AAU Basketball
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This story and the accompanying cover spread are featured in the latest edition of Ponytail Sports. This bi-monthly publication focusing on girls� athletics in Michigan can be found at various fitness centers and sports stores throughout Metro Detroit and can be mailed to your home for $20/year.
Shock AAU Form (PDF)
�The Changing Landscape of Girls� Basketball � Why AAU?�
By Kristin Bernert, VP of Operations, Detroit Shock
During the past 15 years, we have seen a major transformation in girls� basketball. While the traditional leagues still exist for elementary school girls and high school teams still flourish for young women, the real proving grounds have become American Amateur Union (AAU) games and tournaments. If you ask any Division I collegiate player and certainly any Women�s National Basketball Association (WNBA) player, you will find that they were likely �discovered� while playing in the AAU ranks.
AAU basketball not only offers the opportunity to play beyond the traditional basketball season, but it also gives girls the chance to play with other players at the same level. Instead of having one or two really good players on a team, AAU teams generally have a team full of competitive players. This allows each individual to �play up� to their teammates� and opponents� level, thus improving her game.
There are many other benefits to playing AAU Basketball, and I�ve asked a few of our players to talk about why it was important in their development.
Barbara Farris, Detroit Shock Center, Tulane �98
"I enjoyed playing AAU basketball because it gave me the chance to be around people who were serious about being better basketball players. People tried out and were there because they wanted to be there--because they wanted to be around better competition. Also, it gave me the opportunity to play against the best players in the country.�
Swin Cash, Detroit Shock Forward, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, Connecticut �02
�Beyond basketball, AAU gave me an opportunity to interact and learn about people with different backgrounds. It exposed me to various ethnicities within my age group, and I made great friends. It also gave me the opportunity to be involved in a competitive team atmosphere and to learn about different organizational qualities."
Ruth Riley, Detroit Shock Center, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, Notre Dame �01
�AAU has proven to be the best developmental program for young women who like to play basketball and who aspire to play collegiately and possibly professionally. Growing up on a farm, and going to a small country school in Indiana, there was no way for me to have the exposure to the college recruits that other girls had. AAU gave me a platform in a very highly competitive setting, on state and national levels, to work on my game and show my skills to college recruiters. AAU is not only an opportunity; it is an experience. I have many fond memories of traveling across the country, meeting hundreds of girls that I would later play with and against, and bottom line-- I got to do what I loved, which is play basketball.�
Our organization, the Detroit Shock, is fully supportive of girls who choose to try to take their game to another level. It is why we have extended our name and resources to an AAU club, Michigan Shock, and it is also why we are becoming more active in the community with camps and clinics. We believe that basketball is the best sport in the world. It provides a wonderful form of exercise, requires the ultimate form of team play, and brings people of different races and backgrounds together like no other activity. It is truly a great game.
Shock AAU Form (PDF)
�The Changing Landscape of Girls� Basketball � Why AAU?�
By Kristin Bernert, VP of Operations, Detroit Shock
During the past 15 years, we have seen a major transformation in girls� basketball. While the traditional leagues still exist for elementary school girls and high school teams still flourish for young women, the real proving grounds have become American Amateur Union (AAU) games and tournaments. If you ask any Division I collegiate player and certainly any Women�s National Basketball Association (WNBA) player, you will find that they were likely �discovered� while playing in the AAU ranks.
AAU basketball not only offers the opportunity to play beyond the traditional basketball season, but it also gives girls the chance to play with other players at the same level. Instead of having one or two really good players on a team, AAU teams generally have a team full of competitive players. This allows each individual to �play up� to their teammates� and opponents� level, thus improving her game.
There are many other benefits to playing AAU Basketball, and I�ve asked a few of our players to talk about why it was important in their development.
Barbara Farris, Detroit Shock Center, Tulane �98"I enjoyed playing AAU basketball because it gave me the chance to be around people who were serious about being better basketball players. People tried out and were there because they wanted to be there--because they wanted to be around better competition. Also, it gave me the opportunity to play against the best players in the country.�
Swin Cash, Detroit Shock Forward, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, Connecticut �02�Beyond basketball, AAU gave me an opportunity to interact and learn about people with different backgrounds. It exposed me to various ethnicities within my age group, and I made great friends. It also gave me the opportunity to be involved in a competitive team atmosphere and to learn about different organizational qualities."
Ruth Riley, Detroit Shock Center, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, Notre Dame �01�AAU has proven to be the best developmental program for young women who like to play basketball and who aspire to play collegiately and possibly professionally. Growing up on a farm, and going to a small country school in Indiana, there was no way for me to have the exposure to the college recruits that other girls had. AAU gave me a platform in a very highly competitive setting, on state and national levels, to work on my game and show my skills to college recruiters. AAU is not only an opportunity; it is an experience. I have many fond memories of traveling across the country, meeting hundreds of girls that I would later play with and against, and bottom line-- I got to do what I loved, which is play basketball.�
Our organization, the Detroit Shock, is fully supportive of girls who choose to try to take their game to another level. It is why we have extended our name and resources to an AAU club, Michigan Shock, and it is also why we are becoming more active in the community with camps and clinics. We believe that basketball is the best sport in the world. It provides a wonderful form of exercise, requires the ultimate form of team play, and brings people of different races and backgrounds together like no other activity. It is truly a great game.