I'm such a sucker

On my trip to Dunkin' Donuts this morning, there were two kids (maybe 15 or 16) standing by the door in the freezing cold, and I knew they were collecting money for something. I ask one of the boys what they were collecting for. "It's AAU basketball." Immediately, I was suspicious, considering AAU basketball tends not to get a good rap on this site, especially the "Dimwit" thread.

The kid proceeds to tell me, "We're a traveling basketball team that plays .... well, pretty much around the world."

OK, who is this coach who is telling his players they'll play "around the world?" And furthermore, I can only assume this coach has all of his players at numerous Dunkin' Donuts in the area (it's New England, so there's two on each block) collecting money on a 30-degree day.

I really didn't want to give them any money, because I was highly suspicious of this "team," but I'm a sucker and I did. Now this could be a legitimate operation, but I left there feeling like I was snookered.

I guess this brings up a bigger point that, isn't there a better way to collect money for something? I always give, because 1) It's a dollar and 2) I feel like I'm being judged by the parents who are there if I don't. I can't wait until I get to be an old curmudgeon and I told them to F off.

So, do you guys give 100 percent of the time in that situation?

 

I've always wondered how AAU teams manage trips to Vegas and elsewhere. Supposedly some shoe money is involved, maybe a rich parent here and there willing to pony up hoping it gets their kid a look see from some college scouts but that can't be all of it can it?

 

I'm going to guess there is no team.

 

I hate when people beg for money which is what this is, legit or not.

Sell something. Don't beg.

And, of course, this higher level AAU stuff is dirty as shit.

 

LOL.

 

Former AAU coach here. Began doing it in 1991, ceased doing it in 2002.

Every cent of money any of my teams ever earned was through fundraising. We'd have car washes, sell doughnuts door-to-door in our uniforms, host tournaments (big money maker), hold dances (another big money maker), sell candy, have concession stands at athletic events, and every now and then would get nice-sized checks from local companies.

Each kid on the team had a responsibility of raising a certain amount of money to get through the initial "season", then we would have to re-adjust if our team qualified to go the AAU Nationals (which we always did)

We made it clear to the parents and the kids on the team that nothing was going to be given to them, everything was going to be earned. Back in those days, the shoe companies were just starting to creep into some of the more high-profile teams in our area. They would help subsidize costs. Now, a lot of them sponsor the teams and kids have no sense of ownership with a team or program. Everything is provided for them, which is a whole other argument.

We wanted our kids to buy-in to what we were trying to teach them on and off the court--the value of hard work, and that nothing would be given to them without them earning it. We took pride in that, and we had some very good teams that achieved a reasonable measure of success (multiple state championships, top-10 finishes at AAU Nationals.)

That was our model, and went AAU shenanigans really began to take a turn for the worse in the late 90's, I realized I didn't want to be a part of it any more.

We never stood on the corners with buckets (which I've seen kids doing now), but we would set up shop outside local Lowe's, Home Depot's, Wal-Mart's, etc, when we were trying to sell doughnuts or chocolate bars or something.

 

Selling weed at the various AAU tournaments is the way to go. The mark up is great, 200-400%. You know your market because you are your market. It's a product the adults are willing to pay for and even splurge on.

 

''I'm terribly sorry, but I do not have any cash on me, best of luck and have a great weekend."

I live in the heart of Beggarland, and this works to fend off inquiries from everyone from little kids to the most hardened homeless guys.

 

I don't always give, but there's no reason to assume that anyone involved in AAU is Sonny Vaccaro.

 

Like a fundamentals video endorsed by Fred McGriff for your "back to back to back AAU national championship" squad.

 

I have no clue how accurate this statement is, but I'm cracking up over it.

 

Sure, I usually give a buck or two.