Love the new AAU age rules!

[Anchor]

I hate the fact that you have 6th grade 13 year olds and 14 year old 7th graders playing.Basketball is bad enough but football is worse. The thing is you only notice how much better they are at these grades,competition eventually catches up. I wish school ball would do the same!

[playitagain]

The date in which the made the cut off is ignorant. AAU is a march to July sport. I agree the idea of getting this age difference fixed is great but the date makes no sense

[Omega Man]

Let them play by the grade they are in. That is where they will be in high school.

[Jumper_Dad]

Let them play by the grade they are in. That is where they will be in high school.

You see a lot of 7th grade All-Americans that way, playing against kids one or two years younger than themselves. Then when they get to playing against kids their own age they are no where as good. This is one thing Soccer has ALWAYS done right, play divided by age and not grade.

[Omega Man]

You see a lot of 7th grade All-Americans that way, playing against kids one or two years younger than themselves. Then when they get to playing against kids their own age they are no where as good. This is one thing Soccer has ALWAYS done right, play divided by age and not grade.

 

I'm With you on the 7th grade thing. Love the folks who get all excited about how good a kid is in the 7th grade and he shaves! It levels out a bit when they get to HS. Age makes a huge difference but the gap closes as you grow older. Fact of the matter is, he will be a senior when your son is a senior too.

[Anchor]

I'm With you on the 7th grade thing. Love the folks who get all excited about how good a kid is in the 7th grade and he shaves! It levels out a bit when they get to HS. Age makes a huge difference but the gap closes as you grow older. Fact of the matter is, he will be a senior when your son is a senior too.

True, but at that grade it doesn't quite mea as much as it does in 7th grade. The age difference in middle school has much more impact than senior year. If they wanted to stay back in junior or senior year I would be fine with that.

[PurplePride92]

Let them play by the grade they are in. That is where they will be in high school.

 

That's the problem. 17 year olds can play 15U and 19 year olds can play 17U. What's the point in calling it 15U if it is dominated by 17 year olds? Or 16 year olds who turn 17 a week after the AAU season ends? Either go by grades or go by age but if you go by age use the right ages. It's not complicated.

[Voice of Reason]

What are the new rules?

[Anchor]

What are the new rules?

 

Go to AAU website and you will see age requirements for 2015.

[PurplePride92]

What are the new rules?

 

Post #8 has them.

 

 

http://bluegrasspreps.com/aau-select-club/big-changes-aau-289533.html

[FeelingGood]

Post #8 has them.

 

 

http://bluegrasspreps.com/aau-select-club/big-changes-aau-289533.html

 

So if I'm understanding this one:

15U/9th Grade: An athlete can be no older than 15 on August 31, 2015. Grade Exception: An athlete who is in the 9th grade as of Oct 1, 2014 and who is no older than 16 on August 31, 2015 is eligible to play in the 15U/9th grade division

 

A kid that turns 17 on Sept 1st are eligible to play 15s? Nice to know AAU is trying to make it fair for kids to play against like talent.. When you go and watch these high school games its noticeable when when you play a team full of men versus a team of boys that still look like they should be in HS. If I have a 15 year old son and little (BIG) Johnny that's 17 wants to play against him so that he can dominate the age level, good for him. As long as my son is hanging with that 17 year old I realize he still has 2 additional years of developing to do before he turns 17.

[Devilinthestands]

I love the new rule. Hold backs have went out of control in the area that I'm in. A lot of kids were turned away at the AAU tryouts this past weekend in Huntington. Many were great kids, just didn't know the new ruling. Love it or hate it....it's here.

[Handy Manny]

Any updates on how tournaments have been with the new rules in effect? Obviously the AAU tournaments are required to follow the new rules, but what about most other events.

[SSSGODWIN]

Any updates on how tournaments have been with the new rules in effect? Obviously the AAU tournaments are required to follow the new rules' date=' but what about most other events.[/quote']

 

Many AAU sanctioned events are having a low number of participating teams. KBA adopted the same rules early in 2015 and had to revert back to the old rules because numbers were so low. Recently in Cincy a Super Regional did not have a boys division due to low registration. AAU did a good thing by implementing this rule. But the date they picked makes ZERO since. For example. My 2nd team has a kid born on 8-31-2007 and is forced to play the entire season as a 7 year old vs 8 year old kids. He will not play one single game as an 8 year old but is forced to play up. I have two 7th grade 13 year olds that are born in August. Same situation, they will not be 14 until 6 weeks after AAU Nationals. But are required to play up.

 

AAU needs to simply change the date to February 28th. This would make the most since.

 

Most tournaments are grade based and they allow for the with bad birthdays to play in their grade classification. The only way to play down is to be advanced 1 grade. (Opposite of held back)

 

A 7th grade team in Cincy was dis qualified from the finals of a tournament because they had a player that was too old.

[Handy Manny]

I figured it would cause turnout to be low at most AAU events due the fact that most teams carried at least one or more grade exception players. You cannot fault the AAU because something really needed to be adjusted at the younger ages. A full year of growth makes a huge difference. I think no matter where you make the cutoff there will always be players who benefit and players who lose. I am just hoping that they stay with it and do not back track due to low turnout at events. I would like to see non sanctioned event operators follow suit and adjust their guidelines as well.