MUNICH (Germany) - FIBA Europe has revealed its latest initiative with the main goal of encouraging participation in sport in primary schools across Europe.

'Hoops for Schools' is to be funded by the European Union's Erasmus + Sport scheme, and also aims to raise awareness about the importance of physical activity benefitting from the use of new technologies.

There are several partners involved in the project including associate partner Special Olympics, the German Sport University of Cologne, digital basketball specialists NBN23, Fundacion Baloncesto Colegial from Spain as well as the National Federations of Cyprus, Denmark and Estonia.

A kickoff meeting for the project was held at the FIBA Europe offices in Munich in late January with 22 attendees representing the partners, while FIBA Europe President Jorge Garbajosa and FIBA Europe Executive Director Kamil Novak were also present.

External expert coaches Matthias Zollner and Sergio Lara-Bercial will serve as advisors of the project with bilateral agreements signed between all partners during the kickoff meeting.

The pilot phase will see the three partner National Federations test the resources that will be developed in the research phase of finding the best practices for sports programs in schools, prior to the launch of the Hoops for Schools program - with the project set to run through to the end of 2026.

FIBA