Youth Sports: Losses that Really Matter

March is over. Thank God. March was marked by some painful loses that clearly out weighed any and all wins this month. There's no greater loss than a parent losing a kid.

• Crazy youth sports parents get upset when their little star drops in the batting order.
• Crazy youth sports parents get upset when their little star gets cut from a team.
• Crazy youth sports parents get upset when their little star gets fouled, but the ref doesn't call it.
• Crazy youth sports parents get upset when their little star has to miss a game due to an injury.

I have been upset by all of the above at one time or another. Do you know what is really upsetting - read on.

On March 8th, a 19 year old kid named Jake died in a car accident. Jake's car, for reasons never released to the public, drove left of center and hit an oncoming car head on. Jake was not wearing a seat belt and died in the accident. My 19 year old son used to play soccer with Jake. And for years, I coached side-by-side with Jake's dad. Jake was not the greatest soccer player, but he was a super nice kid who always had a smile on his face. Jake's dad was not the most knowledable soccer coach, but would do anything for the kids and the soccer club.

On March 18th, a former colleague of mine lost his teen son named Collin. Collin was suppose to be sleeping over at a friend's house, but he went to an all night party instead. At 4 am, Collin, distraught about a breakup with a girlfriend, decided to walk home. Collin's home was 5 miles away down a four lane 50 MPH road. A 23 year old guy driving home from work hit Collin. The driver, who may have fallen asleep at the wheel, thought he hit a deer. Collin was tossed over the guard rail and disappeared down an steep embankment covered with underbrush. Collin's dad, Sean, and many many people from the community searched for days before they discovered the sad sad truth.

Collins death really hit home for me. Sean and I had a lot in common. We both loved our kids, youth sports and coaching. Furthermore, we bonded listening to each other's many stories about our not-so-easy-to-parent oldest kids.

Collin's dad, my friend, issued the poignant statement to parents of teens.

The Main Point

Listen, if you can watch your kid play sports, win or lose it should be considered a great day. Some youth sports parents will never see their kids at all, let alone see them play some somewhat meaningless sports event.

More on gaining perspective regarding losses.

This month, my daughter CC started her AAU basketball and select soccer seasons. The anticipation for both seasons were damped by two loses before the seasons even began.

CC's AAU basketball team lost their center and a key power forward.  These players left to join a new AAU team that was forming. The power forward was easily replaced, but the center is no ordinary player. The center is an athletic, game changing, 6' 2" 5th grader who can certainly lead a team to an AAU National Championship. Her mom played in 3 NCAA Final Fours so that is not an exaggeration. 

The best player on my daughter's select soccer team decided to leave the team right before the spring season started so that she could concentrate on basketball. Ironically, she joined the same AAU basketball team that the 6' 2" center joined. The top athletes always seem to travel in the same circles.

There were more than a few people very upset by losing these players. The loss of Collin and Jake puts these loses into perspective.

I know and respect both families and know that they are doing what they think is best for their kids. So I was never got upset by the situation. I was, however, disappointed.

The newly formed basketball team with my daughter's former teammates beat my daughter's team in the AAU Super Regional Tournament this weekend. Both teams qualified for the Nationals.  

Youth Basketball: Playing Older Competition

What do you think about younger teams playing against older teams?

Last year, my daughter's AAU team finished #1 in Ohio and ended the season #9 in nation at the conclusion of the 2011 AAU National Championship in Orlando, Florida. One of the reasons for the success achieved in state and national tournaments can be attributed to playing against older, faster and bigger competition leading up to the top tournaments.

The coach is following the same path this year. She entered the 5th grade team in a 6th grade winter league and in 6th grade tournaments.

Playing older, faster and bigger competition has advantages and disadvantages. The following advantages assumes that the younger team can actually compete with the older teams.

Advantages

• The team learns how to play against strong teams.
• The team learns how to break the press against stronger, faster and often tougher guards.
• The team learns how to get rebounds despite being outsized.
• The team learns how to win close games instead of blowing out every team.
• The team learns how to lose - going 40 and 0 before a tough national tournament can add to the stress.
• The team learns how to shoot over taller competition.
• The team learns how to create space and move without the ball.
• The team learns how to help on defense because older, faster kids will often breakdown a younger defender.
• The team learns how to work hard for points because nothing comes easy.

Disadvantages

• The team could lose confidence.
• The faster paced game could create bad habits - picking up the dribble to early, forcing bad passes, avoiding drives to the rim, etc.
• Some players could get hurt against bigger players. Our team is very big for a 5th grade team so this is not a problem as a team, but some players on the team are undersized. My daughter is one of those smaller players.

