase what is called Third Party Insurance Certificate for an extra $35.

When your team is now registered, you can now enter any AAU-sanctioned basketball tournament. Just look for your age group and find tournaments on websites that allow you to do so. If you’re a dad that has a son who doesn’t have a team, following these steps is easy enough to follow. You may recruit his buddies and have fun competing AAU basketball.

If your roster has eight players plus a coach, membership fees will cost you $128. Team registration is $25, and a generic insurance certificate is at $30, raking the total to $183.

Keep in mind that this does not include tournament fees and travel expenses, which you have to shoulder if you want to start an AAU basketball team. Typically, with every expense included for the whole season, an amateur basketball player could pay up to $500 individually just to be a part of an AAU team. Some even have to shed $5,100 to $5,800, including out-of-town trips on tournaments that are held in a farther place.

While we are talking about starting your own AAU basketball team here, these real-life experiences of the individual cost of AAU players will give you an idea of how much it would cost if you really are serious about it. If you are going to go about this with less than a hundred per cent dedication, it’s all just a waste of time and money.

Yes, AAU basketball may be all worth it at the end because of the lifetime friendships that it forges, the experience, and fun of playing competitive basketball. Still, it will ultimately be up to the parents if they want to invest their hard-earned money on something else.

Starting an AAU basketball team is a straightforward process, but building a team from scratch is much more challenging. It also depends on your goals: Do you want to be known as a winning coach as far as win-loss records are concerned? Or do you want a reputation as a character-builder? In any case, here are some things to look for in building your AAU basketball team:

• Set goals. Before assembling who’s going to be on your team, be philosophical about the whole thing first. Sit down and contemplate on what type of group you’d like to build and what tournaments are you trying to enter. As soon as you figure that out, you can now start building the team.
• Start with a small core group of players. It’s always best to start with a group of players that you already know. That way, you are already familiar with their skills and how to use them in a game setting. If you already have a small core group, then attracting other players will be much easier. Typically, a reliable basketball team allows you to go up to 10-man deep, so if possible, see if you can get that many players that you can trust. This will protect you from unforeseen circumstances such as players missing events, injuries, or foul trouble.
• Hold AAU basketball tryouts. style=”font-weight: 400;”> Try this if you don’t have a set roster. By holding a tryout, you may discover some diamonds on the rough, which could take your campaign to another level. Run drill in your tryouts as you do in real practice and conclude with a scrimmage. If possible, put the guys on your tryouts against your core group and see how they will do.

• Set practice time and rest days. After selecting your players, you can move on to bigger things, which is choosing a practice schedule that works best for everyone. Also set rest days, and if possible, the younger the kids are, the more rest you should give them. According to the NBA and USA Basketball’s Youth Basketball Guidelines, kids 7-8 years old are recommended to have only one day of practice no more than an hour in length. Also, kids 11 years old under are recommended to have two days of rest.
• Be flexible on your schedule. It would be best if you leave some flexibility in your team’s schedule depending on how well you do on your team’s first season. You can seek out easier tournaments or more challenging ones. This process is not too easy, but it shouldn’t be disheartening, either.

AAU basketball is more than just team building, holding practices, and other basketball stuff. The majority of the skirmish happens outside the arena and way before the opening whistle blows. Here are some things to consider when starting an AAU basketball team:

1. Count the cost

Practices and games cost a lot of money, as well as tournament fees and travel expenses. You cannot possibly pin the cost down to the last dollar, but you should have an idea of what the ballpark of the price falls. Are you only able to play in one league or can you join in two? Of course, joining more leagues expose your team to better competition and more scouting eyes, but can you cover the expenses?

2. Ask yourself “Why am I starting an AAU basketball team?”

If you’re just trying to make a quick buck off the team or the kids in the long run, then you’re going to get unmasked sooner or later. But if your answer to the question is about developing and helping the kids get an education or you just have a passion for coaching basketball and making an impact on a young player’s life, then the door is open.

