I started my very own travel basketball team in 2015 and coached the team for about seven years. I am writing this article to help others who want to start a team. I will share exactly what steps I took (and a few others) and the lessons I learned when I started my basketball team.
Travel basketball can be a very rewarding experience for players, coaches and even the parents! If starting a team is something you have been thinking about doing but you’re just not sure how to get started then you have come to the right place.
Before I begin I want to be up front with you. Travel sports can be extremely beneficial for our youth in both developing their basketball skills and providing them with a safe place to grow and mature. However, travel sports can be time consuming because they require careful planning and organization. They can also be expensive. But if this is something you want to do please stick with me as I guide you through the steps you need to start your very own travel basketball team and setting it on the path to success.
Step 1: Vision for your Travel Basketball Team
If you are starting your own travel basketball team I encourage you to consider your end goals. Knowing this information can help you determine what kind of team you want to start, how much of a time commitment is required and the level of competition.
I started my travel team many years ago when I was coaching my son in a youth recreation league. A couple parents expressed interest in the travel basketball phenomenon so I ventured out to start a team.
This was my first time so I really didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t exactly clearly define a vision or goals but I knew that I wanted to start a team to give my son and his friends an opportunity to enhance their skills by playing against some tougher competition and that’s exactly what I got!
My first team consisted of fourth and fifth graders. It was tough because the younger players didn’t see much playing time but I didn’t have enough players for one full team. That was my first mistake of many.
Here are a few questions I think will help you develop a vision for your team.
- What are the ages of the players?
- Are they beginners?
- What level of competition do you want?
- Do you want to attend local tournaments?
- How far do you want to travel for your competitions?
- How much money does my team need to budget?
- Will the player’s parents be able to fund the team or do I need to focus on fundraising?
Once you answer a few of these questions you will have a good idea what your team should look like. This will give you a good baseline and you can design your team around it.
Step 2: Travel Basketball Support Team (aka Team Parent and Assistant Coach)
You don’t want to go into this alone! Find a team manager and assistant coach. These are two very important roles. You can always add more later on but having these two key positions filled will get you started. Building a successful travel basketball team requires a committed group of individuals (or individual) to operate your program.
Look for people who share your vision. Potential volunteers will have different goals for their children so this might be a bit difficult at first.
For example, you may want to start off slow with a group of players you know and compete against teams that are equivalent to yours. Some of the parents might be interested in recruiting more advanced players and compete against the best teams. This is an obvious conflict!
Assistant Coach
The Assistant coach is almost essential. There are a couple of key responsibilities that are great for an assistant coach. For example, think pregame stuff. Before each game, most tournaments require a roster be provided to the scorer’s table. If the scorer’s table has a different jersey number assigned to a player or a player is not on the roster but they end up on the court–it can get ugly! Other duties include warming up the players and talking to the referee and other coach. It can be challenging to do all of those things by yourself.
It can also get very lonely on that bench during game time. Practices are also another area that require a lot from the coaching staff.
Dealing with parent issues can and will arise. It is nice to have an assistant coach to bounce problems and ideas off of when a decision needs to be made.
Team Manager (parent)
Finding a parent or other volunteer that shares your vision can truly advance your goals as a team and help out with the many related tasks which are more than just coaching basketball.
Team managers can take care of logistics, finances, and parent/team communication, just to name a few. I wrote a pretty comprehensive article on the “role of a team parent“. Check it out here and if you enjoy it, send it to your team parent!
What did I do in the beginning? My spouse helped me manage the day to day administrative requirements and believe me there are a lot of administrative requirements! I also leaned on a parent who shared my vision and eventually became my assistant coach and great friend. Looking back I wish I had more support which is why I included this very important step.
Communication
Your team manager will be in charge of communication. This will make your life so much easier.
They can be responsible for maintaining open lines of communication with players, parents, and staff. They will share practice schedules, game updates, and any changes to ensure everyone is informed. Utilize communication channels such as team websites, social media, group messaging apps, and regular in-person meetings to keep everyone connected.
