Who's getting rich

[Hgotem]

AAU is big business and helps promote the youth. My question is does AAU give back any money to the youth? For instance this year, In Division I and II Nationals in Boys Basketball AAU is charging $600 per team to enter the tournament. This is extremely high for a tournament.

[TheEgoHasLanded]

well, I assume some of the money goes to other AAU sports like track and field, karate, and sports that do not generate money. Also it costs a lot of money to rent out 5 or 6 locations and then pay to get referees from across the country. Those referees are flown in throughout the country so no personal bias happens. Also all of those people must stay at hotels. I worked the clock at an AAU game and got 10 dollars a game, perhaps some volunteer, I'm not sure.

 

You are correct, they are making a lot of money though.

[Stokomo]

AAU, YBOA, and any other association promoting youth atheltics is a business. In business, you are there to make a profit. For any of those who think it is wrong to make money in youth sports, let me say this. Just because the name AAU may mean some bad coaches taking advantage of the league, many, and I mean many, athletes get scholarships and noticed by college and NBA scouts. I have seen people come from my area, Kingsport, with the ablilty to go to the NBA or NFL or even MLB, but part of the equation is getting noticed. Lee Humphries got noticed through AAU. Maryville knew they had a good player, but AAU got his skills out there to college recruits. Also, Many schools that have top athletic programs make the bulk of their schools money through athletics to fund their activities. No one ever talks about them exploiting athletes, because they do not. And the youth leagues during the summer doesn't either. It takes a lot of money to run tournaments, especially at a national level, with top college referees or top high school refs. Yes AAU, YBOA, and other programs make a profit in their business. But you tell me who would devote 1000's of hours and not get paid for it each year, they do work year round, that's their full-time job.

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2004 by Stokomo

[eagle79]

Anyone who doesn't understand why AAU is so expensive has not been involved with bigtime AAU. Until this year I had not been involved and would have said that $400-600 was outrageous to pay for a basketball tournament. However, after traveling with a team to Houston for the Kingwood Classic, I realize how important AAU is for exposure. The 17u gym was absolutely covered with scouts from every DI program I could think of, many were the head coaches. Even small tournaments around Tennessee are covered by recruiting services and DII and NAIA coaches. There is NO way a player's high school could get this much exposure for them. Not even making it to the state tournament. There is also no way a player can play against the kind of competition there is in these tournaments. Just last weekend at the Ballerz Challenge of Champions, I watched 2 of the top 4 juniors, the top sophomore, and one of the top 3 freshmen all play. That could not happen at a high school game. That is why the recruiters and scouts are there and that is why kids almost have to play AAU to get noticed.