Who is competing at this spring's BAM Jam?

This post was originally posted on February 4, 2015. But since so many people found it interesting, we've reposted with updates. 

Last year, BAM Jam really dug in to understand our players better. We've taken a look at our brackets from 2011-2014, conducted a large survey, posted some online polls and reached out to talk with some of our BAM Jam players.

Our hope is that by better understanding who our players are, we will be able to do a better job serving your needs. And we intend to keep this going at our next BAM Jam tournament, presented by Treasure Valley Ford Stores, on March 19-20, 2016 at Capital High School in Boise, Idaho.

As we compiled the information, we thought you might be interested in knowing who you are playing against and who you might be watching. We also included some things that you told us we should consider taking a closer look at.



[Click here to register your team]

General information and thoughts from players

• About 22% of the players that participate are from outside of Ada or Canyon Counties. So if you live in the Treasure Valley, you'll probably get a chance to play against some new competition.
• 60% of all participants agree strongly that "The best weekends are when you have a story to tell on Monday"
• 83% of respondents agree strongly that "BAM Jam positively contributes to a healthy lifestyle"
• 79% of respondents agree strongly that they "consider BAM Jam to be a family friendly event" 

Adult players, adult divisions and what they are doing

The average ages in adult divisions:

• 6'0 Over Elite 24.8 years old
• 6'0 Under Elite 26.7 years old
• 6'0 Over Competitive 26.2 years old (the range has been 18 to 50)
• 6'0 Under Competitive 25.3 years old
• 6'0 Over Recreational 32.0 years old (the range has been 18 to 54)
• 6'0 Under Recreational 28.1 years old

• 33% of people surveyed said they play basketball 0-1 times per week. 40% said they played 2-3 times per week. 
• 86.7% of players said in the last year they have played at a gym that wasn't a school (ie their gym, YMCA, etc). 66% of them also said they have played at the park.
• 52.2% say they are working out (not including playing basketball) 2-4 times per week. The top reported workout goal: Tone up and shed a few pounds (34.8%)
• The most popular social media channel BAM Jam players use is Facebook, with 92% of players using it. Of those that use Facebook, 39% of them are checking it 2-3 times per day.
• The next two most popular social channels are YouTube (68% use it) and Instagram (64% use it). However, these are the most often checked, both have 18% of their users checking 6 or more times per day.

For school aged players (3-12 grades)

• Times they play basketball per week - most popular answer was 2-3 times per week (36% of responses)
• Other sports they are playing - most popular answer was track (33% of respondents). The second most popular answer was football (27% of respondents)
• Where they are getting information about basketball tournaments, events, games, etc - most popular answer was their AAU or Club coach (25% of respondents). The second most popular answer was from parents, either their own parents or parents are asking other parents (18% of respondents)
• When asked if potential injury is a factor in deciding whether to participate in a sport, 66% of respondents said "It was not a factor" or "It was a small factor". No one said it was the main factor.

Want to know more?

The best way to learn about BAM Jam is to experience it. Sign up by March 6 to get your team in. Click here to register and learn more. The video below was used to promote the 2015 Spring BAM Jam. Stay tuned for a new video for 2016.