Biddy basketball, youth basketball or biddy ball, & or ‘’’Mini Basketball’’’ is a type of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

game that is played by youths. The game is popular internationally, and tournaments are held in places such as the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

and other countries. The game is played by boys and girls and unisex teams may be formed.

History

The competition is estimated to have first been created during either 1950 or 1951, by American sports enthusiast Jay Archer of

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

. In 1977, the town of

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) f ...

, hosted the "Junior Biddy National Tournament" with American teams from as far as

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

attending and an international one from Puerto Rico. That tournament's championship was won by a team from

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Rules and regulations

Youth basketball court, Finsterwolde (2020) 03

Depending on the formality of the games, rules can be similar to

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

regulated games in a tournament setting or, in an informal setting such as a pick-up game, then the rules can be more akin to those observed during a

streetball Streetball (or street basketball) is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players ...

competition.

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olymp ...

has published a set of rules for youth basketball games that is published online. According to those rules, players aged 7-8 shall play on a 50x42 sized court, with a basket height of eight feet, and a fourteen feet distance from the free throw line to the basket, while 9 to 11 year olds shall play on a 74x50 court and use a nine feet height hoop, with the free throw line also distanced from the basket by fourteen feet. At the group age of 12 to 14 year olds, the dimensions should be a ten feet basket in a 84x50 or 94x50 court, with the three-point line first being introduced at the Biddy level for this age group and being 19 feet from the basket, and the free throw line at 15 feet, while the last age group, the one made up by boys and girls between school grades ninth and twelfth, should be playing at a 94x50 court, with a basket ten feet above the court floor, and 15 feet separating the free throw line from the basket. The most notable difference in measures between the courts used by 12 to 14 year olds and ninth to twelve graders is the three point line distance, which shall be increased to 22 feet in distance for the latter. USA Basketball's rules, however, are not universally used and can vary from one tournament to the other. The 1977 tournament in Teaneck, New Jersey, for example, was limited to 9 to 12 year olds.

Tournaments

Formal biddy basketball tournaments are usually played for championships and may have a structure that includes a playoffs and a finals best-of series to decide the tournament championship teams. Teams may have to pay a joining fee and players may have to pay a per-player fee (usually smaller than the team fee) in order to join as well.

History

Rules and regulations

Tournaments

See also