Mini Ball players light up arena

Cooper Murrell of Saint Thomas More School, Mount Maunganui, takes a shot for Argentina during the 2013 Mini Ball World Cup basketball tournament at ASB Arena yesterday.

Western Bay primary school children lit up the ASB Arena yesterday at the 2013 Mini Ball World Cup tournament hosted by the Tauranga City Basketball Association.

There were 32 teams competing, split into equal divisions of Year 3-4 and Year 5-6 pupils, with each side representing one of the world's top basketball nations.

Face paint in team colours and uniforms made for a spectacular sight inside the arena.

The tournament began four years ago to coincide with the 2010 World Championships held in Turkey so the children got to learn about another country as well as following the tournament.

Last year six courts were needed but had the space been available they would have used nine yesterday.

Tauranga City Basketball chief executive Mark Rogers says the children all had a great experience and loads of fun. "It is all good development and, hopefully, they will go on and finish their leagues after the upcoming AIMS Games," he said.

"A lot of them will go on to our Navigators development programme and nearly all of them play in local leagues.

"The great thing about the Mini Ball World Cup is that the kids get to experience for the first time, in many cases, what it is like to play in a tournament.

"They learn about playing in pools and knockout games leading up to finals.

"The whole day is such a valuable learning experience for them and you can see how much fun they all had. Our numbers are going through the roof with mini ball leagues and it is a real boost to the popularity of basketball."

Te Akau ki Papamoa Primary School made both finals playing as Greece and Germany, against St Mary's (Norway) and Omanu Primary (Brazil).