Starting an AAU travel basketball team can feel like an overwhelming task. From finding the right coach to figuring out what tournaments to play, it’s natural for individuals to feel anxious about creating an organization from scratch. Usually, the most daunting chore is estimating the approximate cost for parents and administrators associated with travel basketball.

We’re here to help! This article will take you through a step-by-step approach to appraising the cost to create an travel basketball team within your organization. While the actual cost will vary based on individual team’s needs, you can use this guide as a checklist to get your AAU travel team up and running.

To start an AAU travel basketball team, you should expect to spend anywhere from $1,500 to $8,000. But how did we arrive at this range? Those answers are revealed below. Each section will explain how much you should plan to spend for these features. Further, at the end of each section, you’ll find a running total cost estimate to help you keep track of our math.

Deciding On AAU

The first step your organization or team should consider is becoming an AAU member for the travel basketball season. A common misnomer is that all travel basketball organizations are a part of the AAU. Travel basketball is synonymous with the AAU brand despite most teams existing without AAU membership or playing in sanctioned tournaments.

There are numerous reasons you should consider AAU membership as this will grant your travel squad with several benefits that priced separately will come in much higher – such as travel basketball team insurance.

AAU membership comes in three separate club categories with different perks, ranging in price from $30 – $300 per year. Basic membership will allow your organization to compete in AAU tournaments while the top tier will grant travel teams with access to tax-exempt status as well as hosting AAU events.

In addition to club membership, each team member – including select support staff – will also need an individual membership. For players, these fees range from $14-27.50 (depending on age and coverage level selected). For non-athlete membership, these fees range from $16-18 depending on the coverage selected.

For cost considerations, becoming an AAU club has been built into the running cost total. Additionally, adding four other non-athlete memberships (coaches and support staff) have also been included in the total cost. Individual athlete fees were not calculated into the cost as players or their parent/guardian should elect the right membership coverage for their needs.

Running Cost: $94 – 372

Outfitting Your Players

Uniforms are an essential need for any travel basketball team, but their quality and quantity will dictate the price you’ll pay. Building a budget for your AAU team’s uniforms will also depend on the manufacturer, material and style selected by your organization (for a step-by-step process on selecting and purchasing uniforms, click here).

The quantity ordered will play a large factor in the cost of your travel basketball uniforms. Teams with 8-10 players will spend more per uniform than multiple teams purchasing together from the same manufacturer. Most suppliers offer discounts for orders exceeding 15-25 uniforms or packages.

Speaking of packages, most organizations look for additional gear for their travel basketball team such as shooter jerseys, back packs or warm-up uniforms. Manufacturers can bundle all of your organization’s needs into one set (or package), providing your team a bundled discount to purchase all of these items compared to purchasing them separately from multiple suppliers.

Whether your team plans to participate in AAU tournaments or not, following the jersey requirements set by AAU is a recommended practice. Essentially, the governing body requires teams to have two different colors (one light and one dark) as well as having numbers large enough to be seen by referees and spectators on at least one side of their uniform.

For the running cost calculator, we’ll go from the low-end price to the high-end model for 10 players. Purchasing dual-color mesh jersey tops and pressing on vinyl numbers on one side of each color will cost around $14 per uniform. High-end packages – including warm-up gear and back packs – could cost as much as $200 per player. Team shoes – if organizations elect to select one – were not considered in this scenario.

Running Cost: $234 – 2,372

Finding A Practice Facility

Your AAU travel basketball team will need a place to practice for upcoming tournaments or events. Finding a practice facility can be a challenging (and expensive) venture for individuals new to the travel basketball scene. From local schools to community recreation centers, a myriad of options exist for team administrators to explore, including these 10 helpful tactics to finding a practice gym.

Costs for these facilities will vary greatly. Free is best, and you can find those facilities across your community that permit limited gym time for your travel basketball team. Others will come at a cost, charging you either by the hour (in the $30-50 per hour range) or under a negotiated season rate for a specific length of time.

While your travel basketball may find a free option for practice, chances are the facility will ask for proof of liability insurance from your organization. The insurance essentially covers your organization as well as the facility should any issues arise while your AAU team is on site. If the facility doesn’t require it, consider this a peace of mind purchase.

For the running cost calculator, we’re adding team insurance as it can be purchased for just over $100 through multiple online vendors. On the high-end, we’re pricing both team insurance and a facility that charges $50 per usage with 20 total practices allotted for your travel basketball organization.

Running Cost: $334 – 3,472

Equipping Your Coach

So far, you’ve purchased items to get your team onto the court. But as a coach or organization administrator, you also will need a few items to get yourself for game day. Practice items such as basketballs aren’t typically supplied by the practice facility nor tournament hosts, making basketball purchases a necessity for your AAU team.

Further, as a coach, you also need a clipboard and dry erase marker for game day. Other items such as a scorebook (to record team stats) and supplies to organize your travel team’s information are helpful. Some teams will elect to have specific basketballs only for their tournament games to avoid wear and tear on their game-day equipment.

To estimate this cost, we’re starting from scratch purchasing cones, two basketballs and a clipboard. If you own some of this equipment, that’s a plus. If not, purchasing practice equipment like cones is relatively cheap (under $25 at most retail outlets). Clip boards and scorebooks range from $10-30 each depending on the outlet. Basketballs, however, are more expensive as quality balls cost nearly $100 each.

