What's the difference between the Travel and Recreational programs?

AAU/Travel basketball is for boys and girls in 4th through 12th grade looking to develop higher level basketball skills in a competitive environment. Tryouts are held and not all players are guaranteed a spot on Thunder teams.  Games are played against other AAU/Travel teams on a local, regional and national level.  Recreational basketball is a local and regional league for boys and girls in 4th through 8th grade looking to develop skills in a less competitive environment than travel.  All on-time registrants will be guaranteed a spot on a team and teams will have an “equal playing” time rule.  

What's the difference between Instructional and Games?

 

Instructional focuses on development of basketball fundamentals and skills. Whereas, Games include practices and real games played against another team.  

When are Michigan Thunder tryouts held?

 

Michigan thunder basketball hosts open tryouts for all of our AAU teams. Thunder basketball will announce tryout dates, times and locations once they have been finalized and secured. All AAU tryout information, including online registration, will be posted on on the Michigan Thunder Sports website news and information page. Continue to follow Michigan Thunder basketball and check our website for updates, news and program information.

 

Youth team tryouts are held around mid October-November with teams set by late November-early December. High School tryouts take place in early to late March with teams set by the first week in April.

 

Michigan Thunder AAU teams operations information:

 

• Youth boys and girls teams consist of players currently in 4th through 8th grade.

• High School boys and girls teams consist of players entering 9th through 12th grade.

• Team ratio; 9 to 11 players per team

• Cost is $675 for new players and  $650 for returning Thunder players

• AAU season is generally 6 to 8 weekends, with games player on Saturdays and Sundays. Some tournament events start on Fridays, and some tournaments might be one day events.

• 2 Days of Team Practice Each Week (Location to be announced)

• Team Uniforms

• Exposure to College Recruiters

•  Families are responsible for their own travel expenses to the out-of-town events.

 

What is the player and parent time commitment?

The Youth season typically runs from January through April, and some teams will continue to play into June/July if teams elect too.

 

High School teams seasons run from April through July, with down time to support other commitments. 

 

What does the Player Team Fee cover?

Player team fee covers all tournament and competition entry fees, practice time, team uniform, (reversible game jersey and shorts, shooting shirt, etc) insurance and other thunder administrative costs.

 

What cities do the Thunder teams travel to play in tournaments and events?

Michigan Thunder AAU teams compete in a variety of tournaments and city event locations vary from year to year.  Some of our teams will travel to Ft. Wayne, Lansing, Mt. Pleasant, Holland, Akron, Kalamazoo, South Bend, Detroit, Toledo, Chicago as well as other cities in the Midwest area.

 

My family cannot afford the Player Team Fee.  What options do we have?

Michigan Thunder Sports understands that families do go through financial ups and downs and we don't want finances to be the reason a student athlete decides not to play for the program. Talk to your Thunder administrator if need be. Player team fees are due in full prior to the start of practice and no later than the first tournament. Credit card, check, and cash are all accepted forms of payment with Michigan Thunder Sports.