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Frequently Asked Questions

With the ever-increasing popularity of AAU Baseball in South Carolina, I get a steady number of e-mails asking "How do I start an AAU baseball team?"

The "pat" answer that I've sent out has been:

  1. Form your team
  2. Get registered
  3. Decide what tournaments you want to play in
  4. Play ball and have fun

I've always felt my answer was inadequate because there is so much more than these four steps to starting an AAU team and doing it right.

This document is not meant to be "definitive" or "all-inclusive" or tell you "how you have to do it". It simply tries to help you avoid some of the mistakes made by those of us who have come before you.

This is a collaborative effort. I'd like to thank Jeremy Bullock, AAU Sports Manager for Baseball & Softball; Jeffery Fink, web master of the Virginia AAU web page; Jim Lisk, Chairman of AAU baseball in SC; Deb Long, web master of both the NC AAU web page and the National AAU web page; and Brian Stanton, former head coach of the Lake Murray Royals AAU baseball team, for their contributions in bringing this to fruition.

The Questions

What is a Mission Statement? And do I have to have one?

Starting a team first requires that you establish what you hope to accomplish or gain from AAU baseball. I suggest writing a Mission Statement. Your Mission Statement should tell who and what you are, the accomplishments you hope to achieve and to what extent your effort will go to reach your goal. Your mission statement will change in time because players, coaches and parents will see things in a different light with experience in the game and the business end of AAU baseball.

Here is an example of the Mission Statement we had when I was with the Lake Murray Royals:

"Building Character Through Competition"

The primary goal of the Lake Murray Royals is to develop baseball players for high school baseball and beyond, through playing competitive amateur baseball at the highest possible level. We endeavor to achieve our goal by building character through teaching the value of a strong work ethic, commitment to a goal, good sportsmanship, teamwork, and the promotion of a winning attitude. We, as Coaches, stress the "right way to play the game" through teaching the fundamentals and respect for the rich heritage of the game of baseball. With the Lake Murray Royals, winning is the result of "building character though competition."

We feel the benefit of teaching such values will produce resilient young men of outstanding moral character with a solid foundation of life-skills with which to grow into quality role models for youth of the future.

No. You don't have a Mission Statement to participate in AAU baseball. But if you've written one, it helps keep you grounded and pointed towards your goals and pointed in the right direction.

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At what level do I want to play and compete?

There are two levels of play in AAU baseball. There is Division I and Division II. There is no hard and fast definition of who can play in Division I and who can play in Division II.

For the most part, Division I is for the teams from larger cities or the statewide invitation only teams or teams that have combined three or four AAAA high schools together to make their team. Division II is geared more for the local teams and teams from smaller communities.

You'll have to decide:

  1. Do you want to play at a predominantly local level?
  2. Do you want to compete with the best teams in the state for a championship and a chance to go to a National Tournament?
  3. Are you building a team to try to win a National Championship?

The way you answer the above three questions will dictate if you want to play in Division I or Division II. What you're looking for, of course, is good competition. It's no fun if you take a team that should be D2 and get your brains beat in playing in D1. By the same token, your D1 kids aren't getting any better beating the daylights out of teams in D2.

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How do I form my team?

How you select your players is pretty much up to you.

Some AAU teams are Little League ®, Dixie Youth ®, or high school teams that want to keep playing together during the summer and into the fall after their league season is over. The Florida team that won the Little League World Series ® a couple of years ago was essentially their AAU team from the previous fall. And they gave a great deal of credit for their success in Williamsport to their participation in AAU baseball.

Some teams have open tryouts. When I was with the Lake Murray Royals, we had open tryouts that we ran as a baseball camp. We advertised in The State newspaper. We charged $30.00 for ten Saturday's in the fall. So, we made a little bit of money and the kids got their $30.00 worth of instruction over the run of the camp. Now, this requires a lot of organization. The first few Saturday's were just basic instruction in small groups. Later on in the fall, we had scrimmage games to see what the kids could do under "game situations." The last thing we did was take some of the kids who had not played travel baseball in the past to one tournament so they and their parents could see what travel baseball was really all about. Then we picked our team.

Some teams are invitation only. There are statewide travel teams in the older age groups (Diamond Devils, Carolina Clippers) that are pretty much invitation only.

A couple of points to consider in choosing your team.

  1. Make sure you have enough pitching. If you're going to tournaments where you might play four or five games in a weekend, you can't do that with less than eight to ten pitchers. The last thing you'd want to do is hurt a kid by pitching him too much with too little rest.
  2. Make sure you'll have adequate playing time for all the kids you keep on the team. There is an AAU limit of 20 kids on the roster when you go to Nationals. That doesn't mean you have to keep twenty. Moms and Dads get very upset when they've forked over $1000.00 and their son plays two innings in five games over a weekend tournament. When I was with the Royals, we found 13-15 to be the ideal number. That changes somewhat on the select statewide travel teams that bring players on as "pitchers only". Those kids come on the team knowing the only time they're going to play is when they are pitching.

