How to Start a Youth AAU Basketball Team

Developing the next Michael Jordan or Lebron James takes hard work, determination and year-round effort. Many basketball leagues run from November to February, but if your child wants to play for an NCAA title or in the NBA, he probably will need to spend his summers playing for an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team. Here’s how to start a youth AAU team.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Familiarize yourself with AAU policies and procedures. Visit the AAU website and download its basketball handbook. Read through it so you will understand the organizations rules, especially players’ eligibility requirements.

2. Determine what type of AAU team you will form. Vince Lombardi once said “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” Will you adopt this philosophy? Or will you opt for a program that places emphasis on the improvement of the players’ skills over winning?

3. Recruit the players that will make up your team roster. In addition to your own child, you’ll need at least nine more players for a total of 10. Try to recruit two centers, four forwards and four guards. Ideally, a couple of those players will be swingmen--players who can play more than one position.

4. Find someone to coach the team. If you are not going to coach the AAU team yourself, you’ll need to recruit a coach, too, and preferably one who shares your philosophy from Step 1.

5. Make arrangements for regular practices. Find a basketball facility in your town and work out the details with management for practice times. This may be difficult during basketball season, but gymnasiums aren’t quite as crowded during the spring and summer months.

6. Secure sponsorship. Playing in AAU-sanctioned tournaments can be costly. Teams must wear uniforms and each tournament requires an entry fee. Don’t forget the cost of travel and lodging when playing away from home. Find local businesses that are interested in the development of your community’s youth to sponsor the team.

7. Join the AAU. Each team must have a club membership and each player must have an individual membership to play in AAU-sanctioned tournaments.

Tips & Warnings

• Having trouble finding sponsors? Drive past the Little League diamond in your town and take note of the advertisers on the outfield wall. Or, attend a high school basketball game and make a list of potential sponsors from the advertisers in the game program. These business already support athletics and are liable to help sponsor your team.
• Consider fund-raisers to help offset the costs with running a youth AAU basketball team. Selling candy bars, magazine subscriptions or staging a car wash at a local service station are all ways to raise money for your team. Fund-raising also gives some of the financial responsibility to the players and that’s a good thing.
• When you start looking for AAU-sanctioned tournaments to enter, note that some will be limited to “school” teams. These are teams made up of players who attend the same school now or will attend the same high school in the future. “All-star” teams made up of children from different schools or towns won’t be allowed to play in these.

Resources

• AAU Website