GENEVA (Switzerland) - The European Mini Basketball Convention 2019 was staged over the weekend in Geneva with more than 100 children, and more than 100 Mini Basketball specialists from 28 European countries, taking part.

The IBF, on behalf of FIBA, uses Mini Basketball Conventions as a way of stimulating the sport at grassroots level. The idea is to grow the basketball community on a global level.

"Our objective is to stimulate the Mini Basketball movement globally by infusing a fun and positive environment while creating more life-long fans of our sport," said FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis. "We hope the specialists from the different National Federations learned new ideas and continue to lead Mini Basketball activities in their respective countries."

Many children hit the hardwood at the Mini Basketball Convention 2019 in Geneva

On Saturday morning, the Swiss Basketball Federation organized a jamboree for boys and girls between the ages of 7-11 from the Geneva area. They learned about the sport in a fun way, played games and participated in drills.

The Jamboree was followed by a Coaches’ Clinic attended by the international and local Mini Basketball specialists. Swiss instructor Jean Daniel Picchiottino offered a presentation titled "Reading offensive game: teaching principles". Picchiottino also demonstrated different offensive drills that developed the kids' decision making skills.

After sharing his knowledge at 4 previous conventions, Sergio Lara Bercial, iCoachKids Director, once again presented a non-traditional way of teaching kids. He described how using relatable stories and words can keep kids engaged in the basketball training.

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis spoke about Mini Basketball

A conference was held on Sunday, allowing the participants to dive further into the theoretical aspects of Mini Basketball.

Sergio Lara Bercial's presentation, "Exploring Basketball’s Potential to Develop Children Psychosocially", encouraged the specialists to reflect on their teaching habits in order to see how much psycho-social content they include in their practices.

CSR Senior Associate Theren Bullock Jr. presented the growth of the global Mini Basketball movement since its launch in Portugal in 2018. Emphasizing the conventions' reach with over 6000 children and 800 international delegates taking part.

Similar to previous conventions, a Mini Basketball specialist from another continent presented their Mini Basketball model with Keishi Murakami sharing the Japanese way of promoting Mini Basketball.

Mini Basketball specialists from 28 European countries attended the event

"FIBA is committed to grassroots development, which is seen by our Youth Development Fund which indirectly assists Mini Basketball," said FIBA Executive Director Europe, Kamil Novak.

"This initiative helps spark interest in the game for the children and provides welcome insight to specialists that will be working with kids."

FIBA