The Main Point

I worry about the injury risk because my daughter is so small compared to most of the older competitors, but I am not worried about her confidence waning. She does get disappointed when she doesn't play well against a bigger and faster opponent but she doesn't get discouraged. Conversely, her confidence soars when she plays great against players who should be better than her based on their bigger size and extra year of experience.

Regarding bad habits, in the beginning of last year my daughter was overwhelmed by the faster and stronger players and she often pick up her dribble too quickly and made hasty passes. Still, she never seemed discouraged or intimidated. And the coach did not give up on her. She progressed greatly over the year and this year she moves the ball with so much more confidence and purpose.  

Overall, I think that teams should play up against older teams if they are exceedingly better than the same age competition in their area. A good team that wants to do well in state and national tournaments needs to find the right competition level to challenge them and make them better. For me enjoyment of the game and confidence is the key to success, so a team should never move up to an older league if it will erode the confidence of the players or take the fun out of the game for the players.

This past weekend, CC's 5th grade team came in second in a 6th grade Cincinnati Christmas Classic Tournament. They lost a low scoring physical game in the finals 15-18 against the 6th grade team from the same select basketball club. CC was the smallest player on the court, but she scored 6 points and was called upon to attempt the game tying 3 point shot with 3.5 seconds left. She got the shot off, but it did not go in. She was proud in defeat.

Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 8)

My daughter, CC, and her team are making a run at a AAU Division I National Championship. I am following the process through this series of blog posts.

• (Part 1) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Registration Process
• (Part 2) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Tournament Qualifying Process.
• (Part 3) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -The Super Regional Step
• (Part 4) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Tips and Tricks 1
• (Part 5) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - District Championships
• (Part 6) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Positive Coaching Alliance Test
• (Part 7) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship: Opening Ceremonies
• (Part 8) Championship Games

The following describes how the AAU National Basketball Tournaments are structured.

Pool Play

Once the qualifying process is over and all the teams have registered for one of the AAU National Tournaments (Div I, II, or III), the tournament committee ranks the teams and forms the pools for each division.

The 2011 4th grade tournament only had 26 teams divided up into 6 pools. Pools A - D had 4 teams each and Pools E-F had 5 teams each. As such, teams in pools A-D had 3 pool play games and teams in pools E-F had 4 pool play games each. I am not sure if the extra game is an advantage (extra experience) or a disadvantage (exhausting). All of the final 4 teams came from pools with only 4 teams so you can draw your own conclusions.

I was told that the committee ranked our team 6th going into the tournament so we were the first team in the sixth pool (pool F). The returning champs from the 2010 3rd grade National Tournament were the first team in the first pool. So our placement makes sense. I am not sure how the committee placed the other teams, but every team in our pool was a district champion.

Pool play games were held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our team had 4 pool play games so we played 2 pool play games each day. The teams in pools with 4 teams played 1 game on one day and 2 on the other day. Each team's pool play record determined a team's placement in Championship bracket. Every team advances.


Our team started off with a very surprising 0-4 pool play record, yet we still had a very good chance to win the National Title.

Championship Bracket 

All teams advanced to the single elimination Championship bracket. Each position on the bracket was predetermined and populated after the results of pool play were determined. Each pool first place finisher got a bye. All of the other teams fell into the spot that corresponded to their pool letter and placement in the pool. For example - the 3rd place finisher of pool D was schedule to meet the 3rd place finisher of pool E for the opportunity to face the 1st place finisher of pool A (the defending champion). I was a bit surprised that the teams were not re-ranked after pool play and placed into the Championship bracket based on that.


2nd place and lower teams needed to win 5 straight games to win the National Title. The 1st seed teams needed to win 4 games to take the title.


First Round Consolation Bracket


Teams that lost their first round game (not including the teams with byes) were placed into the first round consolation bracket. These teams vied for 11th and 12th place. A team would need to win 4 games in this consolation bracket to earn the 11th place finish.


Click here to understand how the 10th through 1st place teams are determined.

Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 7)

My daughter, CC and her team are making a run at a AAU Division I National Championship. I am following the process through this series of blog posts.

• (Part 1) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Registration Process
• (Part 2) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Tournament Qualifying Process.
• (Part 3) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -The Super Regional Step
• (Part 4) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Tips and Tricks 1
• (Part 5) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - District Championships
• (Part 6) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Positive Coaching Alliance Test
• (Part 7) Opening Ceremonies

Opening Ceremonies

The Opening Ceremonies for the AAU National Championship in Disney at the ESPN Wide World of Sports was a pretty special event for the 10 year old girls (4th grade) and 9 year old boys (3rd grade) who are competing in the tournament. I can only image how my daughter felt. I know that I never experience anything like it in my sports career in the 70's and 80's.

