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AAU/Club Basketball Threatens High School Sports

Posted onOctober 19, 2009 
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The argument of Club/AAU sports vs high school sports is a no contest in our humble onion.  AAU /Club basketball is a direct threat to traditional high school sports and now threatens  the lower middle school grades.  Young student athletes are not being allowed to develop  and mature naturally. Club coaches are actually encouraging  parents to hold their children back to gain a physical advantage which only serves to set up false expectations and does nothing to help these young players develop both athletically and emotionally.  Their athletic supremacy will stop  when their physical advantage does.  Other players that have the raw talent and intensity but have yet to mature physically are not allowed to develop naturally.  As a result many more gifted players are not allowed to fully develop and simply decide to quit on their own. The result is that many of these young athletes are simply exploited while others, some much more gifted, are sacrificed due to the need to win now.  How would Michael Jordan who was cut from his freshman team and some might say a late bloomer  fare in this microwave environment?

Much of the exploitation of our student athletes occurs in the minority community.  Their education is stolen  and their future is threatened. High school transfers away from the local schools have become routine and widespread as players follow their club coaches or are encouraged to transfer to schools that have an association with a club or AAU program. 

Complicating the issue is the growing presence of exposure camps targeting our younger children at the elementary and middle school level. This only serves to  set up the parents and their children for poor decisions as many are held back to gain an athletic advantage and perform better.  These camps abandon all fundamentals and teamwork for the sake of selfish play and scoring opportunities to gain attention and a higher ranking. 

Schools are no longer interested in finding coaches capable of developing talent and teaching fundamentals but instead focus on club coaches, most of which are not accredited to teach anything but simply have more contacts to get better players. 

The message to parents and players focus on school and academics, enjoy the journey, be patient, and most of all never sacrifice your future for short term accomplishments.  You only cheat your self and your future.

AAU Club Play vs High School Sports and MORE

Posted onAugust 14, 2009 
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Posted by Lights Out on August 12, 2009 at 11:30am

Received some excellent comments regarding the post on AAU /club vs high school athletics. First and foremost high school sports should be and must be the focus. Every parent needs to recognize that it is in high school where the student athlete works on his mind and body. Less than 3% of club players at an elite level will play D1 ball and far less than that will play professionally. This does not mean you should not chase your dreams but you must be prepared for life beyond the court and that will not happen if you are flying across the country playing in every tournament that comes along at the expense of your schoolwork. With the growing influence of travel teams and club play entrenched down to the middle school level including ranking services it is imperative that parents and their children take a step back and realize club ball is a business and money is being made. In fairness the talent and competition has generally tilted to club play and we believe the experience of playing at this level is needed for an elite player to develop but there has to be a balance and much too often that balance is lost. It does not matter if you are playing in northern Montana or the tip of Alaska if you are good enough you will be found. The exposure and recognition that comes from club and AAU play especially at a young age can be fleeting as soon as the athletic advantage that a player may have as a middle school or young high school player has peaked. We must remember these are and must be STUDENT/Athletes first. If we put the focus on ATHLETE/Student we will most certainly fail our children.

At the recent Adidas Jr. Phenom Camp there was a lot of talent. Clearly the 6th and 7th grade level had the most promise. There was a great deal of parity which made for a competitive experience. There was the usual politicking for all star placement and rankings which clearly makes the process suspect and not very accurate. The coaching and instruction was sub par and there was the usual selfish play, self absorbent players, and their vicarious parents. We witnessed several tyrades and outbursts both by players and their parents. All this being said, the camp remains a good experience but one that must be kept in perspective especially at the younger middle school grades. Our position remains that the middle school level is not the place for invitational camps and certainly not ranking services. The 6th and 7th grade kids are generally nowhere near being developed physically due to their young age and those that have a physical advantage will most likely plateau along with their physical advantage which serves only to create unrealistic expectations.

Forget the rankings work on your fundamentals, and basketball IQ. Focus on those areas of your game that will not only make you a better player but also a better teammate. Again if you’re good enough and play the game the right way you will continue to develop properly. Basketball is peppered with phenoms that wash out early. Sports is analogous with life if you are a selfish player on the court and lack the ability to work with teammates to make the TEAM better you will probably exhibit the same characteristics in the workplace and suffer there as well.

All teams need a scorer and a go to player but any good coach will tell you he would rather have 10 solid team oriented players that know how to play and win as a team and collectively pursue the W than a team of 10 all stars. Michael and Kobe both learned that only after failing. Lets make this the priority for our young kids and stop rewarding selfish narcissistic behavior.

Unfortunately these camps are here to stay as is club ball and AAU events. Hopefully with more awareness and focus on the STUDENT athlete we can move the pendulum back to center and prepare our kids for life on and off the court.

Top Guard Rankings 2009 National Adidas Jr. Phenom Camp (San Diego, CA)

Posted onAugust 14, 2009 
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