Mini Basketball community growing within Spanish and Portuguese speaking National Federations

MIES (Switzerland) - One female and one male delegate from 24 different Spanish and Portuguese speaking National Federations from the Americas, Africa and Europe have just completed the Mini Basketball Seminar that was launched at the beginning of the year.

The FIBA Foundation organized monthly interactive sessions to mentor the participants and assist them to grow or implement Mini Basketball programs within their countries if a program did not yet exist.

The seminar was led by Mini Basketball expert Sergio Lara-Bercial from Spain and assisted by experts from the regions: Guillermo Calvo, Mario Mora, Mario Ontivero, Mario Mendez Realpozo, Nour Amri, Paulo Villas Boas.

The participants learned how to adapt basketball training to children and make the approach fun and game based in order to keep the children engaged.

They were also reminded of the importance of basketball and sport in general in the lives of children to help with their mental and physical health.

One of the key components of the seminar was to link Mini Basketball trainings to social issues that the children are facing, allowing the sport to have a positive impact on the communities.

One participant said “I’ve learned to create training for coaches and leaders that include a social aspect and about the benefits of Mini Basketball to impact society. For example, we can include families that are at risk of social exclusion”.

Participants were also reminded of the power of basketball for equality and inclusion. Special Olympics Latin America presented their activities as an example of using basketball to include children with disabilities into the Mini Basketball programs.

The seminar was highly successful as a survey amongst all participants showed that 100% of them agreed it will help them increase the number of Mini Basketball activities in their country.

Furthermore, 95% of participants agreed that the sessions have helped or will help enhance the social impact of Mini Basketball in their countries.

When reviewing the seminar, one participant stated “Being in contact with others in similar situations means support and strength. The important thing now is to maintain this international Community over time and follow up. These contacts will help the growth of Mini Basketball through shared knowledge and experiences.”

Most countries have already enhanced and multiplied their activities and are planning Mini Basketball festivals and specific programs.

About Mini Basketball:

The FIBA Foundation’s Mini Basketball program is a global Basketball For Good initiative to improve health and well-being of 5-12 year old children and to fight physical inactivity and childhood obesity. It is an inclusive grassroots basketball movement addressed to girls and boys and their parents and uses fun & game based learning. Please contact us if you want to know more about our programs or if you are interested to work with us.