West Coast AAU JO Games vs. USAV JBT Championships

[arwen]

Can someone enlighten me on why these two championships are always scheduled with either an overlap or back to back so as to make it impossible for athletes who qualify for both to attend both? This must be by design.

West Coast Junior Olympic Games - July 18-21
USAV JBT Championship - July 20-25

There's no way a girl can play in the JO U16 games July 19-21 and USAV JBT U16 games July 20-22, for example. 

So if one must make a choice, which should he/she choose and why?

[Deleted]

The JO tournament is far more competitive the the USAV tour championship. As I recall, in one age division, last year, the team that won the USAV championship couldn't crack the top 16 in the AAU open championships, which are considered a warm up to the JO's. Plus, the weather in July is also going to be much nicer in Santa Monica, than it is in Sarasota by a long shot. Also, the CBVA holds tournaments every few days somewhere in southern California where you can play quality competition before and/or after the JO's.

[arwen]

Thanks - very interesting. I don't think AAU has a ranking system do they?

[Deleted]

No. AAU doesn't rank unfortunately. I actually sent them a suggestion that they start a few years ago. Do they have AAU tournaments in your area? If not, the fee to hold one is only about $50 and these tournaments in our area are bringing in $2K a pop in registration fees.

[arwen]

Yes, we have some and my daughter recently qualified for the West Coast AAU JO games at one of them so we will hopefully be heading to Santa Monica this summer. I would welcome a ranking system that allows all of the tours to work together in terms of points/rankings. There are just too many point systems to keep up with and understand.