Step 3: Travel Basketball Uniforms (Your Team’s Identity)
Ok, I added this as step 3 but I didn’t really focus on this part in the beginning. I got lucky and was part of a larger organization that needed a younger team. They had a uniform supplier and the logos already selected. Although the uniforms were shipped from overseas so they did take a while to arrive once we ordered (more on that later!).
I want to emphasize that you really don’t need to order uniforms yet. You just need to start looking at them because there are different prices and knowing what they cost will help you figure out the budget. When you do get ready to purchase uniforms, check out this article I wrote about purchasing uniforms for AAU.
There are three things I want you to know about uniform selection. 1) Quality, 2) Compliance, 3) Design process.
Quality
Most uniforms will are made of a dri fit like material. Similar to what the NBA teams wear. I remember playing basketball as a kid and getting a cotton like tank top or shirt for a basketball uniform. I know the recreation leagues still do that but it’s not ideal for travel basketball.
Compliance
Remember to ensure your uniform selection complies with any local or regional regulations. For example, many organizations require jersey numbers to be a certain size and on the front and back of the uniform.
A quick story for you. I have seen teams show up to a basketball tournament with numbers only on the back of the jersey and no numbers on the front. This is a uniform violation in many organizations. Referees treat uniform violations as a technical foul. Therefore, each time a new player enters the court with a uniform violation they are assessed a technical foul. That means the other team shoots two free throws each time–ouch!!
There are other requirements like no pockets (this can be a safety hazard). Keep this in mind when you are shopping around for uniforms.
Additionally, organizations will also require a white (or light) and a dark uniform. That is two uniforms per player unless you purchase reversible uniforms. The white uniforms are for home games and the dark uniforms are for away games. This is important. Especially if the opposing team colors are close or the same as yours!
Design Process
The fun part of uniform selection is that you get to create a unique team name, logo, and uniform design that reflects your team’s personality and values. This branding will help create a sense of pride and unity among players, coaches, and supporters. The logo can also be used on your team schedule and other handouts.
By the way, if you are a new team you will need to think about a logo. You can do this a couple of ways. I suggest exploring Canva. They have cool templates on there that you can personalize and turn into a pretty cool logo.
A second option is to browse Fiver and find someone willing to create a logo for you. This is usually a pretty inexpensive option.
ok, back to the fun part–your team’s branding! I always enjoyed reading the schedule for an upcoming tournament and seeing the various and creative team names. Every team needs a good name so this is an extremely important step.
Plus, it’s good for marketing to attract players especially as your program grows. Your travel team is a brand so make sure you have a good team name and logo.
Other Uniform Items (warm ups/shooting shirts/coach polos/backpacks)
Be sure to equip your players with matching gear to advertise your team. Believe it or not this makes you and your team look professional. Don’t forget to include these costs in your overall expenses. Most of the time, you can put this on your parent and make it an option, if expenses are tight.
Don’t forget that your parents will want to purchase team shirts to show their pride in your team during games. You can turn this into a way to raise funds for your team. Hustle has a section where you can add a Team shop. This way parents can order directly from them. Click here to launch your team shop.
Also, some uniform companies take a while to produce and ship uniforms. Make sure you order well in advance to your first tournament. Consider ordering extra uniforms. You never know when you might recruit a new basketball player.
Step 4: Gym Space
If you want an indoor gym to practice you will need to start searching early. You want to know how much the rent will cost before you start setting up your budget and telling parents how much it will cost.
You can find gyms in a multitude of locations. The middle and high schools in your area are great resources for available gym space. Some churches and community centers also have gym space.
You will need to contact them to negotiate a rental agreement. Keep in mind, they will likely require team insurance. I will talk more about team insurance later in this article.
An alternative to gym space are the outdoor courts. I used outdoor courts when I needed additional practice times. The use of outdoor courts cuts down on expenses. A downside is availability because it is difficult to reserve outdoor courts.
