Competitive Advantage

As of right now, I am in basketball mode. I love going into the various gyms around Vermont and seeing the pride of the small towns as they come behind their local boys and girls because quite frankly there is nothing else to do in several of these small towns. There are no alternatives to basketball; therefore, basketball has found a special niche in the center of many Vermont communities. You would think that this form of dedication lead to higher quality players because if many children played basketball, one or more would break through into the land of NCAA Division I scholarships. This does happen, but it is major news when it does. When Varsity Magazine used to be in publication, the online message boards with full of skepticism as to where that year's top senior would be attending college and whether or not he or she would be playing ball there with or without a scholarship. I think that the real reason that this is such a rarity is because unfortunately there is a lack of quality competition. Even though every child may play basketball in one town, if only one of them is good, she will not receive the recognition she would deserve because of the fact that the rest of the team is not very good.

I do not mean to sound negative or complain about Vermont basketball in any sense. After all, if I did not like it, why would it occupy my life for about one quarter of the year? There still is this dilemma though of producing higher quality athletes who are able to compete with athletes from other states. I know my solution will be controversial simply because I have heard it in my own life. I believe the answer lies with AAU basketball. I will leave you for now with this answer. Think about it, ponder it, and comments are welcome as to your opinion. Tomorrow, I will post my defense of AAU basketball and why I believe it will be able to help Vermont basketball become more competitive in terms of NCAA scholarships and to not be overwhelmed upon meeting other states in competition.