World Basketball Day, established as the first holiday dedicated to a team sport by the United Nations, and celebrates basketball, a sport with over 3.3 billion fans worldwide, showcasing its “power to change the world.”
In this “Basketball For Change” series, we focus on the theme “The Power of Basketball to change the world,” featuring interviews with global organizations or players who use basketball to drive social transformation. Much like a basketball game, the article is structured into four distinct perspectives:
1st Quarter: Overview of Activities
2nd Quarter: Key Features of the Organization’s Initiatives
3rd Quarter: Stories of Social Transformation and Impact Through Basketball
4th Quarter: Prospects and the Power of Basketball
The opening shot of this series introduces the the FIBA Foundation’s “Basketball for Good” project presented by Senior Manager Theren (TJ) Bullock Jr. during his keynote speech at the World Basketball Day awareness seminar.
In the first half, we explored the features and vision behind these initiatives. (Read the first half here.)
In the second half, we dive deeper into real-world examples to further explore the social impact of basketball and its future prospects.
How the “Power of Basketball” is Utilized: FIBA Foundation’s Three Pillars
3rd Quarter: Social Transformation and Impact Through Basketball
The FIBA Foundation’s “Basketball for Good” project reached over 250,000 young people across more than 100 countries in 2023 alone, spreading the “power of basketball.”
How exactly did they achieve this?
Let’s look at three key programs under “Basketball for Good” and their examples:
The first program focuses on promoting mini-basketball for children aged 5 to 12, with the primary goal of fostering a love for basketball and helping children feel part of a community through sports.
The FIBA Foundation collaborates with mini-basketball coaches worldwide to develop playbooks that combine basketball training with topics related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One example is the “Hoops for Health” program, which incorporates nutritional education into basketball drills.
“We all know a drill where you might do a crossover and you go and shoot a layup or or shoot a shot. Instead of the coach just screaming out left or right, he is saying healthy food, and the child has to associate it with the crossover from left to right. Then the coach is screaming out an unhealthy food, the child has to associate to a double crossover and then going left. So, still learning the game of basketball and the fundamentals, but connecting it to whatever societal component has been chosen and that is relevant to that community wherever the activity is taking place.”
Second program is focuses on youth leadership development.
The FIBA Foundation empowers young leaders, nurturing future social entrepreneurs to create their own “Basketball for Good” projects.
In 2023, at the FIBA World Cup in Okinawa, Japanese youth leaders stood out. With support from the FIBA Foundation and in collaboration with Japan’s organizing committee and JBA (Japan Basketball Association), they developed and executed “Pick & Shoot!” — a competitive garbage collection game incorporating basketball rules1.
Last but not least, the FIBA Foundation offers community support programs by collaborating with national basketball federations to address local challenges through basketball-driven initiatives.
In the Republic of Seychelles, located in East Africa, 41% of children are diagnosed as obese, and 79% of deaths are caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer and diabetes, often linked to unhealthy diets and lack of exercise. To address this, the FIBA Foundation implemented the “Hoops for Health” program. They trained physical education teachers to use basketball as a medium for delivering both physical activity and health education to children.
“Basketball for Good”: A Community for Everyone Driving Change Through Basketball
4th Quarter: Future Prospects and the Power of Basketball
Mr. Bullock emphasizes that the FIBA Foundation’s “Basketball for Good” initiative is not intended to be exclusive to the organization itself. Instead, it is envisioned as an inclusive and expansive community.
“We know that there is a wider basketball community out there, and we’re not the only ones working in that capacity. We want to support the ones that are working in that capacity. We are here to support you in whichever way that we can and hope to be able to connect now in the short term future midterm future long term future you’re a part of our community you’re a part of our family,” Mr. Bullock stated.
With this vision in mind, the FIBA Foundation launched the “Propose a Project” initiative in 20202. This program supports projects that use basketball to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aims to inspire further social transformation through the sport. In 2024 alone, the initiative received an impressive 241 applications.
Lastly, reflecting on the second annual celebration of World Basketball Day on December 21, Mr. Bullock shared:
“World Basketball Day is an important day for us as well. and yes, we will use World Basketball Day as an additional day to celebrate our sport and the power of our sports”
However, the FIBA Foundation does not stop there.
“Our job is to provide as much help, hope, and support to them as possible. and that happens 365 days throughout the year. It’s something that we do from January 1st all the way to December 31st.”
The due for this year’s “Propose a Project” is Feb 28, and if you have your ongoing project, please apply!
- Okinawa2023 Japan National Team Support Website(https://okinawa-basketball.japanbasketball.jp/column/2023/08/586 ↩︎
- FIBA Foundation Official Site “Propose a Project” (https://fibafoundation.basketball/page/propose-project) ↩︎
