Youth Basketball: GBA Nationals

AAU Basketball conducts a huge tournament to crown a national champion for youth athletes 9-17, but it is not the only organization that crowns a National Champion. Over the last 10 years, The Girls Basketball Association (GBA), the largest girls basketball association in the mid-west, has grown in prominence. They currently host tournaments all over Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, but they draw teams from many states. I heard the the Nationals being held in Cincinnati this year has attracted teams from 21 states.

 

The GBA national tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio is a 4-day national tournament that includes a opening ceremonies at King’s Island amusement park.

My daugther's team is playing in the GBA Nationals this week. They qualified for the tournament by winning a GBA Super Satellite Tournament this Spring. They have aspirations of winning the event. 

If you follow this blog, you know that they have won all but one 4th grade tournament, but the competition in this big super regional event is much stronger. 

They won the first game against a very good team from Dayton. A team we have beaten before in finals of other tournaments. We suffered a rare loss in the second pool play game. A small team from West Virginia out hustled and out shot our much bigger team. 

After the game, the entire team enjoyed a day at King's Island, a huge amusement park 20 miles north of Cincinnati. They were entertained by Jim "Basketball" Jones, a motivational speaker.

The Main Point

The GBA is a strong and growing girls basketball association. Their events draw strong competition. Just the kind of competition that is going to get our team tournament ready for the AAU Nationals.