The incredible numbers of FIP/NBA projects for very young people have been adjusted upwards. The Under 13s dress 1,500 clubs, in the school the record of 20 cities registered. And a League was born for 168 9-10 year old girls on the pitch wearing WNBA jerseys.
The Jr. NBA WNBA FIP draft season starts again. In line with the expansion that has always characterized the two tournaments, the one for the Under 13 Championship and the one dedicated to secondary school students, the number of players on the pitch wearing the fabulous NBA jerseys will also be increased for the 2025/26 season.
An absolute novelty is the entry of a WNBA League. In three regions – Lazio, Marche, Umbria – 3×3 student tournaments will be organized, reserved for registered and non-member girls in the fourth and fifth grade classes. All on the pitch wearing the jerseys of the 14 teams that make up the WNBA championship.
The numbers. Last year, more than 25,000 game kits were distributed between the Jr. NBA WNBA FIP U13 Championship and the Jr. NBA WNBA FIP Schools League.
In the Under 13s the numbers maintain the positive trend recorded in recent years in which the championship took on the Jr. NBA style, with 1,504 clubs and over 19,000 male and female athletes on the pitch.
Yet another “boom” in the school tournament, with 20 cities at the start. In addition to those already present in the last season (Ancona, Ascoli Piceno and Fermo, Bari, Florence, Genoa, Matera, Milan, Naples, Perugia, Pescara and Chieti, Livorno, Reggio Calabria, Rome, Trani and Barletta, Trieste, Venice) this year Aosta, Brescia/Bergamo, Forlì/Cesena and Turin have signed up, for a total of over 7,000 students who will take part in the eighth season of the Jr. NBA WNBA Schools League.
These numbers also include the 150 players of the newly created Jr. NBA WNBA FIP Girls League.
The WNBA arrives in Rome, Perugia and Ancona. Like every year, the news of the Jr. NBA is not limited to the increase in participants. Enthusiastically welcoming the request presented by the FIP, the “Jr. NBA and WNBA” family is in fact expanding and becoming even more “pink”, with a League, divided between Rome, Perugia and Ancona, entirely dedicated to women’s basketball. In fact, the girls from primary school (fourth and fifth grade) will battle on the pitch in a 3×3 tournament and will be provided with the kits of the 14 WNBA franchises. An absolute novelty, which has no equal in other countries where the NBA and WNBA are present with projects for the youth sectors.
Inserted among the many activities promoted by the FIP for the expansion of women’s basketball in our country, the Jr. WNBA FIP will therefore pave the way this year for a project that aims to expand in the next sporting seasons to other locations spread across the national territory, with the involvement of the age group (9-11 years) not yet touched by the Jr. NBA WNBA FIP proposals.
Jr. NBA FIP U13 Championship. In the 2025/26 season there are 1,219 male and 285 female teams participating in the Under 13 Championship. The format of the championship remains unchanged compared to past editions. Through Draft Events, clubs are formally divided within one of the 49 Leagues that make up the Championship. Also in the event that symbolically opens the tournament, the teams are paired with the franchises of the overseas championship. From that moment, the path that leads to the Final Event begins, where the Jr. NBA WNBA Rings won last season by Olimpia Milano/Milwaukee Bucks (back to back for the Lombards who also won in 2024) and by Ginnastica Angiulli/Atlanta Hawks are up for grabs.
Jr. NBA FIP Schools League. Eighth edition of the FIP and NBA school tournament. It was 2016, when the first, and then only, city tournament was organized in Rome which immediately managed to attract 30 schools in the capital. Excluding the Covid period, the tournament had an impressive demand for organization from all over Italy. With the Jr. NBA FIP, basketball enters middle schools, with a streamlined tournament (8-minute games, always at least one girl on the court, there are a maximum of 5 outings during school hours for the entire school year) and with the free distribution of the beautiful game kits. For the eighth edition the maximum of the 20 cities involved is reached (Aosta, Ancona, Ascoli Piceno and Fermo, Bari, Bergamo and Brescia, Forlì, Florence, Genoa, Matera, Milan, Naples, Perugia, Pescara and Chieti, Livorno, Reggio Calabria, Rome, Turin, Trani and Barletta, Trieste, Venice).
