[KingPapasParticipant]

buckeyeprep.blogspot.com/2014/10/aau-makes-sweeping-changes.html

For as many years as I can remember, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) has allowed teams to have at least 3 grade exceptions per team. Well, that long-standing practice has apparently changed, and will have a significant impact on travel basketball. According to a very reliable source, at their annual board meeting in Fort Lauderdale, FL last week, the AAU changed their rules to prohibit any grade exceptions in ages 7-14 effective immediately.

 

As we all know, the key to placing high at the AAU Nationals is often about the number and quality of a team’s grade exceptions. With this new model, teams will be forced to refigure, as kids are forced to play on teams based on their age. Any many cases, teams will lose their best 3 players who will now be forced to find teams in their own age. The specific details of the rule changes are not yet known, but any way you cut it, the face of middle school basketball will change forever.

 

Undoubtedly, the impetus for such a dramatic change could be directly related to the number of cheating scandals AAU experienced this past summer. Those of us who follow travel basketball closely know the players, organizations and situations that could be responsible for AAU’s dramatic shift in policy. If you think about it, hundreds of teams participate in AAU Nationals every year, and of those hundreds of teams, about a quarter of those teams are the truly elite, have quality grade exceptions, and have a realistic chance of winning it all. Consequently, AAU was faced with allowing a few teams at the very top to negatively affect the majority of the “middle of the road” type teams who are really generating most of the revenue.

 

 

We will all wait to see the ramification of the rule changes and time will only tell how teams and organizations will respond. Programs like the National Youth basketball League (NYBL) could be part of the answer for many teams, as their bylaws place no restrictions on grade exceptions. For many parents, who have tired of all the hype and exposure given to the so called grade exceptions, this news will be a God send, and will help even the playing field for their child. Hold on folks, things are about to get really interesting!

[prophetmeirParticipant]

Great, Played aau from 4th thru 11th  and during the middle school times is when you see the age gap becomes an area of issue. It was at a point where I felt like,  i wanted to reclass so I could have the same edge. As you mention most of the teams who do well in that age group ,typically has the oldest kids.

[prophetmeirParticipant]

Great, Played aau from 4th thru 11th  and during the middle school times is when you see the age gap becomes an area of issue. It was at a point where I felt like,  i wanted to reclass so I could have the same edge. As you mention most of the teams who do well in that age group ,typically has the oldest kids.

[theprophetParticipant]

i like dirk’s comments a little while back. he basically said if you are in a basketball uniform playing the game of basketball, the rules should be universally the same. ironically i don’t like the idea of the nba lowering the minutes or games. imo the nba should be more of the standard of the rules, although i wouldn’t mind adding the international rule of just dunking the damn ball through the rim when the ball is in limbo of going in or out. that shouldn’t be offensive goal tending. all that being said though, i like the idea of restructuring the culture of younger middle school players. aau has some positive, but agree a lot of negative trends, scandals, and hero ball in that culture. 

[theprophetParticipant]

i like dirk’s comments a little while back. he basically said if you are in a basketball uniform playing the game of basketball, the rules should be universally the same. ironically i don’t like the idea of the nba lowering the minutes or games. imo the nba should be more of the standard of the rules, although i wouldn’t mind adding the international rule of just dunking the damn ball through the rim when the ball is in limbo of going in or out. that shouldn’t be offensive goal tending. all that being said though, i like the idea of restructuring the culture of younger middle school players. aau has some positive, but agree a lot of negative trends, scandals, and hero ball in that culture. 

[Author]

Posts