NBA Partners with Basketball England to Create New Youth League

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Basketball England today announced a new, impotent multi-year partnership to create the Jr. NBA Basketball England League – a secondary school basketball programme for boys and girls ages 11-12.

The Jr. NBA Basketball England League will feature 30 youth teams across London playing an eight-game season followed by single-elimination playoffs to determine the league champion.  Each of the secondary schools will represent one of the 30 NBA teams and will receive corresponding NBA t-shirts for their games.  The league will run for 10-12 weeks from October through December, with a Final Four to be played ahead of NBA Global Games London 2015 featuring the New York Knicks versus the Milwaukee Bucks at The O2 on January 15, 2015.

“As part of our commitment to grassroots basketball development here in the UK, we are excited to partner with Basketball England on the Jr. NBA Basketball England League,” said Benjamin Morel, NBA Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa.  “Through this secondary school programme, we look forward to crowning the first-ever Jr. NBA Basketball England League Champion and continuing to grow the game of basketball.”

“We’re delighted to be entering into partnership with the NBA for the first time and look forward to providing more basketball opportunities within the English education system,” said Huw Morgan, CEO of Basketball England.  “The programme will lay the groundwork for the development of youth basketball in England, and we’re excited to collaborate with the NBA.”