On this page, you can find basic info, pricing, spring / summer info and how bracketing is done.
BAM Jam is a 3 on 3 basketball tournament for players of all ages and abilities. The first tournament was held in downtown Boise on August 7, 2008 with 22 courts and 142 teams and has continued to grow each year.
Each year BAM Jam offers two tournaments, a summer and a spring version, providing unique experiences for players. The Spring version is indoors, while the summer version takes you to the streets. Teams are placed in brackets based on age, gender, experience and competition level in order to produce balanced games through the entire tournament. Additional details on each BAM Jam tournament are described below.
Summer BAM Jam
The summer version of BAM Jam is a two day format, which is played on the streets of downtown in early August. The summer format allows for a 3 game guarantee that goes Friday and Saturday for youth teams and all day Saturday and Sunday for adult teams.
Additionally, on Saturday of the summer tournament features a special Slam Dunk and 3-Point Challenge.
During the tournament, Indian Creek Plaza features some of the best food vendors in town. Grab a bite to eat, a refreshing drink or an ice cold treat while you are waiting for your next game.
Each person that comes to downtown Caldwell will see Idaho’s largest 3 on 3 tournament, while also experiencing one of the up and coming cities in the Northwest. Whether it’s before or after your game, downtown Caldwell provides a vibrant mix of shopping, dining, and nightlife. Bring the whole family down and join us for BAM Jam!
Spring BAM Jam
The spring version of BAM Jam is held each year inside a premier basketball facility. BAM Jam offers a one of a kind experience only offered in Idaho.
High school and youth teams will compete on Friday and Saturday. Adult teams will compete on Saturday and Sunday.
As an indoor tournament, there are many benefits to the players. However, it also creates a limited amount of space we can offer to teams. Registering early is a must if you want to guarantee your spot! BAM Jam is the perfect culmination of high school and college seasons. Come celebrate the end of the basketball season and all the NCAA madness with BAM Jam!
Divisions
Divisions – where should I play?
BAM Jam strives to put the most competitive and evenly matched teams in the same division. In order to give you and all other teams a positive experience, we rely on the information you provide in order to properly place your team. We will use gender, age, height and experience as determining factors. Please be as accurate as possible in order to be placed in the appropriate division.
A common question we get is “how are the teams divided up?” Our goal is to create divisions that are balanced and fair to everyone in the bracket, based on the information that we are provided.
How are divisions created?
For youth and high school teams, the first step is to determine which age they are as a team. Teams register based on the oldest player on the team. For example, if one player is 16 and the other players are 15, they would be considered a 16U team. Ideally, there are enough teams in the same age division where all teams are the same age. However, from time to time we have to combine two age divisions into the same division, such as a 14U/15U division in order to have enough teams to play. We will not combine ages more than a year apart.
For adult brackets, the first separation occurs based on the level that teams elect to play at: Recreational (least competitive), Competitive (a middle level), or OPEN (the highest level). If there are enough teams to create multiple division in, for example, the adult recreational division, we use age as the separating factor followed by experience.
Keep in mind that it is absolutely impossible to create perfect divisions. We do the best that we can. We tweak the process each year. All the divisions are based on the information that we are provided. And of course, there is always the “get hot” factor, where a player that is normally average is “feeling it” during the tournament and performs better than expected (it goes the other way too). All in all, just remember that this is an event that was created for fun, that the people working it are volunteers, the teams are all playing for t-shirts and come Monday we all have to go back to work!
Division Basics
Recreational Division
This is a casual division where players are just wanting to have a good time. If you tend to get overly competitive when playing pick-up ball with your friends, like to talk trash, or are willing to dive on the concrete to win a t-shirt, you might consider playing in the competitive or OPEN division. 😉
Competitive Division
The majority of our participants play in the standard divisions which include recreational and competitive. Each has This is the middle level for competition. Players don’t feel like they are at an elite level but still want a strong level of competition.
OPEN Divisions
Do you want to prove your skills vs the Northwest’s best? The OPEN Division is for you! We offer Men’s, Woman’s, Men’s 6′ under and High School open divisions. BAM Jam provides officials for every game in the open divisions. Please take special note, space is limited for all divisions.
Youth and High School Divisions
These divisions are for those players still attending high school or younger grades. The divisions are based on the oldest player on the team. If a team has a 14-year-old and 3 11-year-olds, that team would be considered a 14U team.
Pricing
Every division is $200 and all have paid officials. The OPEN divisions have two paid officials and slightly modified rules. See the rules section for more details.
Deadlines
If you see a “Guaranteed Deadline” this means that if you register on or before this date you will get into the tournament with almost no exceptions. However, if you wait until after this date there will often be a late fee and you will be placed in a bracket where room is available. So we highly encourage you to register for the tournament BEFORE the guaranteed deadline.