BOYS’ BASKETBALL FALL LEAGUES PROVIDE PLAYERS AND TEAMS A CHANCE TO PLAY BEFORE THE HIGH SCHOOL SEASON

 Each fall dozens of high school basketball teams put on their shoes and shorts and attend a fall league in the metro twin cities area. These leagues provide teams a chance to play basketball and get some experience for teams before the season starts. Each league is independent of each other. They each use high school rules but most adjust rules that govern the time of play, if games are quarters or halves, and overtime protocol.


Concordia University of St Paul is one of the few venues for the MYAS Fall league. From the MYAS web site. The Minnesota Youth Athletic Services, Inc. (MYAS) was organized in 1991 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the delivery of youth sports services to young athletes, coaches and parents. The MYAS is Minnesota's largest multi-sport organization focused solely on youth athletics with more than 110,000 kids participating in its programs in 2009. The MYAS is a central clearinghouse for youth sports, serving as an information channel linking hundreds of youth associations, coaches and thousands of parents.


Throughout the fall they put on a tournament at Forest Lake High School. Different schools host a tournament and teams can play in the league through a few weeks leading up to the high school basketball season.


For me the Fall Leagues is a chance to watch different teams’ styles of play. I also get a chance to see different teams that I might not see during the regular season. Teams don’t usually have their full complement of players. Fall Leagues are an option for guys at most high schools. Rosters usually are hard to come by during leagues because they can change every week. Each league team usually gets a league tee shirt.


High school coaches cannot coach their own kids during this time period. There is usually a parent and a coach from a booster club that coaches teams.


Many Division 2 and Division 3 college coaches attend fall leagues to look out for different players who might interest then in the regular season.


AAU basketball originations run the leagues. The Minnesota State High School League has no control over who plays and what teams participate in the leagues.


Bloomington Jefferson hosts a fall league that John Sherman’s AAU program the Minnesota Magic puts on. He not only runs the Minnesota Magic AAU program but he is also the head basketball coach for Minnesota Transitions boys’ basketball team.

BASKETBALL COVERAGE OF THE BATTLE ON THE HARDWOOD

I am at Woodbury High school today covering the girl’s Battle On The Hardwood AAU basketball event. The reason that I am at this event is because one it will give me some more experience covering an event. And then it will also for me get me more contacts within the girl’s basketball community.

With so many different AAU & MYAS basketball tournaments that are going on through out the summer, it is impossible for me to cover all of the hundreds of tournaments across the state. I can not possibly make it to every event. If you have any ideas on what events you would like me to cover please consider sending me an email at stevenmgr@hotmail.com Thanks a lot.