Americas Mini Basketball Week

FIBA Americas and the American Basketball Academy have confirmed the second week of October of every year as the official Mini Basketball Week of America.

It should be a very satisfactory activity, involving every National Federation, in establishing and developing this annual celebration that means so much to the boys and girls of Mini Basketball.

Mini Basketball being the base of the development of the future generations of players, it is crucial that we give it the importance that it deserves, through a great, well-organized event.

It should be a week full of games and fun for the family, that serves as motivation for a better development of social activities that involve coaches, referees, table officials, players and the community.

The purpose of each exercise should be to help the development of the child, using Mini Basketball where their motor, mental and social skills are exposed.

We recommend the following activities to be implemented during Mini Basketball Week:

  1. Meeting of Referees and coaches of Mini-Basketball to cover:
    • Type of Competition
    • Rules of the game
    • Rules of participation
    • Game exercises
  2. Conversation about the Philosophy of the game with coaches:
    • Participation in harmony with our philosophy
    • How to interact with the parents
    • Teach kids game fundamentals
  3. Organize a workshop with the parents to teach them how to treat kids, referees and coaches.
    • Game behavior
    • Player / coach relationship
    • Know the purpose of Mini-Basketball
  4. Establish social activities with parents, directors, coache and referees.
    • Award to the kids for their excellent work in school, art and sports, community, church and social relationships, etc.
    • Happy birthdays and game celebrations
  5. Visit schools during Mini-Basketball Week
    • Invite kids to tournaments
    • Offer basketball clinics
  6. Organize game activities for the kids such as:
    • 3x3
    • 2x2
    • Ball relay
    • 4x4
    • Free-throw competition

It is recommended for every Federation to invite media in order to communicate the activities that have been done in the Mini-Basketball Week. Federations should appoint personnel to gather the information about the activities in order to evaluate, to make the necessary recomendations and improve on them. We wish you success in this wonderful celebration.

About Mini Basketball
  • Mini Basketball is a game for boys and girls. It is essentially a modification of the adult game that has been adapted to the needs of children. The philosophy is simple: do the children play a game that is not convenient, but you change something to suit them.

    The aim of Mini-Basketball is to provide opportunities for children of all abilities to enjoy rich experiences they transferred to Basketball with enthusiasm.

    The game of basketball is played with a large ball, on boards that are too high for most children. In Mini-Basketball ball size is reduced and the height of the boards and the basket is lowered. Basketball has many technical rules, in Mini-Basketball these are minimized.

    However, more rules can be introduced as children progress in their skills and learning abilities. Respective FIBA Zone must deal with finding a way for countries to apply the same rules and use the same philosophy.