The National Basketball Arena was the focus of all of the action for the 2018 Dublin Primary Schools’ Mini Basketball League finals this week, as over 1,000 children took to the court for a big festival of basketball.

Throughout the finals, 1,110 children played in the games, with 76 children officiating and more than 2,000 supporters on hand to cheer them all on.

76 school teams were clustered in local groups, and then were ranked in their cluster and paired for the finals in Tallaght. The Dublin Primary Schools Mini-Basketball League finals use the 4v4 format with teams of 12 players and six periods. All children participate in two periods per game. This format encourages more fundamental movement learning opportunities. All children are awarded a participation medal and the winning schools are presented with a trophy. Two children from each school act as scorekeepers and timekeepers.

This educational approach to sport and physical activity is very much in keeping with the Primary School PE Curriculum and the newly published National Sports Policy.