Choosing a Grade and Skill Level for Your Youth Basketball Team
The American Youth Basketball TOUR (A.Y.B.T.) is a grade-based program. As a result, this does allow for students who have been held back or started late to have an opportunity to participate with their present grade. Any student athlete older than the posted dates and in that particular grade, AYBT feels would benefit most by playing with players their own age. Listed below are the age/grade relationships. Any exceptions to this policy would need to be approved by the tournament director. Grades are based on the current 2023/2024 School year, not the grade that they are going into in the Fall of 2024.
- 3rd Grade (9u)any player born after 6/1/15 and/or is in the third grade or below
- 4th Grade (10u)any player born after 6/1/14 and/or is in the fourth grade or below
- 5th Grade(11u)any player born after 6/1/13 and/or is in the fifth grade or below
- 6th Grade (12u)any player born after 6/1/12 and/or is in the sixth grade or below
- 7th Grade (13u)any player born after 6/1/11 and/or is in the seventh grade or below
- 8th Grade (14u)any player born after 6/1/10 and/or is in the eighth grade or below
- 9th Grade (15u)any player born after 8/31/09 and/or is in the ninth grade or below
- 10th Grade (16u)any player born after 8/31/08 and/or is in the tenth grade or below
- 11th Grade (17u)any player born after 8/31/07 and/or is in the eleventh grade or below
- 12th Grade (18u)only 2 players from this class can play on a 10th-11th grade team for Nationals Events. More than 2 players from this class may participate in all other events.
As an example: a player currently in the fifth grade but born prior to June 1, 2013 is too old to play in the 5th grade category if he is not in fact a fifth grader. He/she must play on a 6th grade team or the team will have to move to the sixth grade division.
Grade Divisions for Boys and Girls Basketball Players
Boys Basketball
- 3rd-4th
- 5th
- 6th
- 7th
- 8th
- 9th
- 10th-11th
Girls Basketball
- 4th-5th
- 6th
- 7th
- 8th
- 9th
- 10th-11th
Team Ratings for Boys and Girls Basketball
As a coach, you and your director will rate your team as
- Average (A) or Level 3 or Level C
- Good (G) or Level 2 or Level B
- Highly Skilled (HS) or Level 1 or Level A
A few things to keep in mind about team ratings
- If you’re an all-star team, hold tryouts to select top players, or recruit players because of their skill level, it’s important that you play as a highly skilled team.
- Since there are no trophies or awards at District Series Events, many teams will choose to play up or down a division, depending on skill level.
- Whenever possible, teams are scheduled to play teams of similar skill level.
For a more detailed description of American Youth Basketball Tour policies, see our rules & regulations page.