Jon Lawniczak, the Girls Basketball Sports Chair for NY Metropolitan AAU, is an experienced coach and administrator. His resume includes an AAU Championship and the development of one of the largest AAU Girls Basketball clubs in the country. He is most proud of the fact that he has placed over three hundred girls in college basketball programs.

Jon recognized an unusual need for which he had to come up with a solution. The quality of girls’ basketball on Long Island was steadily deteriorating to the point where some high schools either could not field teams or the quality of their teams was severely lacking.

Jon and the AAU began their own D League! It targeted 7^th and 8^th Graders in schools that needed to greatly improve their overall programs. The requirements to participate in the program were that the players could not be part of either their school or outside travel basketball programs. Schools agreed to form teams for this training program that was licensed by the AAU. More than 100 girls became AAU members.

The sessions were broken up into 90-minute segments. Two teams would arrive at the same time for a 45-minute training session that focused on fundamental skills such as ball handling, layups, jump shots and defensive positioning. This training was under the direction of an experienced AAU coach/ trainer. The next 45 minutes was a scrimmage that used a certified referee who explained all calls so that the learning continued.

The clinic went on for six weeks and was a huge success. There are already plans to expand the concept in the Fall with twice as many teams. The girls learned fundamentals and had fun, all under the AAU banner! The coaches from the schools which participated were completely supportive and enthusiastic as it helped build their programs.

At this time of the year, we are talking about national championships, rankings and recruiting. This D League concept developed by Jon Lawniczak is yet another example that AAU is so much more than just games and championships.

Jim Fox
Special Assistant to the AAU President for the Growth of Basketball