We have been very busy this spring with 35 players in our program but I wanted to provide an update from our 3 teams for this spring. All 3 of our teams have been playing in the PNAAU Spring League put together by Mike and Jane Connors. It is a great spring league and I highly recommend it for other AAU teams.

North City 16U –
The team finished with a 7-1 spring league record with its lone loss coming on the first game of the spring season. Coach Eddie George is excited about the progress of the team. This past weekend, the team won 3 games in one day, all by 15+ points which also included dunks from Brian Zehr (Jackson) and Masamba Njadoe (Shorecrest).

Two weeks ago, the team went 3-1 in the NW Premier Spring Showcase, taking 5th place. They lost to the eventual champions of the tournament (Oregon D1 Ambassadors) by 5points in a tight game. The team beat RSB/A+, Idaho Select and Team Jones (Oregon).

North City 13U – Blue
The team finished 4-3 in the 7th Grade Division I. It was a very competitive division with teams from EBC, NW Panthers, Rotary and more in the league.

The team NC13 – Blue team consists of players from WESCO schools including Everett, Shorecrest, Arlington, Meadowdale, Lake Stevens, and Jackson.

Two weeks ago, the team went 2-2 in the NW Premier Spring Showcase, taking 4th place. They also lost to the eventual champions of the tournament (Rotary Style) and beat Hoopaholics and FOH in the process.

North City 13U – White
The team finished 4-4 in the 7th Grade Division II. The team played hard throughout the regular season with some quality wins over Seattle Swish, Hoopaholics, and iBall. The team is excited for the playoffs in two weeks and to avenge some earlier close losses in the season.

The NC13 – White team consists of players from WESCO schools including Jackson, Everett, Shorecrest, Arlington, and Shorewood.

All 3 teams will be competing in the Best in the West Tournament this weekend in Yakima. Stay tuned for updates.

This drill is a stape of North City’s training regiment. Stemming from Sgt. Mike Lawson’s military training, this series of drills focuses on your core with alternating between lunges and push-ups as you move down the floor.

Strength and conditioning training is overlooked when players are trying to get better in the offseason. For each player, taking the the leap to the next level often means getting stronger, faster and in better shape to peform against better competition.

This video includes our two 7th grade teams and can be utilized for older grades with the use of weights on lunges and the increased amount of push-ups.

We are officially into the spring season and the players are already improving. With 35 kids in the program this year, North City is very fortunate to continue to grow from its original roots of 11 players two years ago.

Even with the increase in players, the mission remains the same. Work hard and help each player advance their game to the next level. The next level may be different for each player but the focus on getting stronger, faster and an overall better basketball player is the same.

Here is one video from a practice and training session. The teams are focused on the core muscles uitilized for perfecting the defensive stance in the first set and working on their explosiveness on the second set.

Tryouts will still be on Thursday, March 8th at Jackson HS from 7:30-9:30pm.

We will NOT be fielding a 5th grade team this year. We will instead be fielding the following teams.

High School Elite (16U) – REGISTRATION FILLED
7th Grade – Blue Team – STILL OPEN
7th Grade – White Team – STILL OPEN

North City is proud to announce that Eddie George will coach our high school elite team this spring and summer. In addition to coaching the high school elite team, Coach George will also help advance our individual skill sessions and provide outstanding player development to all athletes in the program. Coach George has considerable experience in building AAU Basketball training programs, including experience with NBA, international and collegiate players.

Playing Career

-2 time All State high school player of the year Tri-Metro in Minnesota.
-Played 2 years JUCO basketball, 2 years at Augsburg College.
-Played 2 years with MCC Rebels in the Charles Barkley NBA sanctioned summer league in Mesa Arizona,
-Played with the Harlem Globetrotters in a 3 month mini domestic tour based out of Red Rock Arizona.
-Played in the CBA/ Rockford Lightening, FIBA and the ABA/ Black Hawks.

Previous Coaching Experience

-Private basketball coaching for kids, 6th grade and up.
-Head coach, Redmond High School JV team.
-Head coach, ECBA 17U Elite Team. Coached high school juniors and seniors on national Traveling team.
-Trained and worked out with NBA players in off season including Devean George, Luke Walton, Ron Riley, Kenny Kimbro and more.
-Owner and coach of George’s All-Stars basketball camp held at Juanita High School for Several Years.

Eddie’s brother, Devean George, played 11 seasons in the NBA including 3 World Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.

This year, the North City Training and AAU program, will field teams at (3) different grade levels. We will have a 16U (10th grade) team, a 13U (7th grade) and 11U (5th grade).

The first tryout/practice will be on Thursday, March 8th at Jackson High School from 7:30-9:30pm.

If we need to have a second tryout, it will be the following week and announced at the end of the first tryout.

If we have more than 18 players tryout at either the 13U or the 11U level, there is a strong possibility that we field two teams for those grade levels.

NOTE: Please make sure each athlete has a parent/guardian attend with them to sign waivers and complete registration. They don’t need to stay but additional information will be handed out and waivers will need to be signed. There is no cost to attend the tryout and no obligation to play on the team if you attend the tryout.

Teams will be announced on the North City AAU website following the conclusion of tryouts.

Please contact Andrew Grinaker at 425-753-3035 or northcityaau@gmail.com if you have any questions.

This video is from earlier in the basketball season but gives great insight into how Sgt. Mike Lawson approaches training for our teams. This video was created by the Seattle Times and shot at Seattle Pacific University.

For the past 2 years, we have been running North City Training and AAU program (www.NorthCityAAU.com). We are focused on training and preparing middle school and high school athletes for the next level of competition. Our mission is a little different than most AAU programs. Our practices involve core strength training and conditioning focused on helping each kid improve their agility, speed, vertical jump and overall strength.

We are excited to announce that this year, we plan on expanding the program to include teams at three different levels. We will continue our legacy team at the 16U (10th grade) level this year as well as adding teams at the 13U (7th grade) and 11U (5th grade).

Tryouts will be the week of March 5th with practices/training taking place WESCO area gyms including Jackson HS and Shorecrest HS.

Please check out out more details on our North City 2012 Spring/Summer page. If you have any questions please email northcityaau [at] gmail [dot] com.

We are so proud of Mike Lawson. An amazing trainer and coach but an even better person. If you are interested in his bootcamp training, check out his site www.CoachMikeTraining.com

This drill is focused on helping post players on getting to their desired spot on the floor while handling contact. From there, we want to work on exploding through the defender and attacking the rim. Coach G is utilizing the body bag to simulate the defender and contact the player would receive from the opposition. The goal is not let the defender push you off your path and finish strong at the rim with a lay-in or short, high percentage shot.