Tri-County Tigers Program Continues to be Slam Dunk

Just four years ago when varsity basketball coach Tim Olszewski started the Tri-County Tigers AAU basketball program, he wanted to eventually build the program into one capable of competing with the best teams in the state.

'Eventually,' however, came sooner than expected.

Growing from just three total teams four years ago to 10 teams now, the Tigers have quickly become one of the most respected programs in the Flint area, with more than 200 kids trying out for teams this year.

"No. Absolutely not," Olszewski said when asked if he expected his program to get this big this fast. "I come from the Howell area, where there is something called the Livingston Sting, which is a girls program. I started in that program. It was so structured and organized and together, we were going to tournaments in North Carolina and Virginia with scouts all around coming up and giving their cards. I thought, 'Wow, wouldn't it be nice to have something like this for the boys?' So when I came to Fenton, I said, 'You know what, I'm gonna start an AAU organization where we can have some structure.'"

A key part of that structure has been coaching. Kearsley coach Paul Adas and Fenton assistant and former Swartz Creek coach Eric Senter give the Tigers three coaches, along with Olszewski, with varsity experience in the program, as well as other coaches with experience coaching young players.

"I wanted quality coaches, not just guys who call themselves a coach because they have great athletes on an AAU team," Olszewski said. "I wanted guys who would teach the game, understand working with kids and developing kids as people. We got some good coaches in place and from there, the word spread and it just go bigger and bigger."

The Tigers have kids in the program from several schools, including Fenton, Grand Blanc, Imlay City, Brighton, Howell, Swartz Creek, Davison, Owosso, Flushing, Durand, Clio, Linden, both Lapeer schools, Flint schools and Kearsley. The athletes in the program not only get better by playing in tournaments, but by competing against each other in practice every week.

"The competition they have amongst each other helps the program out quite a bit," Olszewski said.

The team has played in a few tournaments already and had some success. The 16U-A team won the Tri-County Tigers Tournament, Super Saline Shootout and Best of Best Tournament in Lansing. The 15u team won the Saline Super Shootout. The 17U team won the Best of Best tournament and qualified for AAU Nationals at a qualifier in Wixom.

Players in the program are seeing benefits from the experiences in their own individual games. Andrew Mowery, a point guard and younger brother of Fenton's starting point guard Eric Mowery, has enjoyed the challenge of playing against some of the state's top point guard prospects in tournaments.

"The game is a lot faster compared to school," Mowery said. "You have to work as hard as you can to try and keep them in front of you. They're really good at ball-handling and if they get a chance, they'll just pass you."

James Claborn, who will be a sophomore at Fenton next year, says the experience of playing bigger, stronger kids is good preparation for what they will encounter as they try to someday become varsity players.

"The kids that we play are a lot bigger," Claborn said. "When we go in and beat a really good team, it helps us a lot, especially when we go into school season, then we're not scared of anyone we play. Whenever I make varsity, I'll be playing kids who are equivalent to a lot of the players we're playing right now, so it (AAU) will definitely help."

Andrew Olszewski, Tim's son, has been a part of the program since it started and is amazed by the growth in both overall number of kids and competition.

"It's gotten much bigger," he said. "We started with just a few teams and have grown to almost all ages. Kids are getting better and the ones who stick with it, you can see improvement."

A big motivation for Tim Olszewski when starting the program was to not only give Fenton players a chance to improve by facing tough summer competition, but for players from the Metro League as a whole to get better.

"The competition we're now playing in our AAU program, playing in these bigger, better tournaments, along with the quality of the kids we have in our practices leads into a more competitive summer," he said. "So all of a sudden, schools want us at their camps. In the long run, things are going to be even more competitive (in the Metro) in a couple years than they are now. I think people would argue that our (Metro League) basketball has gotten better over the last few years."

The team played in the prestigious Camp Darryl Classic, one of the most prestigious AAU tournaments in the Midwest, this weekend and has several more tournament dates on the schedule. Olszewski plans to continue offering kids the opportunity to play and gain experience and hopes the program continues to grow.

"We want to continue to be as competitive as possible and provide a quality experience," he said. "I'm excited and happy about the growth, but we can do things even better and I plan on doing those things next year."