The event started at 8:00pm, but the teams needed to assemble in uniform at 7:00pm. The entire event with a Parade of Champions of about 50 teams took exactly 1 hour. After the parade was compete, the kids sat on the floor, listened to a few short speeches from a Disney official, Mickey Mouse and an AAU official and watched the Toy Story Green Army Men put on an acrobatic trampoline show. The event concluded with an explosion of streamers. The kids and their proud parents loved it.

Tip: The HP Pavilion fills up quickly. Our team of 10 girls had about 60 people in attendance. We did not get there early enough to secure a single section for all of the boosters for our team so we had to split up in to two sections. If you have a big group get there 45 minutes early to secure a big section.

Parade of Champions AAU Basketball 4th Grade Girls

Parade of Champions

Big Crowd in HP Pavilion

Short Speeches from Disney, AAU and Mickey

Disney Entertainment - Acrobatic Show

Conclusion Explosion of Streamers

The Main Idea

Disney puts magic into everything to delight the kids. The AAU National Tournament Opening Ceremonies was a special event. If your son or daughter is lucky enough to go one day you will not want to miss it.

Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 6)

My daughter, CC and her team are making a run at a AAU Division I National Championship. I am following the process through this series of blog posts.

• (Part 1) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Registration Process
• (Part 2) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Tournament Qualifying Process.
• (Part 3) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -The Super Regional Step
• (Part 4) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Tips and Tricks 1
• (Part 5) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - District Championships
• (Part 6) Positive Coaching Alliance Test

Positive Coaching Alliance Test

All coaches and sideline assistants like scorekeepers need to take an online course from the Positive Coaching Alliance called Double Goal Coach: Coaching for Winning and Life Lessons. Everyone who wishes to sit on the sidelines with the team must pass the test with a score of 80% or higher.

You can access the course and the test through the AAU website.

You need an AAU membership number to take the course.

Most of the content in the course is common sense wrapped in helpful mnemonics like ROOTS (Respect the Rules, Opponents, Officials and Teammates and Self). We have all experienced confidence killing coaches, witnessed unsportsmanlike behavior on the field and watched unruly parents in the stands. This course gives coaches techniques to build confidence, to control bad behavior from players and parents and to honor the game. According to the Positive Coaching Alliance, coaching for life lessons actually results in more statistical wins on the field of play. 

Tip: This course and the test (if taken properly) takes 2 hours. 

Tip: Four coaches can register with the team and get into the Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports facility for free. Coaches, if the team does not have four sideline coaches reward the team mom or the scorekeeper with the opportunity to be a credentialed sideline assistant. They will have to spend $14.00 to become a member of the AAU and take the test, it will save them $58 - $72 in admission costs for the events.

The Main Point

Take the test and more importantly embrace it. I talked to several coaches from various teams at the AAU tournament who skipped the course, went straight to the test and passed it (if not the first time, the second time). Poor integrity off the field will lead to poor integrity on the field too.

I completed every step of the course, downloaded all the reference material,  listened to every video and completed the test in about 2 hours. The test is easy, especially if you listen to the course. I got a 100%.

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.

Youth Basketball: The climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 5)

Looking ahead to an AAU D1 title

My daughter, CC and her team are making a run at a AAU Division I National Championship. I am following the process through this series of blog posts.

• (Part 1) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Registration Process
• (Part 2) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Tournament Qualifying Process.
• (Part 3) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -The Super Regional Step
• (Part 4) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Tips and Tricks 1
• (Part 5) District Championships

District Championships

The Ohio District for Girl's AAU Basketball held a D1 District Championship Tournament this past weekend. As discussed in the AAU Tournament Qualify Process post, the D1 District Championships have two purposes;

1. For the teams that have ALREADY qualified for the Division I National Championship by winning a D1 Super Regional, the D1 District Championship tournament helps to establish a teams ranking in the national tourney.
2. For teams that have NOT ALREADY qualified for the AAU D1 National Tourney, placing high or winning the D1 District Championship will both qualify a team for the Division I National Championship and rank them. (The number of teams in the District tournament determines the number of invitations given - see the qualifying process post for details)

My daughter's team had already won a Super Regional so they wanted to win the Districts to secure the best ranking possible in the AAU Division I National Championship tournament in August.

