Forming an AAU Team can be fun and easy. AAU Membership provides flexibility and competition, with the only criteria being age to compete. There are some important considerations before you get started.

If you are an existing team, please click here to go directly to cost.

Important Considerations

The four most important considerations in forming a team are developing a philosophy for your team, finding committed players, finding a coach and finding a place to practice.

Develop a Philosophy

What kind of team will you form? Will it be a team that is a participation team where everyone gets equal playing time or a performance team where playing time must be earned? If the coach and the players do not buy into the philosophy of the team, it will eventually lead to problems and hard feelings.

Selection of Players

Will you run an area wide tryout or a local tryout?

Will they be open tryouts or by invitation only?

Are tryouts necessary or will you just select your own team by invitation only?

You will also need to decide how many players you will have on your team’s roster. Cost, which is addressed in the next section, may have some impact on your decision. AAU Baseball Teams may carry a maximum of 20 players on a team from ages 8: Under thru 16: Under and 30 players on a roster for ages 17: Under and 18/19: Under.

If you find that you still have openings on your team, you can post a bulletin on the Baseball League site or go to www.aausports.org and log in with your member id to view players who are available in your area. This new program is called, My Child Wants to Play AAU Sports.

AAU Membership

In conjunction with its overall sanctioning and membership program, the AAU maintains an insurance plan that provides coverage for its associations, member clubs, teams, and individual members conducting and/or participating in AAU Sanctioned Events. There are two types of coverage provided in the AAU insurance program: general liability and participant accident.

In addition, AAU’s insurance program extends coverage to AB cardholders for certain events not sanctioned by AAU subject to the guidelines in the Insurance Summary Brochure.

When comparing youth organizations, please be sure to compare apples to apples. You may click here (insert insurance summary brochure here) to see a summary brochure that lists the limits of liability that your membership includes. Once you join AAU, you do not need to purchase any additional insurance.

Cost

When calculating the cost of participating in AAU, the only costs are as follows:

1. You will need to purchase an AAU Club Membership as follows:
   
   
   1. Level 1 - $30 per year allows you to participate in AAU Events
   2. Level 2 - $60 per year allows you to participate and host events
   3. Level 3 - $300 per year allows you to participate, host events and participate under the non-profit affiliation of the AAU National Headquarters.
   
   
2. All of your players and coaches must be AAU Members.
   
   
   1. AAU Regular membership for youth programs is $12 per player and $14 per coach, once per year.
   2. Or, Added Benefit Membership is $14 per player and $16 per coach, once per year.
   
   (Please see the AAU Sports Insurance Program Summary Brochure to select which membership is right for your organization.)
   
   
3. You will need to have a meeting with your team to select the type of uniforms that you will have. Will your team get a sponsor for jerseys or for the entire uniform? Will each parent purchase their child’s uniform? Or, will you as the coach purchase uniforms and allow your team to use them?

Ready to Play!

You are ready to play, you have selected your team, registered with AAU and obtained uniforms. The next step is determining which events to attend; there is a variety of choices.

1. League play is a low cost alternative to participating in tournaments. Typically, AAU registered teams play games on the weekend and share the cost of umpires and baseballs. Please visit www.aaunationalleague.org for more info.
   
2. Local tournaments are hosted in districts by your District Chairman or other AAU Clubs.
   
3. Super Regional Tournaments are hosted in your district and may encompass teams from other states.
   
4. National Championships are hosted at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, Home of AAU and other great destinations throughout the country. Please visit www.aausports.org for more information.
   
5. Our member clubs conduct Camps, Clinics and Showcases throughout the year for all ages. Please visit Find an Event in your District to see a list of these sanctioned events with contact info.
   

If you have any questions regarding registering your team or AAU Baseball, please call 1-877-AAU-4441 from 9am to 5pm EST.