Basketball England's Slam Jam to get children active

Basketball England is launching a new grassroots basketball programme called Slam Jam, which aims to introduce the sport to primary school aged children across the country.
 
Slam Jam will be delivered in both school and community locations with sessions lasting between 45-60 minutes and running for six to twelve weeks.

The programme, which has been developed in partnership with basketball and educational experts, aims to provide children with their first experience of basketball and develop the basic skills and techniques to both understand and enjoy the game.
 
Targeted specifically at 7-11-year olds, children have been involved in every part of Slam Jam’s design, from choosing the mascots / characters to developing the games and drills which form the sessions.
 
Over 1,000 children have already enjoyed the benefits of Slam Jam during a pilot period earlier this year, with 97% of participants saying they want to continue playing the game. Basketball England is aiming to introduce 180,000 new children to basketball through the programme.
 
Slam Jam forms a key part of Basketball England’s strategic plan to deliver a successful and sustainable future for the sport – ‘Growing BasketbALL TOGETHER’. Young people and children are at the heart of the plan with a key focus on delivering accessible and positive basketball experiences from a young age through the recruitment of first-class coaches and officials.
 
The launch of Slam Jam is extremely topical, following research released last month by Sport England into the key motivating factors of children’s physical activity. Their research found that children’s activity levels increase if they are having fun, with children who are physically literate doing twice as much activity as those who are not.
 
The Slam Jam programme, which supports the government’s ongoing drive to increase the importance placed on physical exercise within primary schools, is set to be available across the country from May.