3. Check out the competitive landscape

Chances are, you are probably not building the best AAU basketball team ever, so it’s probably not a good idea to subject your rookie team to the proverbial baptism of fire. That will mess up their confidence for the whole season, and possibly, for life. Examine which competitions or tournaments are best suited for newer teams and go from there. If you can, sit out one season so you can watch the playing field, so to speak. From there, you may be able to ascertain what type of preparation your team needs.

4. Be ready about the Ls

Unless you have the next LeBron or Kobe on your team, do not put primary emphasis on winning especially if you are just starting out. At this stage, you need to put the process over the results. There are no shortcuts to everything, and that includes basketball. There are going to be nights where the other team is just better, bigger, and more athletic. Be ready to absorb the losses in the record and prioritize the kids’ development over winning.

5. Quantity does not always equate to quality

If you have held tryouts or implored the community for support and help just isn’t there, do not be discouraged. See this as an opportunity to be more up close and personal to the two or three kids interested in joining the team. If you happen to inspire improvement from these kids, support will eventually trickle in.

6. The ultimate goal is to make the game fun and enjoyable.

Again, it’s not about the wins or individual improvements. The most effective barometer to the team is, at the end of the season, did they enjoy the experience? If you mostly get NOs, then consider it a failure. Try to make basketball competitive, but more importantly, make it fun!

Starting an AAU basketball team is an easy process. All that is needed is a coach, players, uniforms, money for registration, money for insurance, and tournament fees. However, the biggest thing for everybody involved is the level of commitment they will put to the team.

Of course, if you are thinking of starting an AAU basketball team, there are more things other than the cost that you need to consider. Why are you starting a team? How am I going to build the team? Is my team going to be ready for the competition? Are they going to be OK psychologically if we happen to bump into a better, stronger team? Those are some of the things that you need to ask yourself and contemplate on.

Speaking of building a team, it is always best to figure out your coaching philosophy and the style of basketball you want your team to play. From there, you can round out your roster to at least 10 players. It’s always good to start with a core group and perhaps, hold tryouts to complete the team. And as recommended by USA Basketball and the NBA, do not overwork the kids and just let them have fun. 

Yes, there are hundreds of wannabe coaches and team owners out there who are asking how to start an AAU basketball team. It’s easy to register and create one, but it takes another level of commitment to make everything work. If this is your passion, we encourage you to go ahead and do it. Who knows, you may be on to something more significant soon, perhaps building a youth basketball program and things of that nature.

If you found this post helpful, take a look at some of the other basketball FAQ articles here.

> How to Coach Basketball

 > How Many Players are on a Basketball Team?

What is AAU in American High School Basketball? Summer Basketball League for American High School Students - Sports and Education in USA - Blogs

Many have watched videos of American high schoolers from Ball is Life or Hoopmixtape, where high school students do crazy dunks, beats and other basketball miracles. Most of these videos were filmed during the AAU summer season. In this article, I will talk about what the AAU championship is in American high school basketball.

The regular basketball season in American schools is quite short, usually schools play games from November to the end of March. To ensure that the rest of the school year does not pass without games for schoolchildren, the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) sports association has been created, which organizes competitions and tournaments for schoolchildren after the end of their main school sports season. AAU holds competitions not only in basketball, the association combines most of the popular sports in America (athletics, baseball, hockey, volleyball, American football, cheerleading, etc.)

Shaquille O'Neal's 15 year old son during his summer games with the AAU team.

In AAU tournaments, students no longer play for their school teams. In basketball, athletes play for teams independent of schools. These teams are made up of players from various schools, where the players strive to be noticed by university coaches and, in the future, receive a sports scholarship to the university.

Unlike school championships, AAU teams are divided by age. Each age group (u19, u18, u17, etc.) plays tournaments between their age group, while the school team consists of players from grades 9 to 12 (from 14 to 19 years old), i.e. in AAU teams, athletes play and train with their peers.

Summer 2015 one of the Russian basketball players studying in America, Maria Bardeeva, took part in the AAU games. Excerpt from a November interview with Masha about her participation in AAU games :

and there is a recruiting process going on as not many university coaches are present at the games during the school season.0026