Draft e Final Event. The key stages of the Jr. NBA WNBA FIP are, as always, the Draft Events and the Final Events. In the Draft Events, organized by the Regional Committees in January 2026, the over 1,500 teams registered in the Under 13s, and the approximately 7,000 pupils from the 20 cities of the Schools League, will as always be paired with the NBA teams. From there, we start playing, to get to the two Final Events which, in May 2026, will bring 16 teams to compete for the Ring in the Marche (Under 13) and in Veneto (School).
Fip Toscana will hold the Draft Event on Saturday 24 January, starting at 10.30 am, in Livorno at the Bruno Macchia sports hall, via Allende 2, in which the 100 clubs registered for the Under 13 Male and Female championships of the 2025/2026 sports season will participate. During the Draft, the precious playing jerseys will be delivered which will be worn by the children in the championship matches as each team will be assigned an NBA franchise for the continuation of the championship.
So let’s meet at the Draft Event in Livorno!!!
Fip Tuscany
The Leagues of the Jr. NBA WNBA FIP U13 Championship 2025/26
Men’s tournament
Lombardy – Leagues from n.1 to n.8
Piedmont/Liguria/Sardinia – Leagues from n.9 to n.13
Veneto/Friuli Venezia Giulia/Trentino Alto Adige – Leagues from n.14 to n.19
Tuscany/Lazio – Leagues from n.20 to n.25
Emilia Romagna/Marche/Umbria – Leagues from n.26 to n.31
Abruzzo/Molise/Puglia/Basilicata – Leagues from n.32 to n.35
Sicily/Campania/Calabria – Leagues from n.36 to n. 41
Women’s tournament
Piedmont/Lombardy/Liguria – Leagues from n.1 to n.2
Emilia Romagna/Veneto/Friuli Venezia Giulia/Trentino Alto Adige – Leagues n.3 to n.4
Tuscany/Sardinia/Lazio/Umbria – Leagues n.5 to n.6
Marche/Abruzzo/Molise/Puglia – League n.7
Campania/Sicily/Calabria – League n.8
The cities of the Jr. NBA WNBA FIP Schools League
Ancona, Ascoli Piceno and Fermo, Aosta, Bari, Bergamo and Brescia, Cesena and Forlì, Florence, Genoa, Matera, Milan, Naples, Perugia, Pescara and Chieti, Livorno, Reggio Calabria, Rome, Turin, Trani and Barletta, Trieste, Venice
Final Events – date
Final Event Jr. NBA U13 Championship – 28-30 May 2026 (in the Marche region)
Final Event Jr. NBA FIP Schools League – 4-5 maggio 2026 (In Veneto)
Albo d’Oro Jr. NBA WNBA FIP U13 Championship
Male
2025 EA7 Emporio Armani/ Milwaukee Bucks
2024 EA7 Emporio Armani/Oklahoma City Thunder
2023 Anzio Basket Club/Dallas Mavericks
Female
2025 Angiulli Gymnastics/Atlanta Hawks
2024 Basket Costa/Denver Nuggets
2023 Women’s Basketball Florence/Detroit Pistons
Albo d’Oro Jr. NBA FIP Schools League
2025 – Ippolito Nievo San Donà di Piave Comprehensive Institute / Miami Heat
2024 – Massimiliano Guerri State Middle School – Reggello (FI) / Oklahoma City Thunder
2023 – ic. Campi Elisi Trieste / Denver Nuggets
2022 – not played
2021 – not played
2020 – not assigned
2019 –San Carlo Milano / Sacramento Kings
2018 – IC Giuseppe Impastato Roma / Chicago Bulls/
2017 – IC Leonardo da Vinci Guidonia / Los Angeles Lakers
2016 – IC Vibo Mariano Roma / Oklahoma City Thunder
