GojiraCane
All ACC
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2018
- Messages
- 7,713
I'm curious if any of you have kids who play AAU ball, and if so if you've encountered this. I've seen this happen now (confirmed) twice now.
2015 - My older son is playing on 16U team in a tournament in Central Texas. Their opponents in the semifinals are a team that had their victory nullified after winning their first round game when it was discovered that they had a 19 year old and a 21 year old on their team. The tournament inexplicably did not disqualify this team after we found out that there were adults competing; they just did not allow the adults to play
Last weekend - My younger son is playing in a 14U tournament and goes up against a team with a couple of enormous individuals. These guys looked like full grown men, or at the very least a varsity high school team. Not kids entering high school. My son's got a very athletic team, but they were ultimately overwhelmed and lost by 25. As it turns out, we found out a day after the tournament ended that this team was actually made up of 10th and 11th graders from people who recognized them
I usually am suspicious when I see 8th graders with full beards playing, but I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. My own younger son played with a kid who was 6 feet tall in 12U ball, and was legitimately 12 years old (it was like having Shaq on our team). That said, when you actually have kids who are far older playing down, or even adults playing down...my question is this...
Why? What is the point? Is it an ego boost to beat up on younger kids? Or is it to drive up the profile of the AAU team that's using older athletes to win sponsorships? (although in the case of last weekend, the team is already sponsored).
2015 - My older son is playing on 16U team in a tournament in Central Texas. Their opponents in the semifinals are a team that had their victory nullified after winning their first round game when it was discovered that they had a 19 year old and a 21 year old on their team. The tournament inexplicably did not disqualify this team after we found out that there were adults competing; they just did not allow the adults to play
Last weekend - My younger son is playing in a 14U tournament and goes up against a team with a couple of enormous individuals. These guys looked like full grown men, or at the very least a varsity high school team. Not kids entering high school. My son's got a very athletic team, but they were ultimately overwhelmed and lost by 25. As it turns out, we found out a day after the tournament ended that this team was actually made up of 10th and 11th graders from people who recognized them
I usually am suspicious when I see 8th graders with full beards playing, but I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. My own younger son played with a kid who was 6 feet tall in 12U ball, and was legitimately 12 years old (it was like having Shaq on our team). That said, when you actually have kids who are far older playing down, or even adults playing down...my question is this...
Why? What is the point? Is it an ego boost to beat up on younger kids? Or is it to drive up the profile of the AAU team that's using older athletes to win sponsorships? (although in the case of last weekend, the team is already sponsored).