If you're attending Hoops City U for their Team Carolina AAU basketball team, you should reconsider. There are other great AAU clubs in the area. Here's an excerpt from a recent letter I wrote administration (you will see it aligns with how other reviewers out there). See photos. No one has responded to my letter. read more

Hoops City U - Summer Camps Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Good news: We have had pretty good experiences with the summer camps. This was the main reason that we were willing to try AAU with them. Bad news: Our family's experience with AAU Team Carolina has been horrible. The cost of the season and the fees are expensive. It all seems to be about making money rather than building the kids skills and setting them up for success. It doesn't even appear that they set the coaches up for success either. We tried to work with the management but they seemed to only care about the fees and did not do anything to address the poor planning and communication, lack of accountability, excessive amount of teams, etc. If your child wants to be involved with AAU do NOT go to Hoop City unless you want them to bleed you dry of money and for your child to have a very disheartening experience. read more

Good news: training classes are benefits. Camps are fun but expensive. Bad news: Basketball camp gets first priority and all sports camp is treated like the red headed step child. Our boys had to put their book bags and lunch boxes on the floor instead of the lockers which were designated for basketball campers only. Don't even think about ordering lunch, your child may starve because it's inconsistent and not always available. Send food and drink with your child. AAU, even the cheaper summer season, is expensive and unorganized. The coaching is horrible and unprofessional as they seem uninterested in really coaching and fail to communicate at all. This summer we have lost all games, been out coached over and over again and watched as teams with full uniforms ran a much better program. We got unpersonalized reversible jerseys only. If you want to play AAU please try Durham Hurricanes or any other nonprofit AAU organization. Read all the comments by everyone here and consider yourself warned. What a waste of our time and money. read more

Poorly managed organization. They set dates and rarely are things completed by the day they tell you. Communication is awful. You have to ask to find anything out. The one thing the are great about communicating is when you have a payment due. Scheduling is unheard of. Everything is last second. People put up with it but they shouldn't. They seem to put up with it for their kids but it's a terribly run organization. read more

If I could give this organization a negative rating I would give it a -5! We experienced many of the same issues as the post dated 6/14. To add our coach was a senior at NC State with a tennis background! When I talked to Rick and Nate they didn't think anything was wrong with that. I paid $800 expecting intense focused basketball workouts and I got rec ball coaching. The only parts of HCU that was good is Jonas! His Sunday trainings were good. HCU is nothing but a money grab! They do not turn people away and word in Raleigh is that kids who have parents with deep pockets that can't make competitive teams come here. We were one and done! If you really want your kid to develop stay away from HCU! read more

This organization is more focused on making money rather than actually developing players and competing. "Tryouts" are a joke as it seems anyone and everyone makes the team. In fact, they are completely okay with 16-17 kids on one team as it feeds money into their organization. The coach plays his main 5 players regardless if they show up to practice, are on time for games, or make consistent errors. I realize that AAU ball isn't about equal playing time. However, don't tell kids one thing about how to earn playing time and completely go against your word. That doesn't teach kids anything or help develop them into responsible young adults. In addition, when your team is losing by 40+ points, wouldn't it make sense to put your other players in?? Good learning experience for us, and we will stay far away from this program in the future. read more

The Team Carolina AAU team is basically a scam. They promise "qualified coaches", "competitive teams", a "structured curriculum of skills development", "event nights", "leadership training", and "advanced player technology equipment", but we did not see any evidence of any of this. It seemed that all they cared about was taking your money. The coach was the father of one of the players who clearly showed favoritism towards his son, many of the players had never played before, and the team lost every game, typically by a wide margin. Practices consisted of walking through an overly-complicated offense, and there was no skills practice or player development of any kind. The most frustrating part is that my polite inquiries to the directors about any of this received no reply after weeks of repeated emails and phone calls. Stay away! read more

Pay for play, and very expensive at that. Don't buy into the sales pitch they give you, you would be much better off signing your kid up for Rec or YMCA basketball. Our experience was horrible coaching, team lost every game, and it was super super expensive. read more

