AAU Coaches Vs HS Coaches
 

Hello,

I will be starting to work some AAU club basketball for 14 and under and was wondering if your exeperiences with AAU youth coaches was different from HS Coaches?

In otherwords, are the Youth Coaches bigger knuckleheads?? :)

In general...AAU coaches are worse than your high school coaches. High school coaches have more accountability than your AAU coaches.

Exactly. High School coaches are usually teachers or they are accountable to a school district. If they act up they can lose their jobs or their actions can affect their overall job as a teacher or administrator. AAU coaches paid some money to enter a tournament.

Peace

AAU coaches definitely behave worse overall in general.

I wouldn't walk into a gym with the idea that AAU coaches are any different, I've met some very good and knowledgeable people. Your BS threshold may be much shorter, but a coach is a coach and taking care of business is taking care of business. At the 14U level, I would pay more attention to the knuckleheads on the court.

The setting is different and that is all that matters. And if that was not the case, why would your BS threshold be different and you are treating everything the same? ;)

Peace

Disagree. Preparing yourself to deal with aspiring Coach Ks isn't a bad thing. As has been stated, the fact is that AAU coaches generally behave poorly because they aren't accountable to anyone. Also because, especially at the lower levels, they tend to be less experienced as coaches. Are there exceptions? Sure, but you'll recognize them soon enough.

Nirvana
 

I worked a local tournament (not AAU, just community hosted) one time where the posted rule was that if the HC gets tossed, the team is out.

Best behaved coaches. Ever.

Exceptions to what? I don't work much AAU basketball, but in my experience obnoxious coaches are not rare.

As for the idea of girding one's loins: I approach every coach the same way, with respect. If I get respect back, then we're good. If not, then I know how to deal with it (ignore, warn, whack, as needed). No special preparation needed.

In my experience, if you go into a game looking for conflict, you can generally find it (and worsen it). Not professional, IMO.

Exceptions to the rule. The rule being poor behavior.

You do not have to go into any game looking for conflict, it is already there. How you deal with it is the issue. And AAU coaches tend to think all that yelling and screaming works or makes them get what they want. The point is that if a HS coach gets out of line they can lose a lot more than a game. An AAU coach still will coach and often answers to no one, even the parents of the kids. It really does not matter how much respect you give a coach, they have to have some standards or morals to behave a certain way.

Also I have been attending a D2 camp the last several years where the basketball is an AAU Tournament. These are all officials that are very well trained and are in great shape and the things I have seen said to them or me I never see at the HS level. It is common that the person that runs the camp or a clinician has to talk to these stupid coaches after a game about something when they are dealt with very professionally.

We can go in with the best of intentions that does not mean we will not have to deal with knuckleheads the same.

Peace

Six of One, half-dozen of another.....
 

+1

I treat em all alike......to start.

There is a big difference between going into a game "looking for conflict" and going into a game knowing that AAU coaches tend to be bigger problems than "normal" coaches.

Point blank, PERIOD!

I called as many Ts in my last AAU tournament as I did the WHOLE HS SEASON. The players act like the coaches, who are often parents making sure their kid gets to play all the time. And if the coach is a jerk, the players often follow suit. As Jeff said, there is little accountability. I don't approach games like there is going to be trouble, but I don't wait until 4 o'clock to serve tea.