What is Miniball?

Miniball is a game, based on basketball, for girls and boys under 13 years of age. It is played by millions of children throughout 96 different countries. A Mini-ball game is played by two teams of five players with up to five substitutes. The aim of the game is to shoot the ball into their opponent’s basket, and prevent the opposition from getting the ball or scoring within the rules of the game.

A Mini-ball game is normally played in four quarters each of 10 minutes. Each member of the team must play at least one quarter and no member of the team may play all of the first three quarters. The game is played with rings that are only 2.6 in high and with a size 5 basketball. However as players get older, it is quite possible to play the game with the rules of ordinary basketball and using full height rings. The full ball should only be used with the older players.

Mini-ball is a game of skill not strength, a mixed activity at primary and middle school level, in which boys and girls can play alongside each other, it is a simple game - a team passing game with an elevated horizontal target, in which they score, and played to the two basic rules of no contact between opponents, and no running while holding the ball. To move with the ball a player must keep the ball bouncing - a dribble.
There is no restriction on the area of play for players as in netball, both teams can move to any spot on the playing area not occupied by another player. The playing area for Mini-ball is 26m x 14m, but any reasonable sized playing area that gives space for the children to move several paces in any direction can be utilized - hall or a marked area on the playground.

At a very simple level a game of Mini-ball could be a “two versus two” passing game aiming to score at a target above head height, with the two rules of no contact and no running or carrying the ball, informally applied.

Mini-ball is the ideal way to introduce the game of basketball to youngsters. In general, as children reach about secondary school age, they can start to adapt to international basketball rules. It may be appropriate to raise the height of the ring or the size of the ball for early developers.