Running Cost: $519 – 3,727

Setting Your Tournament Schedule

While every step toward building your travel basketball team is crucial, determining your future travel schedule is perhaps the most-important step toward determining how much money your AAU basketball squad will need. How many tournaments and the types of tournaments is the basic questions you’ll need to answer to determine this figure.

Generally, AAU travel tournaments will range from $100 – $250 per team with a three-game guarantee. These are the most-common events in the travel basketball environment. Larger tournaments (like exposure tournaments for older athletes) or tournaments offering four or more guaranteed games can range from $299 – $700 per team.

Once you determine your team’s competition level – development, competitive, elite – you should immediately start to plan for which tournaments you want to attend. Most event directors have a set price published for their competitions and a possible discounted admission fee for multiple travel basketball team entries (either multiple teams in one tournament or multiple tournaments for one team). Inquire about any potential discounts available.

Finally, have a back-up plan for what tournaments your travel basketball team will enter. While AAU tournaments will often occur as scheduled, a particular bracket within the tournament may not have enough teams. In this instance, your division within the tournament will be eliminated, and you’ll be scrambling to look for a replacement. Be prepared as this happens with smaller tournaments frequently.

To assess the total amount your travel basketball team will spend, we estimated a low end for developmental squads and a high-end for more competitive teams. On the low end, expect four travel basketball tournaments to run at $800 ($200 average per tournament) while competitive squads could participate in 10 tournaments for $3,000 ($300 average per tournament). Elite teams are not considered for the running cost calculator.

Running Costs: $1,319 – 6,727

Coaching Fee

No coach who works in the travel basketball space does so to make money. Coaches start or join an AAU team often because their children play for the squad. Further, some coaches will join to gain experience as a coach. Regardless, coaches volunteer their time, energy and money in order to travel with their team and coach these players.

Think of this fee as giving your organization’s coach compensation for spending their time and money to improve the basketball team’s skills. A non-parent coach could be driving 200 miles a week for tournaments and another 50 miles to practices. If the AAU team enters six tournaments, that’s driving 250 miles weekly for multiple weeks.

Even at 25 miles per gallon, that’s 10 gallons of gas for 6-9 weeks, or well over $200-300 (given today’s gasoline prices) without spending a dollar on any equipment or hotel rooms. One overnight stay at a non-local tournament raises the coach’s out-of-pocket expense to over $500 by adding hotel accommodations and meals.

If you choose to implement a coach’s fee, be ready to explain that to your travel basketball players or parents. For this running cost calculator, we’ll assume both ends of the spectrum. As a true volunteer, your AAU organization may not offer any payment to coaches. However, a $1,000 fee for coach’s expenses is not out of line for the organization to request.

Running Costs: $1,319 – 7,727

Funding An Emergency

The last thing on this list is pre-funding an emergency. The last thing you’ll want to do is to collect money in advance for your travel basketball team, and later come back to ask for more funds. While parents will be understanding if unexpected expenses arise, setting up an emergency fund will negate the need to ask for money a second time.

Decide on a cushion for your AAU organization. If you don’t use it, use it on the team for an end-of-the-year party. You can also choose to refund the parents any portion of the money. For the running cost calculator, we’re adding a small cushion to cover one extra tournament.

Running Costs: $1,569 – 7,957

Splitting The Costs

Now, you’ve determined an approximate amount needed to build your travel basketball team. How do you fund it? While there are many ways to raise funds that will offset the costs, splitting these costs among the players is a fast solution to ensure your AAU organization has the funds needed for its season.

A straight-forward way to split up these costs is to divide the total funding needed by the number of players. If you’ve determined your AAU organization needs $5,000 for the season, and your travel basketball team has 10 kids, you’ll ask each parent or player to contribute $500 for the season.

Because you won’t have to spend the entire amount in advance, setting up payment dates for each person is an option to ease the burden of asking for all costs to be paid in advance. Remember, out-of-town travel is expensive, even if parents are creative and find ways to reduce their costs. Requesting amounts over $500 per individual can easily be split into two payments of $250 per player as an example.

And finally, if you have parents or players who can’t afford it, consider fundraising to meet your goals. Asking parents to commit to spending $500 on travel basketball may be daunting at first. Fundraising one portion of that amount can ease their burden as well as reduce apprehension among players to commit to your AAU organization.

Ask Up Front

Once you finalize your costs, be transparent about the total cost for the travel basketball team. Preparing a simple expected budget you can share with your players or parents is an excellent way to show where the money will go for the organization. And to reiterate, ask for some or all of the money in advance.

The reason your AAU organization should ask for advance payment is to avoid an awkward situation. The last thing you want is to have parents or players join without paying their portion. Tracking down individuals for payment can be time-consuming and cause confrontations you otherwise can avoid. Ultimately, you or your organization will be responsible for paying the outstanding balance from these individuals.

A final word of advice is balance your travel ambitions with your team’s ability and affordability. While you might have incredible talent, the travel basketball team parents may not be able to pay for 10 tournaments that are in other states every weekend. Finding the balance of travel exposure to go along with your parents’ budget will help you when asking in advance for some or all of the AAU team’s funds.