Youth Basketball: The climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 1)

What does it take to make a run at a Division I AAU basketball National Championship?

Right now, I do not know, but I will be learning about the process as my daughter's 4th grade AAU team goes through the process from AAU registration to qualifying tournaments to the National Championship tournament in Orlando, Florida August 1-8. I assume that they will qualify.

Over the next 18 weeks, I will blog about the journey so that coaches, players and parents can learn about the process with me. I will share tips and tricks about how to register, how to qualify, what to pack, where to stay, where to eat, and how much it will all cost.

Phase One - AAU Membership Registration

All athletes and coaches must be members of the AAU. The coach of your team will either register the individual players and the club or will instruct you to register your athlete. 

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All participants including athletes and non-athletes such as administrators, bench personnel, coaches, instructors, managers, scorekeepers, tournament director, volunteers, etc. must be current AAU members to participate in all AAU sanctioned events.

Registration for AAU membership is available online with a credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express). It is easy to register and print out the AAU Membership card. 

The cost of a membership is $12 for athletes and $14 for non-athletes. There are also membership fees for clubs.

All athletes and coaches must show their AAU membership verification at the registration of all AAU sanctioned events. 

Note: Each athlete must be able to prove his or her age and grade for all AAU sanctioned events. You can find age / grade requirements here. 

Proof of grade must be available for review by AAU representatives at all AAU sanctioned events. 

• To prove your athlete's school grade, make a photocopy of the athletes’ report card for the current school year which shows name, grade and school. 
• To prove your athletes age, make a certified copy of birth record from the State, County, or Municipal Bureau of Vital Statistics in the place of birth. Hospital records are not acceptable. Other approved forms to prove age including passports can be found here.

The Main Point

The most viewed series of posts that I have written was concerning the Cooperstown Dreams Park baseball tournament. Readers found those posts very helpful. I intend to make these posts equally worthwhile.