To “B” or Not to “B”, That Is the Question
Why Many of the Best Delaware Players Play Out-of-State,
and What Can Be Done to Change That
June 2008
There was a time, and it wasn’t all that long ago, when, in youth sports, there were no different skill divisions. If you played 7th/8th grade ball, for example, there were no beginner, intermediate, and competitive divisions. All the teams were thrown together in one pot. But, somewhere along the way, dividing up teams based on skill became the norm. Even in AAU.
AAU is the place to be when it comes to competitive, all-out, blood n’ guts basketball. Because most AAU teams are, in effect, all-star teams, a typical AAU squad could school a typical school team (no pun intended). However, even AAU has seen fit to parse the talent into what they call Division I and II – what is known in common language as A and B Bracket. That’s where the trouble begins.
Generally speaking, team sports exist for the betterment and promotion of the team. AAU, however, exists for the betterment and promotion of the individual players that participate in it. Parents shell out $500 in participation fees (for many clubs), then have to foot the bill for travel expenses to and from the tournaments, which are usually out-of-state and a good distance away. Some tournaments are so far away they require the teams to book hotel rooms, adding on still greater expense to the families involved. Now, if you think these moms and dads write the checks out just so their daughters can have fun and be with their friends, you got another thing coming to you. For this kind of financial commitment, there is an expectation from the parents that the experience will be one that materially benefits their daughter. They expect their daughter to end the AAU season a significantly better player than she was at tryouts. Part of the responsibility for making this happen lies with the coaches. But, an equal part has to do with the actual competitive level of AAU ball, itself. Playing four high school length games in two days with and against the best players in the area will, in and of itself, make players better.
Like the end-of-season NCAA Championships, AAU has a very similar setup. Local teams vie to finish high at District Qualifiers (known as “Regionals”). The best of this bunch then proceed to the National Championships, which are held all over the country. But it is a two-tiered system. There is a Division I and a Division II. But, unlike NCAA collegiate ball, each AAU team can pick which division it wants to participate in, regardless of how strong or weak the team may be. The obvious flaw in this setup is that a strong, true D1 team, that may have played A Bracket all season, can drop down and enter D2 (B Bracket) Regionals. The idea being that wins will come more easily and that the team will go farther than it would if it competed in D1. AAU halfheartedly tried to address this issue by instituting a scheme whereby every team that enters D1 Regionals is at least guaranteed a spot in D2 Nationals, should they fail to advance to D1 Nationals. That is no small point. It bears repeating. Every team that enters D1 Regionals is guaranteed a spot at either D1 or D2 Nationals, no matter how poorly they play at Regionals. Teams that enter the D2 leg of Regionals must win their way to the D2 Nationals. And if they do poorly? They’re out in the cold! So, going B Bracket at Regionals carries with it a great risk of coming away empty-handed while simultaneously offering a limited reward for doing well (only a D2 National spot).
Given all this, I pose the question, why would a coach, parent or player purposely want to compete in B Bracket Regionals? And not just for the logistical reasons outlined in the last paragraph. There are greater issues. Why would you want to face lesser, weaker competition? It was once said, “You’re only as good as your opponents allow you to be.” The better teams you face, the better you, yourself, will be. Maybe not now, today, but with time, by constantly playing the best competition you can find, you will realize your fullest potential.
Delaware clubs have had a troubling history of “playing down” at Regionals. Very few clubs since 2000 have entered teams in D1 Regionals. That leads to public perceptions being formed. Local AAU coaches might not even be aware of this. But people know about it, form their own opinions, and, in the case of parents of elite players, take action on it. Elena Delle Donne started out playing AAU ball in Delaware. But, she didn’t stay. She ended up playing for Fencor in Philly because she needed A Bracket players as teammates and as competition. Fencor could give her that. Khadijah Rushdan played for DBL Phoenix out of Philly. Same reasons. If you look at the top 20 high school players living in Delaware right now, just guessing, probably 10 of them play out-of-state. I would propose that almost every one of them does so for competitive reasons. And so continues the endless cycle. The best players don’t play here because we’re not competitive enough for them. And we’re not competitive enough for them because they (the best players) refuse to stay here and help us get competitive! But the players’ decisions on where to play are merely symptoms of the problem. They will not be the ones to break the talent exodus to Pennsylvania. The first step must come from local AAU coaches and club directors. Someone has to decide to step up and be real. Someone has to understand what AAU is for, and what it is not for. By creating a “we want to face the very best teams – even at Regionals” environment, AAU clubs in Delaware can begin to slowly reverse the out-of-state trend. In a few short years, such clubs may even begin to match-up well with the Philly elite clubs. That’ll be a good day for Delaware Girls Basketball.
