NOT AAU: On-Court Brawl at Georgia Basketball Tournament Incorrectly Labeled as AAU
07/08/2018
OFFICIAL STATEMENT: On-Court Brawl at Georgia Basketball Tournament Incorrectly Labeled as AAU; Event not licensed by the AAU organization
ORLANDO, Fla (July 8, 2018) - Since 1888, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) has provided amateur athletic opportunities in cities throughout the United States. As the largest multi-sport organization in the country, the AAU is the standard bearer for premier event hosting.
Over the years, the AAU brand has become synonymous with non-scholastic basketball. While AAU is the industry leader in offering quality basketball programming, not all events labeled ‘AAU’ are licensed by the AAU organization.
Contrary to recent media reports, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) organization did not license The Association Presents the Finals boys’ basketball event at Lakepoint Sports facility in Georgia this past weekend (July 7-8) which featured an on-court brawl by participating players and referees. This event was not licensed by the AAU. Therefore, the event should not be referenced as ‘AAU.’
“The incident at the non-AAU basketball event in Georgia is unfortunate,” said Dr. Roger J. Goudy, AAU President/CEO. “The AAU organization takes the safety and well-being of our athletes, coaches and officials very seriously. Any such behavior is never tolerated at licensed AAU events and, for those groups who fraudulently represent themselves as AAU, we will pursue all legal remedies.”
AAU has many offerings other event organizations do not – a comprehensive background screening process for adult members, coaches education through AAU’s partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance, emphasis on athlete safety with the AAU concussion policy and youth protection handbook plus AAU basketball provides clearly defined, standardized competition rules and regulations.
AAU is regularly and wrongly used to describe all non-scholastic travel basketball. Not all basketball events in the summer are run by the AAU organization. Nonetheless, many such events are mischaracterized as AAU and mislabeled as AAU events when in fact they are not.
To avoid factual errors in future stories and confirm facts about the AAU - including whether a person, team or event is affiliated with the AAU - email your questions to mediafactcheck@aausports.org.
ABOUT THE AAU:
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is one of the largest- non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the country. As a multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports programs. Founded in 1888 to establish standards and uniformity in sports, the AAU philosophy of “Sports For All, Forever” is now shared by nearly 700,000 members and 150,000 volunteers across 41 sports programs and 55 U.S. districts. For more information, visit www.aausports.org.
Over the years, the AAU brand has become synonymous with non-scholastic basketball. While AAU is the industry leader in offering quality basketball programming, not all events labeled ‘AAU’ are licensed by the AAU organization.
Contrary to recent media reports, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) organization did not license The Association Presents the Finals boys’ basketball event at Lakepoint Sports facility in Georgia this past weekend (July 7-8) which featured an on-court brawl by participating players and referees. This event was not licensed by the AAU. Therefore, the event should not be referenced as ‘AAU.’
“The incident at the non-AAU basketball event in Georgia is unfortunate,” said Dr. Roger J. Goudy, AAU President/CEO. “The AAU organization takes the safety and well-being of our athletes, coaches and officials very seriously. Any such behavior is never tolerated at licensed AAU events and, for those groups who fraudulently represent themselves as AAU, we will pursue all legal remedies.”
AAU has many offerings other event organizations do not – a comprehensive background screening process for adult members, coaches education through AAU’s partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance, emphasis on athlete safety with the AAU concussion policy and youth protection handbook plus AAU basketball provides clearly defined, standardized competition rules and regulations.
AAU is regularly and wrongly used to describe all non-scholastic travel basketball. Not all basketball events in the summer are run by the AAU organization. Nonetheless, many such events are mischaracterized as AAU and mislabeled as AAU events when in fact they are not.
To avoid factual errors in future stories and confirm facts about the AAU - including whether a person, team or event is affiliated with the AAU - email your questions to mediafactcheck@aausports.org.
ABOUT THE AAU:
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is one of the largest- non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the country. As a multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports programs. Founded in 1888 to establish standards and uniformity in sports, the AAU philosophy of “Sports For All, Forever” is now shared by nearly 700,000 members and 150,000 volunteers across 41 sports programs and 55 U.S. districts. For more information, visit www.aausports.org.
