When other teams see the Team Suffolk 10U basketball squad on their schedules in tournaments during the Amateur Athletic Union season, they know what they are in for.

“They know they’re going to face one of the best teams in the state,” said Team Suffolk 10U coach Keith Goode.

This weekend, his team will attempt to establish itself as one of the best teams in the country when it plays its first games in the 2015 AAU 10U Division I and II boys’ basketball national championship in Clarksville, Tenn.

Any coach in the United States can enter their AAU team in the national tournament, but that does not mean it is a good idea.

Goode noted teams that have not proven themselves in the lower level tournaments will be in for a sad experience at nationals, which is also quite expensive.

Team Suffolk 10U has proven itself in Hampton Roads, in Virginia and in elite tournaments out of state, as well.

“We’ve really represented the city of Suffolk very well,” Goode said. “There’s only one tournament that we fell short in.”

The squad emerged as champion in the other eight tournaments it has participated in during the current AAU season.

The one tourney that ended in defeat for Team Suffolk 10U took place in Maryland when the squad was without some of its players. Additionally, Goode said his players that were they were nervous about playing in their first Maryland invitational.

They made a good showing of themselves, but for the first time, things did not go their way, despite them having fought so hard, Goode said.

“We lost that tournament, but it was a moral and mental victory for us,” he said.

It was an experience that has strengthened the team, a team that Goode refers to as a family.

“We formed last year,” he said of the squad. “We’ve been together since the kids were in third grade, since they were in 9U.”

Now they are all headed into fifth grade and 11U.

“I’ll keep the team together all the way up to high school,” Goode said. “That’s the goal.”

This goal consistently promotes the family chemistry and philosophy, and though some players may move away or others may tryout and join along the way, “the nucleus of the family stays the same,” Goode said.

And the majority of that nucleus is from Suffolk, including James Swindell, who, despite recent struggles on the court, continues to demonstrate a work ethic that Goode holds up as an example to Swindell’s teammates.

Two players on the team, Sean Brown and Troy Giles Jr., come from Isle of Wight County.

Reflecting on Team Suffolk 10U’s greatest achievements this season, Goode first mentioned a game it played against a team from Washington D.C. during a tournament in Hampton in March.

“First half, we came in sluggish, and we got down about 25 points,” he said.

Following that he and his assistant coach, Tyrone Lane, talked to their players and reminded them of how they still fought hard when things were not going their way during the Maryland tournament. The reminder worked.

“We came back from 25 down, took the lead and won by 10 against a very strong team, a quick team,” Goode said.

In another game, this one at the end of March in Hampton, Team Suffolk 10U blew its lead and then trailed in double digits.

“Everything was going wrong,” the coach said. “Kids were showing emotion on the floor and things like that.”

Once again, Goode reminded his players of what they have done when they have faced adversity in the past, and “once again, they stopped the bleeding, tied the game up and then ended up winning the game by about 15 points,” he said.

His squad went on to play in the district/state tournament, in which the prepared group did not lose a single game.

The 2015 AAU 10U Division I and II boys’ basketball national championship will run July 10-15, and Team Suffolk 10U will begin pool play on Saturday.