Matt Payne coaches the 11U Wilmington Tigers team. To the fullest extent of my knowledge, his was the only team from Delaware in any age bracket that entered D1 Regionals. He went 0 – 2 facing tough competition. His team will go on to play in the D2 Nationals. He explained his feelings to me thusly:
I feel that each coaching staff needs to look at their team and determine if they can be competitive at the D1 level. I think if you can play a team and stay within a 10 to 12 point game you are competitive. Mike Myron and I coach together and we discussed each week how we look against our competition. We felt that we would not be competitive against the top tier D1 teams in our region, but that we could compete with most D1 teams.
When Mike and I plan the schedule for the season we try to balance having our team be pushed by teams that are as strong or stronger then we are, with some teams and tournaments that we should do well. We do not want a schedule where we are going to win all of our games or a schedule where we get beaten every game by over 20 points. We try to maintain and build the players confidence and also push them to improve their individual and team skills. Our schedule this season has been a mix both D1 and some D2.
The regional qualifiers provide each team with an opportunity to play against the very best D1 teams in the area. We like to use the regional qualifier as a barometer for our progress as well as an indicator of how much we need to improve to play with the very best. We lost our first game in the regional qualifier this year by 4 points and felt we could have easily won the game. In our second game we had the lead near half time, but lost by 12. Mike and I both felt that it was a very good experience for the team and we plan to be back next year and win a few games.
We felt confident that we could beat the teams that played in the D2 regional. We are not saying we definitely would have finished in first, but we felt we were as strong as everyone else. We knew we would be pushed harder in the D1 qualifier and we would not finish at the top, but we wanted the challenge. We communicated to our players and parents why we wanted to play D1 and everyone felt good about the decision before and after the regional.
We think at the national level that we are a good D2 team but not strong enough for D1 this year. We will continue to improve and maybe next year we will be ready for D1 at the national level. I had the opportunity to coach at the D1 nationals last year and five of our current players were on that team (Kayla Moffitt, Kate Payne, Erin Joyce, Christy McDermott and Meghan Doogan). The competition at the D1 nationals is the best you can get and you have an opportunity to play with future D1 college players.
We do feel strongly about representing the Wilmington Tigers at the nationals. We did not qualify for the D1 nationals this year, but we will play at the D2 nationals.
Mike and I feel that the team grows from a loss just as much as from a win. One of my favorite games this year was one in which we only had 6 players. Several of our players were injured and some had other commitments leaving us with only 6 players. We called the girls the “Iron six” and they went out and played very hard and eventually won the game. In another game we played up one age group against a 12U team. We were a smaller team, but we played very hard and the game went into overtime. Unfortunately we lost in overtime. In both the win and loss the players learned many things about themselves and their team.
Our team balances playing extremely hard during the game and being able to forget about basketball and enjoy each other’s company after the game. The players on the Wilmington Tigers 11U team are Kayla Moffitt, Kate Payne, Meghan Doogan, Alexa Venuto, Hannah Gladnick, Christy McDermott, Miranda Schiccatano, Erin Joyce, Rebecca Peet, Laura Bohannon and Val Quiñones.
Sometimes teams and clubs focus on the number of wins only and not the individual and team improvement. Like most things in life the proper balance of many things is the key to success.
Would that all of our AAU coaches felt like Coach Payne, or at the very least, the coaches of those teams that are strong, talent-stocked and winning. If your team is routinely going 3 – 1 or 4 – 0 most weekends, there is little excuse to drop down in Regionals. If you’re struggling, if you’re going 2 – 2 or worse most weekends, then you might have good grounds to go B Bracket until you recruit up a little more. The suggestions in this article are more directed at the stronger teams. Most of the well-known area clubs each have at least one solid, D1-capable team. Why then did only one team from Delaware enter D1 Regionals?
I respect Delaware AAU coaches. Having been an AAU coach for 4 seasons myself, I know the sacrifice involved. I know that's it's not only volunteer work, but that it actually costs the coaches money to go through a season -- a fact lost on a lot of parents! I'm not "going after" anybody. I'm simply asking what I think is an appropriate question in an appropriate forum: Why do we (all the Delaware clubs) shy away from A Bracket ball?
We will, of course, be happy to post differing opinions and give equal time.
Jim Charles