Five Stars isn't right, I want to give them 100 if I could. Spring 2015 was our first season with HoopsCity and we are back for preseason fall ball. Our son has gained confidence, leadership, and awesome skills. Everyone is professional as well. He went back to his HS team for preseason workouts and the returning players did double takes and coaches were well pleased. Our son also got the opportunity to play in the Bahamas! ! Is it expensive? Well, you get what you pay for. For those that complain about cost.... We have been involved with other AAU programs and I can say that cost is comparable and less expensive. On average, most gym rental fees with other programs range $75 an hour. As for tournaments...the facilities have to be rented along with paying the referees. Is there travel...yes. That is normal with AAU basketball, at least with the good teams. Anyone who doesn't think so, well then AAU is not for your family. My recommendation is to give HoopsCityU a try and see if classy professionalism is for you. Rik, Nate, and the rest of the staff are like family. read more

This place is a rip off and actually dangerous. My son`s Coach yelled at me and attempted to push me. I had to call the cops! They also don't teach your child basketball. Anything my son learned he learned from online videos on YouTube. It's a waste money and irreplaceable time. Save yourself the drama. Don't go to Hoops City U. You'll get the run around on tournament dates, no instruction given to your child, and possibly assaulted. You've been warned! read more

Do NOT waste your time or money with AAU at Hoops City U!!! It is an extremely unorganized program. The summer teams were scheduled to play in four tournaments. We were just told that we weren't playing in this weekend's tournament because the coach has no idea who has or hasn't paid for the past two tournaments. After you pay the fee ($310) to be part of the team, you also have to pay a portion of the tournament fee and $35 for a jersey The first weekend we paid $15, the second $20. Now, although we have paid for our son to be a part of this AAU team, he is being short changed playing in three games this weekend due to the utter incompetence of this program! read more

I'm curious how such a big program is run by a bunch of incompetent morons. Don't bother asking questions through email or phone call because you'll never get an answer. Promises and more promises of looking into issues and nothing gets resolved. I see others have communication problems as well. I wonder how communication is when they're begging for payment from players and tourney fees. read more

No stars, if that were one of my choices. February 20, 2017, my son,was at HoopCity for a one-day track-out camp. I expected my son would learn some basic basketball skills. Although he was there for almost eight hours, my son received no basketball skills instruction. Instead, he and the three other kids played dodge ball, played a tag game, watched a movie, played a board game, and played a video game while Don, the staff on duty mostly talked on the phone. My son said none of the adults introduced themselves or knew his name. Except for two short supervised games, my son was unsupervised for most of eight hours. This is highly unusual in my experience and my expectations for any kind of camp for kids. The lack of instruction should be enough to warrant a refund for the day, but what troubles me a great deal more is the inattention and the attitude of Don. Although I tried to engage with him about the day's program in the morning, he referred me to the web site description and said they would be taught some basic skills. He never greeted my son, asked his name or told me his name. I found out his name by looking at a flyer on the table. When I picked up my son, Don did not acknowledge me or checked to see who I was. ANYONE COULD HAVE PICKED UP MY SON AND DON WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN! When I called last night to speak with a manger, I was told a manager would call me back today. When no one had called me by 4:00 p.m., I called to speak with a manager. Don answered the phone. He said he was one of the owners, and I could speak with him about a complaint. I explained my concerns as I have outlined above. Don did not say he was sorry for my son's experience or apologize for not checking to see who I was when I came to pick up my son. I was not rude, profane, or speaking in a way that was disrespectful. When I asked for an explanation for his behavior, and said I would write to you, he said I could do whatever I wanted, but that this conversation is over and he hung up on me. read more

