I have been a school coach for 22 years (middle school, high school 9th grade, JV and varsity boys (current) and varsity girls) and an AAU travel team basketball coach for 7 years, took a break and now the past 4 years. Having read and heard many arguments about the problems and issues with travel sports in general and AAU basketball specifically, I felt the need to respond and make a case for travel basketball.
I have coached a niece and a daughter in girls travel basketball. They both LOVE the game, began playing AAU at age 10, my niece played 4 years of college basketball, my daughter is just entering high school.
Point number 1: Kids play AAU because they have no school peers that love the game like they do. In AAU, they find kindred souls, kids that love the game like they do, will come over and play one on one with them, will discuss the virtues of Paul George vs Kyrie Irving with them, will text/insta/snap pix of their cool new basketball shoes with them.
Point number 2: Kids play AAU because they have no (few) peers that WANT to play like they do. Their school peers want to play but not practice, they want to have fun but not compete, they want to be social but not embed themselves in the game(s).
Point number 3: Kids play AAU because they have fun playing "real" basketball and not the version that must be played in school ball where all kids have to be included. This is especially true in girls basketball. I was a girls varsity coach who ran the kids camps and scrimmages. There could be no stealing, there could be no double teaming, they had to play man to man. If there were anything else, the games would have been very ugly and a good player would dominate the game with layups (more than they do already)
Point number 4: Kids play AAU because they get coached like they are older. One of the greatest compliments I ever got was when a parent from my 6th grade girls AAU team saw my varsity boys team play and commented to my wife: " He coaches the boys just like he coaches the 6th grade girls!". Not that a coach should treat 6th grade girls like varsity boys but they can be coached in very much the same way. They can be taught to look up the floor, pass ahead, eye the rim, cut hard, get in a stance, etc, etc.
Point number 5: Parents have their kids play AAU because they recognize their child's love of the game and want them to explore that love in depth. My son did not play AAU basketball. He was an All-Conference basketball player as a senior but he was by no means a superstar. His passion was golf. My daughter has a passion for basketball, she watches it on TV, knows the NBA, WNBA and college men's and women's teams and players.
Point number 6: Kids that play AAU will improve because they are playing against much better competition than they can get in their own neck of the woods. I tell parents all the time: "If your son/daughter is the best player on the block, it is time to find a bigger block". That is; if your child is the best in his/her grade, make them play up, if they are the best in the town at their age, they need to get out and play other kids from other towns, if they are the best in the state, they need to get out to other states and play the best from those states. This is how a child improves. Beating up on your classmates does not make you better or more humble but getting beat by a kid from a neighboring town does.
Counterpoint 1: "Kids get poor coaching in AAU": This is sometimes true but is it worse than the coaching they are getting from the dad coaching the 6th grade YMCA team? There are poor coaches at every level. It is up to the parent to recognize that fact and either become a coach themselves or find a different team to play on.
Counterpoint 2: "AAU clubs and people who run tournaments are just out for your money." TRUE! Why wouldn't they be? They are providing a very valuable service at some cost to themselves. Should they NOT try to make money doing that? To say so would be un-American! The laws of supply and demand are still at work here. A parent does not HAVE to shell out thousands of dollars to have their kids travel. A parent does not HAVE to pay the entry fee to a tournament, they can drop their child off, wait in the parking lot for them to be done and bring them home (some coaches would probably pay for them to do that :)
Counterpoint 3: "AAU basketball (and other sports) force kids to specialize too young" . Kids are not "forced to specialize" by anyone but themselves or their parents. My son was a 2 sport athlete who played golf and basketball (he golfed whenever there was no snow) . My daughter will be a 3 sport athlete. She will play volleyball but she will not play on a travel team. We have chosen to only travel with one sport. This does not mean she has specialized but that she is spending more time on her FAVORITE sport (which happens to be the one requiring the most skill). She will continue to play basketball during volleyball season and track season. Is this specializing? If so, then the definition needs to be tweaked to say "if you play a sport year round, then you are a specialist."
