China Basketball held its finals for the first time and ended successfully in Xiamen

Little basketball, big dream!

On the evening of August 23, the week-long 2025 China Small Basketball Finals ended successfully at the Xiamen International Convention and Exhibition Center. At the same time, the 2025 National U14 Youth Basketball League Finals, as an advanced version of the small basketball, successfully concluded at the Xiamen Sports Center after two weeks of fierce battle. It is reported that the 2026 and 2027 China Small Basketball Finals will continue to be held in Siming District, Xiamen.

As the highest-standard and highest-level event for Chinese youth basketball under the age of 14, the Chinese Basketball Series and National Finals hosted by the Chinese Basketball Association were held in Xiamen, Ludao Sports is full of stars. Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame members Chen Daohong, Zheng Haixia, Liu Yudong, Gong Xiaobin and Xiamen Olympic weightlifting champion Lin Qingfeng gathered in Xiamen to help the first national finals after the release of the "Little Basketball Development Plan" in 2017.

Zheng Haixia, the first Asian in history to enter the WNBA arena and an iconic figure in the history of the development of Chinese women's basketball, said during the Xiamen game that she saw the love of Chinese youth for basketball. Through the platform of national events, the children's basic skills are becoming more and more solid and their movements are becoming more and more standardized. I believe that with the continuous holding of high-level events, the overall level of Chinese youth basketball will also rise.

The national finals held in Siming District coincide with the summer vacation. Among them, the U14 Youth Basketball League finals have 32 teams from all over the country. The Chinese Basketball Series National Finals have 265 teams from all over the country, with a total of 2,800 players participating in the competition. In addition, nearly 8,300 coaches, referees, staff and parents, it has brought 36,000 passenger flows to the exhibition center and the sports center, and the event directly drives consumption of more than 50 million yuan. On August 23, the week-long 2025 China Small Basketball Finals ended successfully at the Xiamen International Convention and Exhibition Center.

The event was fully upgraded

The National Finals were held for the first time since the China Small Basketball League was held in 2018, after seven years of polishing, China Small Basketball ushered in the national finals in Xiamen for the first time. Gao Wenjing, secretary of the China Basketball Association, Basketball Association of the General Administration of Sports of China, said: "The Chinese Basketball Association will continue to build a platform for high-level competitive exchanges and self-improvement for outstanding young players, and lay a solid foundation for building a talent pyramid for sustainable development of Chinese basketball through scientific selection and training mechanisms. Looking forward to the future star of Chinese basketball, we will set sail here and strive toward a higher basketball dream."

This year's small basketball finals cover three age groups: U8, U10 (men's group, mixed group), and U12 (men's group, women's group). The participating teams are from the provincial finals of China Small Basketball, the provincial finals of Anta Spark U League and the invitation of the organizing committee.

In order to encourage more female players to enter the field and solve the dilemma of female players having no match to play. This event will be equipped with U10 mixed group and U12 women's group. Among them, the U10 mixed group requires at least 2 female players from each team and at least one female player on the court to play, and the U10 mixed group and U12 female team must have at least one female coach or team leader.

In addition, during this small basketball final, the Chinese Basketball Association basketball skill level assessment competition was held. All participating teams were held in the U8 group, U10 men's group, U10 mixed group, U12 men's group, and U12 women's group. Each team registered for 3 players of the team to participate. Each player had two chances to evaluate and get the best results (a percentage system). Those who pass the test can obtain a grade certificate issued by the Chinese Basketball Association. The basketball court was fierce and the enthusiasm of the whole audience was ignited.

Opening up the event link

provides a growth path for basketball players

The "Little Basketball Development Plan" of the Chinese Basketball Association, creating more standardized, systematic and professional events and competition rules for young basketball under the age of 14. At present, the small basketball event has covered nearly 25 provinces, cities and autonomous regions across the country, with a total of more than 1 million participants. In 2024 alone, more than 200,000 teenagers participated in the Chinese Basketball Series, fully demonstrating the wide impact and huge potential of the project among teenagers.

Anta Children's Brand President Wan Bin introduced that according to relevant data, 40% of the Chinese youth age population often participate in basketball, which shows that among the 250 million teenagers in China, there is 100 million basketball population. "We believe that basketball must be a particularly popular event for teenagers, and it is very helpful for their physical growth and teamwork. In schools, roadsides and communities, basketball is one of the most popular sports among teenagers."

