Minnesota AAU competition may resume by July 1… or not
Minnesota’s AAU club directors, players and parents are kind of like the lead-footed driver waiting impatiently at an exceptionally long red light. With a left foot on the brakes, and a twitchy right foot on the gas pedal revving the motor hard, we are growing impatient. If the red light lingers much longer the result will be inevitable – road rage! Thankfully on Friday a pronouncement on Minnesota AAU’s twitter account (@AAUEvents) offered up this nugget of hope:
“Governor Walz hopes to allow basketball competition to begin around July 1st in Minnesota, pending COVID numbers. Full slate of Minnesota events can be found at aauevents.com. Registration is open! State Health Commissioner: “We’re very hopeful that, if the COVID-19 health measures continue to improve, we expect to be able to resume games and competitions for medium-risk sports by the end of June.”
Apparently, in the pseudo-scientific, politically-charged environment that now constitutes pandemic remediation, basketball is considered medium-risk. I’m good with that, but of course we’re not sure what ‘COVID numbers’ really means. By now Minnesotans in favor of the state re-opening at a faster pace have become accustomed to having their hopes dashed as the bar is raised over and again. Just ask the restaurant owners.
Regardless, most AAU teams commenced a modified version of practice last week. I have seen nearly 20 training sessions held by a half dozen different clubs and everyone’s interpretation of the governor’s current restrictions is a little bit different. Some teams are following the guidelines to the letter: no sharing of the basketball, no players in close proximity, sanitizing of balls and hands at short intervals and only the bare minimum of personnel in the gym.
One club declined my request to attend practice because management of the facility they were renting was being particularly strict. Other teams have been much more liberal, holding practices that looked like business as usual, although I haven’t seen anyone closely guarding anyone else, at least not in the way a responsible basketball coach would want!
When it comes to tournament play the thinking is all over the map. Reverting to the traffic analogy, the governor’s guidelines for basketball are kind of like the 55 MPH speed limit, and we’re all familiar with how that goes. If there are 100 drivers on the highway, there will always be the two or three who drive 55 and not a spec over. Then there are the folks at the opposite end of the spectrum, the lead-foots who’ll go 85 or 90 in a snowstorm. Meanwhile the vast majority of us keep the speedo somewhere in the 60s.
Just as we have seen this dynamic play out so far in practice, we are about to see it on full display when it comes to playing tournaments. Some clubs are telling their families that they have no intention of playing at all until they are given a 100% all clear from above and they don’t appear to have scheduled anything. That would be your 55-and-not-1-more-MPH type of person.
Others are anxious to play now. Although the governor’s order specifically prohibits teams from travelling out of state, we know of at least one team – an independent unit that has always thrived on its renegade persona – playing in Iowa this weekend. That would be your 85 MPH-in-a-snowstorm guy.
In two weeks, about 20 Minnesota teams are planning to play at the All-Iowa Attack tournament on the expectation that the governor will OK such adventures by that time. I’d bet you a dollar that every one of those teams will be at that tournament whether the governor gives the green light or not. No matter how you personally feel about the situation, it’s a fact: The citizenry has grown weary of the constraints in general, and their behavior over the past couple of weeks reflects that in most matters of everyday life.
AAU is no different. If a few clubs decide it’s time to travel then expect even the more cautious folks to follow suit. After all, even the average law-abiding driver who goes 60 when they are the only car on the road is almost certain to drive 75 if the rest of the traffic is doing the same.
With all of that in mind, mark these planned tournament dates on your calendar, but do yourself a favor: use a pencil with an eraser because nothing is carved in stone.
- June 27-28 – LaCrosse, Wisc. Shootout (1 day)
- July 11-12 – AAU Saturday & Sunday Shootouts, Bloomington (1 day)
- July 11-12– Playmakers Shootout, LaCrosse (1 day)
- July 18-19 – Summer Eclipse, Bloomington
- July 24-26 – Ball ’til You Fall, LaCrosse
- July 31-Aug. 2 – AAU Summer Jam, Bloomington
- August 7-9 – AAU Girls State Championships, Shakopee & Bloomington
- August 14-16 – North Tartan Meltdown/AAU Nationals, Minneapolis & St. Paul
- September TBD – Lake Slam, Bloomington. Details to be determined based on when the NCAA designates a viewing period for Division 1 coaches.
Dates for the Mill City Invitational in Chaska and Chanhassen have yet to be determined. A number of Minnesota teams are also planning to play events in Sioux Falls and Ames. Check with individual clubs for details.