The Jr. NBA Skills Challenge provides boys and girls ages 13 and younger the opportunity to improve upon and showcase their fundamental basketball skills. Any youth basketball coach or organization is able to host a Jr. NBA Skills Challenge for free. View the tabs below for more information!
- COMPETITION SKILLS
The program format was designed to test participants in five fundamental skills of basketball: shooting, lay-ups, dribbling, passing, and defense. Boys and girls compete separately in two different age groups: 11U and 13U.
Participants will compete in each of the five standardized skills to earn a total cumulative time resulting in a final score:
- Dribbling – Challenges participants in stationary, zig-zag, and speed dribbling.
- Shooting – Challenges participants to make jump shots from the elbow.
- Lay-Up – Challenges participants to make lay-up shots.
- Passing – Challenge participants to accurately pass towards a wall target and receive a pass.
- Defense and Bonus Free Throw – Challenges participants in defensive lane slides, sprinting, and free throw shooting.
Click here to view an overview of the Jr. NBA Skills Challenge!
- PROGRAM HANDBOOK
The Program Handbook is your guide to successfully host and implement the five skills necessary for a player to receive their final cumulative time and possible advancement to subsequent levels of the competition.
You can download the full Program Handbook here! Below are individual documents for key sections of the handbook for easy reference:
You can download the full Score Sheet here! Download this document for electronic use on your tablet or computer. It provides built in functionality with formulas for each skill and final cumulative scores. We have also provided individual score sheet templates for each skill below for ease of use during your local competition:
- LOCAL AWARDS
We encourage you to provide each participant of your Local Competition with a participation card that includes their individual and cumulative final times.
We also encourage you to award the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place scorers of each age and gender division with the below certificates. You can identify your top scorers by comparing the final cumulative time of the participants’ dribbling, shooting, lay-up, passing and defense time.
- FAQ
The staff of the Jr. NBA Skills Challenge is happy to answer questions regarding the program. Please email JrNBA@nba.com and a representative will be available to assist. Several frequently asked questions are listed below.
WHO CAN HOST A JR. NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE COMPETITION?
Any youth coach or organization in the United States, including schools, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, Parks & Recreation Agencies, PALs, JCCs, private youth basketball leagues, and other civic organizations.
WHO RUNS THE EVENT?
Local hosts/coaches/administrators are responsible for securing their own staff or volunteers to assist with the execution of their competition. It is recommended that a minimum of two adults be available to assist with each skill component on-court: scorer and timer. Depending on the number of participants attending your competition, you may wish to add additional volunteers to assist with the smooth operation of your event.
HOW DO I PROMOTE MY COMPETITION?
Local hosts/coaches/administrators are encouraged to promote their competition to the families in their community. To receive guidelines and access to using the Jr. NBA logo on your promotional materials, please email jrnba@nba.com for more information.
HOW CAN I GET A COMPETITION IN MY COMMUNITY?
Please encourage your coach or youth basketball organization to host a Jr. NBA Skills Challenge Competition for the players in your community for free. They will have access to all the digital tool kit items to run a successful event.