Look Here for Potential Gym Space
- Schools
- Community Centers
- Local churches
- Alternative locations include outdoor courts at all of the above (plus parks)
Step 5: Tournament Schedule
Research and register your team for tournaments that align with your goals and competition level. Develop a schedule that balances local and regional competitions, considering travel distances and costs. Monitor tournament registrations in advance, as they often have limited spots that fill up quickly.
Where do you find the different organizations for your area? Start with this article. I put a list of the more popular basketball organizations. It will get you started.
This is where travel basketball teams incur the biggest cost. Most tournaments cost roughly the same amount but the distance from your home base and number of days will dictate your overall cost. If you are starting a team with rookie travel basketball players you might want to be cognizant of what tournaments you enter. There is nothing worse than a weekend playing in a tournament with advanced teams that run up the score and discourage your players from ever wanting to play again!
I came up with a tentative schedule before I did my budget. This gave me a good idea of how long my season would last and what weekends I was available to coach. It greatly helped me establish how much was needed for the budget, which is next. A quick helpful tip: There is normally an extra fee when you register for the tournament. It is usually between $25 and $50. Make sure to account for this fee when calculating your budget.
I handed out the schedule or sent it via email to the parents. My schedule included tournament schedule, practice dates, the total cost, payment due dates and any other important information. I tried to keep it at one page per season to keep it organized and make it easy for the parents.
Step 6: Budget
Travel basketball costs money. It is critical to plan for all of your expenses before you start recruiting so you can communicate the individual price per player. Parents need to know this information up front so they can decide whether their child can participate. You don’t want to surprise parents by asking for more money during the season.
This is also a good time to talk about setting up a team bank account. Although this isn’t required it will help you keep your team’s funds in a safe place and easier to track.
The basic costs associated with most travel teams are listed below. I broke all of these costs down in another article – check it out here:
- Gym cost
- Team registration (for each hosting organization)
- Tournament registration (There is usually a $25 to $50 hidden admin fee, that is not advertised)
- Administrative supplies (paper to print rosters, birth certs, report cards for team binder)
- Travel expenses (Fuel, lodging, food)
- Team Insurance
- Background checks
- Uniforms
- Equipment (game and practice basketballs, coach clipboard
- Other expenses that are helpful, but optional:
- Personal training
- Training equipment (bands, cones, weighted basketball, etc)
If the information above is making you feel like starting your own travel basketball team is just too overwhelming–take a deep breath. Your expenses can be much less. My first year was an exploratory one for me. I didn’t spend as much and did a bunch of fundraising.
Step 7: How to Pay for your Travel Basketball Team
In the past couple of steps we talked about the expenses we need to get our travel basketball team started now we are going to talk about how to pay for these expenses.
There are three different ways to pay for these expenses. 1. Parents, 2. Fundraisers, 3. Sponsorships (and of course a combination of all three)
1. Parents
My first year coaching travel basketball and every year thereafter I only charged the parents what my overall estimated costs were. I simply tallied up all of the costs that I expected to incur and I charged them a monthly amount. I even included the costs for snacks to make sure all of the players had food throughout the tournament (this is important because of downtime).
I charged the parents about $100 per month (give or take). I also started the season early by practicing giving the parents a little more time during the season to pay the overall costs.
I learned early on that you can lose players throughout the season so I always did my math with one less player. This helped me have a little cushion and prevented me asking for money or using my own money.
I made a payment schedule and communicated it to the parents by frequently emailing them reminders. I had a pretty good system setup that kept me organized and the parents informed. I will share this system on this website soon (if I forget, send me a comment to jog my memory!) I scheduled the payments early enough so that I would have funds to pay for tournaments well in advance. I also put the schedule on a cool print out and gave it to the parents. It had the travel basketball tournament schedule, practice schedule and the payment schedule — all in one!
I used this every single year and it was a great tool to keep myself and the parents organized.
2. Fundraisers
I also gave the option to do fundraisers which really helped out some players. I really leaned on parents to supervise the fundraisers, giving me and my wife a break!
Fundraising was very easy when my team was in elementary school. I secured a couple days in front of a neighborhood grocery store and the players solicited donations in their uniforms. It was always a hit! But as they got older it got a little tougher. They weren’t as cute anymore.
