Corporate Money Has Ruined Youth Sports
Sports are one of the few spaces in American society genuinely guided by ideas of fairness and meritocracy. But AAU basketball, with its pay-to-play leagues and corporate sponsorships, is ruining this experience for millions of young people.
Bedford High sophomore plays on the Mass Rivals Amateur Athletic Union club in a game on Febebruary 13, 2018, in Massachusetts. (Keith Bedford / the Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The AAU, which stands for the Amateur Athletic Union, a US nonprofit organization that hosts a variety of different sports for youth athletes, has drawn attention largely for its influence over youth basketball. Many high-profile basketball players, including LeBron James and Luka Dončić, have taken issue with what they see as its harmful effect on the modern game.
The draw of the AAU is that it provides a venue for the best players in the country to compete during the summer in front of a slew of college recruiters; any player angling for a D1 (the top division of college sports) scholarship must work through the AAU basketball system.
The culture of AAU is hypercompetitive: athletes from the age of seven travel the country and play in shoe brand–sponsored tournaments — a far remove from the (more affordable) culture of pickup basketball long associated with the sport.
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