Like in the Ohio Super Regional, only 3 teams signed up for the District tournament, so only one invitation to the Division I National Tournament would be awarded afterwards. Our team already qualified for the Division I National Tournament so our objective was to do well to increase our ranking for the National Tournament. My daughter's team did do well, they won the Ohio Districts.

Ohio AAU Districts Trophy Ceremony

Since we had already qualified, the second place team qualifies for the Nationals. The second place team always gives us a challenge so they deserve to go too.

The Main Point

The climb to an AAU National Championship has been a great experience for our daughter. Her confidence and her contributions to the team have increased each and every week. She was the leading scorer in the District finals and I could not be more proud.

Youth Basketball: The climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 4)

My daughter, CC and her team are making a run at a AAU Division I National Championship. I am following the process through this series of blog posts.

• (Part 1) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Registration Process
• (Part 2) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -Tournament Qualifying Process.
• (Part 3) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship -The Super Regional Step
• (Part 4) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Tips and Tricks 1

AAU Basketball Championship Tip. 


If you are on the sidelines helping the team as a coach, trainer or scorekeeper you are required to wear a collared shirt. 


The Main Point
I did not have on a collared shirt for the first Super Regional game and couldn't keep score for the team. 

Youth Basketball: The climb to an AAU National Championship (Part 3)

My daughter, CC and her team are making a run at a AAU Division I National Championship. I am following the process through this series of blog posts.

• (Part 1) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Registration Process
• (Part 2) Youth Basketball: The Climb to an AAU National Championship - Tournament Qualifying Process.
• (Part 3) The Super Regional Step

Background

My daughter's 4th grade AAU team has been together since December '10. The team played up in a local winter league against 5th and 6th grade teams to prepare for the 4th grade AAU season. The girls took their lumps playing against bigger, more physical and more experienced teams, but they also won quite a few games while they gained confidence and toughness. 

The team also played in several 4th grade tournaments over the winter to gauge where they stood against their peers. These games gave CC's team a chance to work on plays without the intense pressure that older girls provided. The team won every 4th grade tournament game leading up to their eventual run at AAU Division I National Championship. In fact, they won almost every game by a margin of victory of 10, 20 and 30+ points. They were ready to start the climb to a national championship.

The AAU season started March 25th at the pre-qualifying tournament.

Pre-Qualifying Tournament

Fast Break

The Ohio AAU put on a pre-quaifying tournament the weekend of March 25th. CC's team entered the tournament to prep for the Super Regionals the following week. 

Note: Super Regionals, Districts and the National Tournaments all use a 30 second shot clock. It's highly recommended that teams who have not played with a 30 second shot clock play in a pre-qualifier to get used to the shot clock. Our 4th grade girls had never played with a shot clock before.

CC's team won all of the pool play games of the pre-qualifier including an exciting over-time victory against the host team. It was the first 4th grade team to challenge our girls. The host team then avenged their heart breaking loss in pool play to win the tournament championship game. That was the first loss of the season against a 4th grade team. I am pretty sure the team felt like the #1 UCONN women did tonight after losing to Notre Dame.

After the loss, there were no tears, but the team did leave with a feeling like they could have and should have won the tournament. After the game, the team was reminded that they would get a chance to take it back the next weekend in the Super Regionals. And they were also reminded that they would have their 5 ft. 9 in center back who missed the pre-qualifying tournament due to spring break.

Super Regionals

The Ohio District for Girl's AAU Basketball held a Super Regional Tournament this past weekend. Only 3 teams signed up for the tournament, so only one invitation to the Division I National Tournament would be awarded. (See Part 2 for National Championship Qualifying Rules) 

The pressure was on. To gain a bid for a Division I National AAU Title, CC's team needed to win the tournament and that meant beating the team that beat CC's team in the pre-qualifier.

4th Grade AAU Team

The team's center was back in action and the girls won both pool play games, but it was not easy. The pool play game against our new rival went into over time again. CC's team was victorious, but the win was meaningless because both teams would advance to the Super Regional championship game. 

The finals turned out to be a very physical game between two teams that wanted desperately to earn a Division I bid. Girls were getting knocked down and crying, coaches were yelling and fans were riding the refs. It was pure excitement and I think that we all forgot that these were just 10 year old girls playing a game that was meant to be fun. 

Super Regional Gold Metal

The lead changed hands back and forth all game long until CC's team put together some clutch shots done the stretch to pull away and win 33-24.

The Main Point

The climb to a Division I AAU National Championship is not easy. It will be a battle. I blog with unfounded confidence. I have no idea how good the teams are in other parts of the country in comparison to my daughter's team. It will be fun to watch it all unfold. Regardless of how it turns out this will be a great experience for my daughter.