I wish I could leave less than one star. I can't think of even one positive thing to say about this experience. Besides all the exorbitant fees that everyone else has mentioned, it's just substandard all around. My son is currently at the end of his first (and definitely last) season with this group and his basketball skills have actually gotten worse because his coach has belittled and demoralized him throughout the season. Instead of training, sometimes they just get lectured for the whole training session about how bad they are. Sometimes they just run punishment sprints the whole time. Practice times and locations and tournaments change on a very regular basis. Sometimes very last minute. Not at all convenient. I feel stupid that we didn't do more research before he tried out for this particular AAU league. The coaching is awful. Terrible. They have lost almost all their games at these ridiculous "tournaments" they hold every weekend. The coach says completely inappropriate things to the team after they lose (some involving the use of vaseline - use your imagination.) One of the trainers told the team that if their parents tell them they're good they're lying to them. My son gets almost no playing time at all. Like less than a minute per game. He never gets advice about things he can improve on. He is not learning anything. One of the kids on his team is not even allowed to scrimmage with the team during practice, much less get playing time. They had absolutely no problem taking our money, though. TAKE YOUR MONEY AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!! read more

Well, there are a few pluses. Good skills sessions on Sunday, and facilities are decent overall. Now the bad, very very expensive. Be prepared to spend well in excess of 1K for a single seasion, team fees, and ridculous entry and tickets fees for "tournaments" run by the owner, Rik Seymour. You would think he would at least offer discounts for Team Carolina families. 1 weekend ticket per person, costs $18. That is crazy. It is a business unlike most AAU teams that are typically non-profits. Not a competitive team/group, they will make as many teams as they can sign up paying customers. So as long as you realize what you are signing up for........ Typical Team Carolina boys teams might win one out of 3 or one out of 4 games. The other yelp reviews about Hoop City U are spot on. Just know what you are getting into with Hoops City, set your expectations properly. read more

Horrible experience with this organization. Poorly run, no communication. Uniforms paid for but never received. 7th graders being put in brackets with 8th grade teams. If I could give NEGATIVE stars I would. read more

I agree with the review from 4/4/2015. Hoop City is a money grab. My son played a few years ago and we paid over $700 to be on the team. We then had to pay every tournament fee as a team and also pay to watch our kids play. This was a huge expense. Hoop City assigned a coach who was a college student from UNC with no basketball experience. He missed many practices due to spring break trips, car issues and exams. The parents had to completely take over the coaching for the kids to learn basketball skills, offenses and how to play defense. My son made the Carolina Elite Team, which was a team that should have never been put together. Most of these kids (who tried out and made the team ) had never played basketball. This team lost every single game...not by a couple baskets but my 30 or 40 baskets. This was the most de-moralizing experience for these kids. I would have preferred for my son to not make the team rather than be placed on this team with no talent at all and to be playing in top level tournaments against the best teams around. Forming the Elite team in additon to their talented teams (Team Carolina white and blue) was a way for Hoop City to make more money. When the isse was addressed with the management of the league, he responded and blamed the team issues on negative parents. Hoop City took no responsibility for the poor coaching provided and for putting a team together that did not stand a chance to win a game against their own age group or even against kids 2 years younger. My son now plays for a different AAU league where the cost is less than 1/4 the cost of Hoop City and the coaching is incredible (at least 10X better than the coaching we had from Hoop City). At a Hoop City tournament recently there was an incident were the players and parents safety was an issue. Security and police had to step in. Hoop City needs to ensure players and families are safe and provide adequate security. We have no plans to return. read more

Hoops City U is as advertised! From the facility, the instructors and the program. Everything that is needed to expand your skills, basketball IQ and overall passion for the games is accessible, if you want to take advantage of the opportunity. My daughter has improved and the exposure she has received during the tournaments has been awesome! read more

