The 13 YO Girls National AAU championship tournament is being played in Dayton, OH next weekend, and I'll have the privilege of working some of their games. They're requiring us to have HS varsity 3-man experience. This looks like a pretty big deal. There are approx. 90 teams registered from all over the lower 48.

Any of you folks worked one of these national AAU tournaments in the past? If so did you have a good experience?

I worked one last summer in the KC area, it was girls but I'm not exactly sure what age, 16U I'm guessing. It was a good experience, most of the guys I worked with had quite a bit of college experience. I did have one partner who stopped and yelled at an entire section of fans to keep quiet or he would kick them all out, kinda embarrassing (sp?). Some woman said "thank you Jesus" when he made a call that went their way, guess she thought it was long overdue and that offended him greatly.

I just got back from working the Girls 10U down at Orlando. It was a wonderful time. Make sure that you brush up on Woman's NCAA rules. They will be using the shot clock. You can rewiew the rules by going to: http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules.html#basketball

MN 3 Sport Ref and I both worked the 14U girls national tournament last year. It was a great experience, and I was quite impressed with the level of play.

Also got to see a number of D-1 and D-2 women's officials...some good, some not so good. :)

Just finished 2 days at 17-18/u girls AAU at Disney. Great experience. Only I one good game though out of 4, a 3 pointer. Most games in early pool play are big blowouts. The girls use NCAA rules, especially team control fouls. Bone up on your shot clock skills. Will be needed it you have a "green" table crew. Remind the S/C operator to hold it on long rebounds. Nothing worse than a team getting possession after a long rebound an having only 26 to shoot.

I'll be working the Dayton AAU National next week. Worked in the boys 15/U in Tenn. back in the late 80's for 3 straight years when I lived there. Was a great experience and looking forward to next week as well. I'm a local, so if anyone is coming to Dayton, look me up or drop me a note.

Since 1993 I have officiated in a number of AAU National Basketball Championships, both boys' and girls'. I have made a number of officiating friends at these tournaments.

The one thing that you should remember is to treat this like any regular season H.S. or college game that you officiate during the regular season.

Otherwise just relax and have fun.

Do they just use the shot clock at the girls games? I've never seen a shot clock at an AAU game but then I've never worked "the Nationals". Anyway, given the skill level of some of the table crews I can see how a shot clock could be painful to manage. (Ahem...given the skll level of some of the referees too...mumble mumble cough cough)

Anyway, my experience with AAU is if it takes longer than 10 seconds for a team to get up the floor & take their shot then somethng is seriously wrong. Run & gun baaaaby! Run & gun! :D

They play strictly by NCAA Women's rules and do use the shot clock. But during local tourneys, they may play without a shot clock, if they aren't available.

I've worked several AAU nationals at Disney. As everyone has said it's a lot of fun and you get to meet a lot of quality people who also referee.

One more note about your girls tournament and how that applies to NCAA rules. Remember that after a "T" you're going back to the point of interruption, not to mid-court (if you're used to working hs rules).

Relax and have fun!!

Have fun - there's some good talent headed your way
 

We just gopt back from YBOA Nationals in FL and saw some AAU state champs down there. Hopefully you will get to check out the FBVA Comets - coach is Jack Givens, his daughter and Tree Rollins daughter are both on the team. And the star is a small guard who has tremedous skills. Also saw the GA state champs and runners up, as well as the TN state champs (they handed us our butts on a platter!).

Come with your A game, these girls can play. It will (and should) be a physical game. We had to adjust as we got pushed around a little, but when we got used to it the games were great. And yes, you will have a shot clock at all National games, and I think they are also required for medal rounds of qualifying tournaments. At the pace the games move, you won't usually need to care.

FBVA Orlando Comets Are Registered
 

There are seven different sites in the Dayton area, so I may not see them. Thanks for the advance information.

I've worked both the Boys and Girls 16 year old tournaments. The boys was a terrific experience. Great, above-the-rim basketball, and almost every game came down to the final possession. The girls was a challenge because I had to learn NCAA women's rules, but the games weren't nearly as exciting. Good basketball, but there were a few blowouts.

Stan
Interesting that you should mention those blowouts. In our games, every one was a blowout going one way or the other. In the pool play overall, 5 out of 6 pools had mainly blowouts, and one pool amazingly had nothing but close games (10 point win being the largest margin - most were 2-3 points). Even the final in our age group was a 25 point win, in a game with 2 AAU state champions.