AAU Issues

[BayStateRef]

Originally Posted by SMEngmann

I think the other part of the coin is the guys who work 10-12 games in a day (which again speaks to the greed of the tournament director). Those guys do a disservice, in my opinion, to the games that they're working, and it's with these guys in mind that tournament directors will give teams leeway to protest.

I don't work a lot of AAU ball...maybe one or two tournaments a month. But every AAU tournament I have worked is run "right." The tournament director hires an official to assign the games -- someone who knows the quality of the officials. I once tried to get a friend a game from one assignor and he said he would not use this guy for this tournament because he could not keep up with the fast pace. I can show you AAU directors who advertise their tournaments as using only certified officials and limiting them to three games/day. This is a marketing decision for them, for clearly other AAU directors have no such limits. We also get paid well for AAU: $35-$40/game is common.

I am not saying there are no problems at AAU. I am saying that in the AAU tournaments that I work (for five or six different AAU programs), we have the authority to enforce the rules (including sportsmanship) and the support of the tournament director. I had a game last year where I made a girl remove her earrings even though "she's been playing all year with them." I overheard the coach tell the player's mom that it would do no good to talk to the tournament director (for a waiver) since he will support the official. That's enough for me.