My kids and several other kids we know did the all sports camp for a week this Summer. It was a terrible experience and we will never go back. The coaches yelled at the kids, a lot. I understand supervising and coaching young kids can be exhausting and frustrating, but people who work at camps like this need to figure out how to motivate and reach kids without yelling every time one of them deviates from the plan. There is not nearly enough space for the number of kids they have (e.g., 8v8 soccer on less than half a basketball court, while those not playing had to wait around), and the activities are not varied enough (e.g., playing only four different things over the course of an 8 hour day is not sufficient). On Tuesday, I paid $12 extra for each child to go to Defy Gravity, which is next door, for an hour. The next day I learned 1) the $12 does not reflect the group discount they would have been given, or 2) that it was half-price Tuesday and the hour was only $6. I understand they are trying to make money, but this is a disappointing way to go about it. Oh, and if you want, you can pay $9 and they will feed your child lunch - since when does a meal from Chick-fil-A cost $9? read more

Hoop City U is a basketball training Academy. They also have their own Youth AAU basketball teams, Team Carolina and Team Elite. All I can say is this is the worst basketball experience I have ever had to endure. We paid $750+ for our son to be on an elite basketball team. They are anything but elite. The try out session was good, well organized and well engaged Well this is where the bait and switch starts. They say people are cut, I highly doubt since if you cut children then you are giving away revenue. So I truly believe that every child Is placed on team. My son was place on Team Carolina, which is supposed to be the best of the best team that they had to offer Well come to find out after he made the team and we paid our fee, there are two teams for the grade that are Team Carolina Teams. They are coached by the same person, and oh yeah we forgot to tell you he is coaching a third team as well. That's right 1 coach 3 teams. So as you can most likely tell my child would not get the time nor attention my money paid for with a coach spread thin. We only practiced twice a week, and we only had a full court to our selves but it its because we had both same grade teams practicing together. Or else I believe we would have practiced on a half court. As a competitive AAU team you can get better on a half court. Also with out two practices a week, one of the days was at Hoop City U where they did individual drills. No team practice was had. Just with the coaching staff at Hoop City U. The second practice of the week was with the other team so there was 1 coach for 20+ kids. Might be good ratio for math or science in the public school system but not for Basketball and repetition. Lastly, in addition to the $750 to be on the team, you also pay for every tournament individually. Ranges between $200-$300 a team so depending on how many players are on your team you pay your fair share. They also played in mostly Hoop City U sponsored Tournaments so you would think a discount would be in order but its not. Please take your basketball player somewhere else for Team Basketball. If I had to rate their out of school programs and individual training seminars they would some of the best in the business. If I were them I would stick to training and having teams. read more

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU PROCEED WITH THIS ORGANIZATION. This was our son's first experience with this organization and can I say how disappointed we were. So, where do I start. My son tried out for the fall season on a Sunday, Sunday night we receive an email that he made the team and the $365 fee had to be paid by the next day in order to reserve his spot. WHAT!!!! Okay, so we went with it because we were very excited that he had made the team, so I drive to Durham and pay the fee. They have practice 3 days a week and the practices are 1 and a half hour long.I go to practice and notice that for an hour and a half all the boys are doing is suicides, push ups, just basically working out. This is fine right, sure because they need to learn to get in shape, but this happens at EVERY PRACTICE!!!! After several weeks of my son going through "personal training practices" we find out a week before that the first tournament will be taking place on the weekend, oh and by the way the fee you paid to join the team does not cover the tournament fee so each parent has to pay an additional $15-$20 if there son wants to play in the tournament (this doesn't include the $8-$15 per person it costs for parents to go and watch the tournaments). To get any information about any of the tournaments there is only one person who knows anything and he only works part-time. They enlist a team parent for each team and the team parent is the one who has to get all of the information about the tournaments; locations, fees, fill out the player rosters and etc. Our coach ended up having 4 teams and sometimes on tournament days he had several games being played at once so this means out team was left to go at it on their own. The worst thing for me is that the kids were set up for failure from the start and the kids never did any scrimmages, learned in plays or even really got to play with each other so you had a team of strangers being thrown together at a tournament to play together. It is not always about winning, but none of the Team Carolina teams ever won any of their games and got beat by the other team 20-30 plus points each game. It was embarrassing to watch because it was not the kids fault. If you are looking for overpriced Rec ball for your child then definitely sign up, but if you are looking for an AAU experience, steer clear from here, because you will end up very frustrated. read more