thunder

[BlueAngels]

Will Thunder be going to any SRT tourney's to try and qualify for Nationals?

 

We are going to play in the D2 Nationals in Kingsport, TN this year. If you qualify for D1 Nationals, you cannot play in D2 Nationals. It is very rare that an AAU National Tourney ends up 3 hours from your town and just happens to be in your age group.

[jetfan2]

We are going to play in the D2 Nationals in Kingsport, TN this year. If you qualify for D1 Nationals, you cannot play in D2 Nationals. It is very rare that an AAU National Tourney ends up 3 hours from your town and just happens to be in your age group.

 

 

Did Thunder play in a DII Substate?

 

I cant find them in any of the brackets. Is there another way to qualify?

[BlueAngels]

Did Thunder play in a DII Substate?

 

I cant find them in any of the brackets. Is there another way to qualify?

 

 

No, we played D1 in the South Middle Substate. It is kind of strange the way AAU handles D2 qualification. All you really have to do to play in the D2 Nationals is PLAY in a D1 Substate tourney. You are not REQUIRED to declare D2 for the purposes of playing in the D2 National Tourney (although you can) until after the substate is over. The only way not to qualify for D2 is to qualify for D1 Nationals. If you qualify for D1 Nationals (let's say we would have finished in the Top 4 in the state and qualified for D1 Nationals OR we were to qualify in a Super Regional), then you cannot play in D2 Nationals. They also now have D3 Nationals which further complicates it.

 

The bottom line is that if you play in a substate and don't later qualify for D1 Nationals, then you are eligible for D2 Nationals.

 

Hope that helps.

[tnballfan]

No, we played D1 in the South Middle Substate. It is kind of strange the way AAU handles D2 qualification. All you really have to do to play in the D2 Nationals is PLAY in a D1 Substate tourney. You are not REQUIRED to declare D2 for the purposes of playing in the D2 National Tourney (although you can) until after the substate is over. The only way not to qualify for D2 is to qualify for D1 Nationals. If you qualify for D1 Nationals (let's say we would have finished in the Top 4 in the state and qualified for D1 Nationals OR we were to qualify in a Super Regional), then you cannot play in D2 Nationals. They also now have D3 Nationals which further complicates it.

 

The bottom line is that if you play in a substate and don't later qualify for D1 Nationals, then you are eligible for D2 Nationals.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Are u taking a slot from a team that is playing D2 and made it to the state in D2? Why did you not just play D2 in the first place? Does not seem fair to D2 team if you are taking a slot from them now does it since you did not make the state in D1?

[gshoops75]

Are u taking a slot from a team that is playing D2 and made it to the state in D2? Why did you not just play D2 in the first place? Does not seem fair to D2 team if you are taking a slot from them now does it since you did not make the state in D1?

 

 

As with most complaints about rules (on or off the court), it's important to know the rule before commenting on it. You should refer to page 10 of your AAU handbook, of which I'm sure you have a copy. Please note that a team that participates in their D2 DQT can only advance to D2 nationals. A team that plays in D1 DQT can qualify for D1 if their finish is high enough (top 4 in the TN DQT), or D2 if not. This should encourage teams to sign up and play D1 (taking on the toughest competition) and see what happens. That's the reason this team did not "just play D2 in the first place." They were willing to subject themselves to defeat at the hands of D1-level competition to give themselves the opportunity to make D1 nationals. In my (very) humble opinion, there shouldn't even be D2 DQT's (in fact, they did not exist until 4 or 5 years ago). With D1 DQT's at best, you go to D1 nationals. At worst, you go to D2. Don't kid yourself, in essense, D2 nationals are a sign-up-and-play event. Not to take anything away from them, but that's what it is.

[BlueAngels]

As with most complaints about rules (on or off the court), it's important to know the rule before commenting on it. You should refer to page 10 of your AAU handbook, of which I'm sure you have a copy. Please note that a team that participates in their D2 DQT can only advance to D2 nationals. A team that plays in D1 DQT can qualify for D1 if their finish is high enough (top 4 in the TN DQT), or D2 if not. This should encourage teams to sign up and play D1 (taking on the toughest competition) and see what happens. That's the reason this team did not "just play D2 in the first place." They were willing to subject themselves to defeat at the hands of D1-level competition to give themselves the opportunity to make D1 nationals. In my (very) humble opinion, there shouldn't even be D2 DQT's (in fact, they did not exist until 4 or 5 years ago). With D1 DQT's at best, you go to D1 nationals. At worst, you go to D2. Don't kid yourself, in essense, D2 nationals are a sign-up-and-play event. Not to take anything away from them, but that's what it is.

 

Thanks for that detailed clarification, GS. That is exactly the advice I received prior to deciding to play in D1 vs playing D2 Substate. We really wanted our girls to have the opportunity to play against those Top Tier teams. We certainly don't want to teach our kids to shy away from the best competition.

 

After careful consideration and consultation with Peanut Cummins (AAU State Director) and other coaches/friends (such as GS), the only reason to declare D2 at the substate level from our standpoint would have been to avoid D1 competition levels. The only requirement (as I mentioned above and GS so clearly clarifies) to playing D2 Nationals is to PLAY in any Substate tournament. We are not taking any team's "slot" in the National Tourney...