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How do I finance my team?

After the excitement of starting an AAU team wears off, the reality of the cost sets in. In order to predict and control costs, a budget and schedule must be made for the team.

This budget should include plans for local play, state qualifier, invitational play and nationals. Some of the items to include for the cost to cover players and coaches' expenses are as follows:

  1. Team equipment: helmets, balls, catcher's gear, safety kit, soft toss net etc.
  2. Uniforms: pants, socks, jerseys, hats,(More than one set of each)
  3. Registration fees: AAU cards for players, coaches, club fee and team fee
  4. Administration cost: phone bills and mailing cost
  5. Travel: air fare, van/car rental, hotel, food, entry fee for at-large tournaments, state qualifier tournament, national tournament, etc.
  6. Local cost: practice and game fields, umpires, home field improvements, etc.

After the cost per player is established (total expenses of players and coaches divided by total players), a fund raising strategy can now be planned. Fund raising needs to be tailored to the team; some people will want to buy out of fund raising and others will need to do fund raising. Make sure that you choose a plan that will be attractive to the parents for they will be doing the bulk of the work. Make a plan for the parents to get in on cost reduction of their personal expenses by making them active in the business end of club activities.

Fund raising plans come in a wide range: 100 Inning Games, selling candy bars, pizzas, cups, grass seed, hosting tournaments, working bingo, clean up crew after professional games, etc. Be creative, always looking for a new or better way.

An AAU team can qualify for non-profit status, and the potential benefits are generally worth the paperwork. Unless your team has non-profit status from the IRS, any personal or corporate donations are not tax deductible. However, a business can advertise with your team through a banner, sign, uniform logo, etc. One way to reduce over all money requirements is team sponsorship.

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How do I get my team registered?

All participants (athletes and coaches) must be current AAU members to participate in AAU sanctioned events.

Instant registration for AAU membership is available online. A credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express) is needed. Membership in AAU allows an athlete to participate in all of the AAU sport programs. Just register and print out your card.

There is a Registration Page on the SC AAU Baseball web site that will tell you what you need to do and help walk you through the registration process.

Here's the link to the Membership Information Page on the National AAU web site. There is a really good FAQ.

Here's the link to the AAU Internet Registration on the National AAU web site.

Contact Betty Quave, Registration Chairwoman, for additional assistance, if needed.
E-mail: Betty Quave
Phone: 803-777-3890

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How can I find out about upcoming tournaments?

Here is the link to Open Invitational Tournaments on the SC AAU web site.

Here is the link to State Qualifier Tournaments on the SC AAU web site.

Here is the link to AAU National Championships Information on the SC AAU web site.

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Who should coach the team?

The short answer is: Whoever you want to coach your team should coach.

In the younger age groups, it's usually one or more of the fathers on the team.

In the older age groups, it's not unusual to see high school coaches involved and doing the coaching.

Having done it both ways, I can tell you that it's usually best if you have someone who doesn't have a kid on the team doing the coaching. The reason is very simple. It avoids that "his son is playing just because he's the coach's son while my boy who is just as good sits the bench" stuff.

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Management points for parents, players, team administrators and coaches

It's a good idea to have a Budget Committee made up of parents, team administrators, and coaches who meet regularly to go over exactly how the money is being collected and spent because we're talking about a pretty fair chunk of change. If you've got 15 kids on the team at $1000.00 a kid, that's $15,000. And in my book, that's a lot of money.

The last thing you want to do is get ready to go to Nationals and find there is no money in the till to go. There have been many an AAU team (like marriages) that have broken up fighting over the money. This is a potential power keg that is best fixed on the front end.

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How do we qualify for a National Championship or an Invitational Tournament?

There are several ways to qualify for a national tournament.

You can win a Super Regional. Depending on the number of teams in a Super Regional, you can qualify for nationals if you finish high enough in the super regional, even if you don't win it.

You can win the State Qualifier. Again, depending on how many teams are participating, you can qualify for nationals if you finish high enough, even if you don't win the tournament.

The "Point System Winner" of an age group is awarded a berth to that National Championship. Here is the link for more information on the Points System.

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How can I get a list of the AAU rules for my sport?

Here is the link to 2006 AAU By-Laws and Code Book. This document covers general AAU policy.

Here is the link to 2006 AAU Baseball Handbook. This document is specifically covers AAU rules for baseball.

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What problems can I anticipate having?

Having been involved with several AAU travel teams in the past, I can tell you that from my experience the problems typically come from two things:

  1. Money
  2. Playing time

My advice would be to make sure those two things are well understood by everybody BEFORE you start. You can save yourself a lot of heartache if you do.

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If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, contact Jim Lisk.
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