We wrote a few weeks back about some of the awesome improvements we are making to our 2019 spring/summer season, and we mentioned that those were just “part 1” of the upgrades being made.
Well, we’re back with part 2 of the improvements that are going to be made to our AAU Club Teams in 2019!
Again, as a member of the Jr. NBA Flagship Network and an accredited USA Basketball Youth organization, we’re constantly striving to improve and create the best possible experience for our players, parents, and coaches, and we’re confident all of these upgrades we’re making in 2019 will do just that.
As we said, part 1 of the improvements we released to you previously mostly focused on the spring/summer season, while in this part 2, we’re going to look at the biggest change we’re making in all PSB team cities — extending the team membership into, at minimum, the fall, but in some cities, the winter as well.
So instead of signing up and playing for 4-5 months in the spring/summer, players will now be signing up for 8-11 months which will include the fall and/or winter season as well, depending on the city.
The reasons for this change are myriad, all are incredibly positive, and again, will allow PSB to create a better youth basketball experience, so let’s take a look at them below.
#1 The Season “Setups” Will Remain the Same
Previously, we had 2 seasons and tryouts for each one – the big, main spring/summer season and then the secondary fall/winter season. The spring/summer season focused on mandatory team practices and mostly tournaments while the fall/winter focused on optional group skill workouts and mostly league play.
Well, this will remain the same. The spring/summer will stay as mandatory team practices twice a week and tournaments/leagues while the fall/winter will stay as optional group skill workouts and tournaments/leagues.
So players still have the flexibility to play multiple sports or participate in other extracurricular activities in both the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons.
#2 More Continuity with Teams
Players will now tryout one time per year in the late winter or early spring (Jan-March) depending on the city. There will be NO fall/winter season tryouts because now the same teams from spring/summer will continue on into the fall and possibly winter.
This means that teams will have the same players and same coaches, which is a request we’ve had quite a bit in the past! Teams will practice and play together all spring and summer, so now heading into the fall season there are no chemistry issues with adding new players and focusing on individual skill workouts instead of practices.
It’s a win-win, teams in the fall/winter should win more games than in the past all while improving their individual skills! And again, there will be plenty of flexibility for players to play other sports or do other activities!
#3 Better Curriculum/Development
Piggybacking off the first two points, we have been hard at work developing a better basketball curriculum for our players since we now know we’ll have them for 8-11 months. We’re now able to develop a sort of “year-round” basketball academy curriculum, one that “builds” each month/season, as opposed to having to work with a much shorter term.
And this lines up much better with the Youth Basketball Guidelines that USA Basketball and Jr. NBA have come out within the past year!
#4 More Investment in Coach Training
At PSB, we pride ourselves and spend a lot of time/effort to hire the highest quality coaches possible. However, having 2 separate seasons made it difficult to have to constantly hire and rehire different coaches.
Similar to point #3 above, now that we know our coaches will be with us for basically a whole year, we can reinvest that time saved into doing more in terms of training and developing them, including online PSB coaching courses, coaching clinics, and more.
#5 Lower Monthly Installments
Playing with PSB is truly an investment into your child as we try, and are making even more efforts in 2019, to not only improve our kids’ basketball skills but also help them learn life lessons in the process, but we’re excited to be able to lower the monthly installment amounts for 2019 due to the extended membership.
We hope these lower installments will allow parents some more financial flexibility!
#6 New Custom Under Armour Uniforms
Last but certainly not least, and not necessarily a reason for the year-round change, but more of another nice upgrade – we recently signed a great new deal to remain with Under Armour, and we plan to pass along many of those benefits, including discounts, to our players, parents, and coaches.
One of the cool benefits with this is we now have the opportunity to purchase sweet new custom uniforms that the players will absolutely love (and we’ve already confirmed with a few players/parents!).
That’s it for now! We’ve never been so excited for the new year’s seasons. We are positive that these improvements are going help us create the absolute best basketball experience for your child.
Tryouts are currently available for viewing online but not yet available for sign up. Registration will be available first thing in the new year, and your city director will follow up next week with your city-specific upgrades and information!
