Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Accessibility: An Area Deprivation Index (ADI) Analysis of National Basketball Association (NBA) Players' Profiles

Abstract

Purpose of review: Youth sports are increasingly shifting towards a "pay to play" model which has introduced financial barriers to participation. The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is the main organization for club basketball, serving as a platform where young athletes can compete beyond the recreational level. Outside the realm of athletes who have access to state-of-the-art facilities and top-tier coaching, the pathway to playing basketball at the next level may be predominantly available to those who can afford the considerable costs of AAU participation. The objective of this study is to determine the accessibility of AAU teams of active National Basketball Association (NBA) players through use of the Area Deprivation Index (ADI).

Recent findings: We identified 114 AAU teams with physical addresses for 250 (50%) currently active domestic NBA players. The State ADI of the high schools as well as national and state ADIs of prior AAU teams of active NBA players were significantly skewed toward lower ADI rankings (higher socioeconomic status) (p < 0.05). The mean distance between high school location and AAU location was 170 miles. Prior AAU teams of currently active NBA players are more frequently located in areas of higher socioeconomic status with nearly 50% being within the top 3rd lower state decile as measured by the area deprivation index. Similarly, we found the high schools these players attended, as a proxy for areas they grew up in, were also more frequently located in areas of higher socioeconomic status.

Keywords: AAU Sports; Area Deprivation Index; Disparity; Inequity; NBA Basketball; Youth Sports.

Fig. 1

Side-by-side histogram comparisons and kernel density estimates of state and national Area of Deprivation Index scores for NBA player’s AAU and high school addresses

Fig. 2

Histograms depicting the kernel density estimates and distribution of absolute delta values of state and national Area of Deprivation Index scores of NBA players’ AAU and high school addresses