There are other ways to raise funds for your team – to include raising money online! Check out the information in this article I wrote for 9 creative ways to raise money for your team.
3. Sponsorships
I also educated the parents on soliciting sponsors, which surprisingly helped them raise a lot of money. Some players ended up playing for virtually free!
Speaking of sponsors, you should definitely seek out potential sponsors or partners who can contribute financially or provide in-kind support. Local businesses, sports organizations, or even parents of team members might be willing to contribute.
There are creative ways to fund your team but remember not all of your players or candidates will be able to afford to play travel basketball without being sponsored.
Step 8: Set Up Travel Basketball Tryouts
To form a competitive team, conduct tryouts to evaluate players’ skills, athleticism, and commitment. Advertise tryout dates, times, and location through local sports organizations, schools, social media, and community bulletin boards. Clearly communicate the expectations and selection criteria to avoid any misunderstandings.
I did one large team tryout my first year. After that I did a few here and there at the beginning of the season, but I pretty much kept the same players.
Regardless, you will need (or should) to secure gym space and it will likely come at a cost. You can charge each player a small entry fee to cover your expenses. This is normal.
Depending on your vision you will need to select between 8 – 15 players. Keep in mind the more players you have the harder it will be to get all of them playing time. The larger number of players will be easier on your budget assuming parents are paying.
Having a small number of players on your roster can limit your abilities during tournaments. Players get injured, foul trouble and/or just plain tired. This is why it’s so important to have a vision so you know what you are expecting.
Step 9: Register Your Travel Basketball Team
You will be required to register your team with each organization that is hosting tournaments. Be cautious about signing up for too many as your costs will increase. Each organization has rules that must be followed so it might be wise to stick to one organization as you start out. This should make it easier for you to manage the team as you learn about the rules.
There are several organizations to choose from but they vary in all areas. The most popular is probably AAU. AAU is pretty much everywhere.
I got a little confused my first time registering my team for AAU so I wrote a simple, step-by-step guide on how to do it. You can find it here.
USSSA and USAB is also popular. There are many more. A quick google search for travel basketball tournaments in your area will get the ball rolling.
During this step you will need to collect all of your player’s birth certificates, a current photo and their most recent report card. You will need these items to add them to your team roster.
You will also need to create a team binder. This will be used during tournament check-ins to make sure you only have eligible players.
Step 10: Travel Team Insurance
You want to protect yourself and your players with some level of liability insurance. This is typically easy to find and is normally offered when you register your team. Review your policy carefully to ensure it is what your team needs. I made the expensive mistake of purchasing more coverage than I needed for several years. If your travel program is connected to a recreation league your team may be covered by that program negating the need for additional insurance.
I discovered late that AAU includes coverage for each individual player at all tournaments and your practices so it is not necessary to pay for additional insurance. I go over this briefly in an article I wrote that shows you how to sign up for AAU. Check it out here!
Step 11: Develop a Training Program For Your Players
Craft a comprehensive training program that focuses on individual skill development, team tactics, physical conditioning, and mental preparedness. Regular practices and training sessions will help your team improve and grow together. Consider partnering with local basketball training academies or hiring specialized coaches to provide expertise in specific areas. This will allow you to focus on coaching your team strategy.
I struggled to develop the fundamentals of my players while trying to teach them how to play competitive basketball. Travel basketball is very different from recreational basketball. It’s absolutely essential for your players to know how to work together. I joined forces with several trainers who charged a fee to work on fundamentals so my practice time could be spent on team tactics.
I did not complete this step in my first few years. Well, I did this step but not as effectively as I was later on in my coaching years. What I am trying to say is don’t bog your team down with expenses by hiring costly trainers for practice. Simply work on simple fundamentals and team concepts that will prepare them for the coming years. You can get the trainers involved later.
Conclusion:
Starting a travel basketball team is actually a simple process. The list above is just a guide on what steps you can take so please don’t feel overwhelmed with information. To start the team, you basically need a coach, players, practice location, balls, uniforms, and a couple of tournaments.