The NBA has announced that the Jr NBA Global Championship – an annual youth basketball tournament for boy and girl teams (aged 13 and 14) from around the world – will take place this year as a virtual event.
The championship tipped off today to bring together hundreds of youth players from dozens of countries around the world to participate in virtual basketball competitions, life skills development sessions, community service and cross-cultural experiences.
Over the next few months, youth players from Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, Europe & the Middle East, India, Mexico, Latin America and the U.S. will:
- Compete in virtual basketball competitions against their peers from around the world through Homecourt, a mobile basketball training app that uses advanced machine learning and computer vision to help players advance their game. Teams from each region will be placed into U.S. and international brackets that will feature single-elimination competitions between two different regions each week. The respective U.S. and international winners will face-off in the global championship in August.
- Attend leadership and life skills development sessions alongside NBA and WNBA talent centered on topics including social justice, race, gender, mental health and wellness and creating inclusive environments.
- Design and donate a piece of art that represents their ideals of global unity and social change through the lens of basketball. The designs will be used to inspire a mural that will be donated to a community organization in Orlando.
- Participate in a cross-cultural experience that allows youth players from around the world to meet and learn from one another in an interactive and immersive virtual campus. Participants will have the opportunity to create personalized avatars and participate in fun activities and competitions alongside their peers from around the world.
The competitions and events will take place over the next several weeks and will culminate with a Jr NBA Day of Celebration in Orlando in August as part of the NBA season restart.