Nie Richao from Kangtu Sports Club, Handan, Hebei Province said he was very lucky. In his first year as a coach, in 2017, the China Small Basketball Development Plan was released. And he led the team to Xiamen for the first time, and encountered the first national finals. "Xiamen held a very successful final, and our entire team also felt the surging momentum of the development of Chinese youth basketball."

As the core annual event under the small basketball system of the China Basketball Association, the holding of the small basketball finals marks that the small basketball system has opened up the complete link between grassroots competitions-provincial competitions-national competitions, providing young players with clear and standardized growth channels. The organizing committee hopes that the successful holding of the event will better improve the level of China's basketball youth training system, expand the youth basketball population base, build a more complete reserve talent development channel, and consolidate the future foundation of basketball.

Travel with the event

Sharking Siming District to spend more than 50 million yuan

In July 2024, Siming District successfully held the NYBO National Youth Basketball Open National Finals, bringing huge passenger flow. Compared with NYBO's commercial attributes, the Little Basketball Finals is a more rigorous and standardized "National Championship". Although the scale of participation is slightly inferior, the economic benefits are also considerable. The event directly drives consumption of more than 50 million yuan.

Zhang Shuming from Panjin Yuting Club in Liaoning participated in the U10 mixed group competition this time, and his parents and sister accompanied him to participate. Zhang Shuming's mother Li Meihui told reporters that almost the whole club was dispatched. "The child has played basketball for two years and used to participate in Liaoning Province. This is the first time we have come so far. My sister was influenced by her brother and just started learning basketball. I hope that this trip to Xiamen in the finals will allow her to experience the influence of basketball culture. We all like Xiamen very much, the environment is good and the air is good. In such a beautiful place, we have also enhanced the parent-child relationship through the links of basketball."

For the participants, the event organizing committee planned and launched the "Summer Study Tour", combining the characteristics of basketball players to select 13 ticket types and 7 study routes in 10 popular attractions in Xiamen, so as to realize one-stop ticket purchase in the basketball court. Participants can enjoy exclusive discounts for designated hotels (43) and catering (59) with their participation certificates, and can enjoy the treatment of Gulangyu citizen channels.

The reporter saw at the competition site that during the finals, the family cheered for their children one after another. Many parents told the reporter that during the game, they also visited attractions such as Gulangyu.

From August 16th to 23rd, the exhibition center held a "Event Carnival" theme event on site. According to Siming Urban Construction, the organizer of this event, the exhibition area has Anta Brand Pavilion and Siming Urban Construction Brand Pavilion, as well as five sponsor booths including Nongfu Spring, Mekai Flooring, China People's Insurance, Yili, and BeiOPA, as well as more than 15 catering and food, cultural and creative products, and southern Fujian specialty souvenir booths. According to statistics, the Anta Brand Pavilion alone has direct revenue of 150,000 yuan in just one week. The theme activities of "Event Carnival" are full of excitement, and teenagers and parents stop to participate.

Basketball feasts are all here, and Xiamen children feel the power of role models. Xiamen has a deep basketball heritage, and Xiamen University's basketball history has more than a hundred years. Xiamen basketball not only has a strong mass base, but also cultivates CBA players such as Zhou Qixin and Lin Wei. Among them, Lin Wei also participated in the NBA draft this year. In 2016, the WCBA All-Star Game was staged at the Jimei Jiageng Stadium; in 2023 and 2024, the CBA All-Star Game was held at the Phoenix Stadium for two consecutive years.

As Siming District holds major youth competitions such as the NYBO and the National Basketball Finals for two consecutive years, Xiamen's basketball popularity is getting higher and higher. Zhou Hua, a technical representative of this competition and professor at Fujian Sports Vocational and Technical College, said that many industry insiders, including him, are delighted to see that the overall level of Chinese youth basketball is gradually improving. "Xiamen has held more and more basketball feasts in recent years. Xiamen children who like basketball have seen the power of role models up close and watched high-level basketball competitions will undoubtedly bring positive promotion to the development of basketball for young people in Xiamen."

Since the CBA All-Star Game, Zheng Haixia has frequently visited Xiamen to attend basketball activities in the past two years. She told reporters that she has visited several schools, seen the children's love for basketball, and has also met a friend who is a coach at the grassroots level. "Xiamen already has a WCBA team, and I hope to have a CBA club as soon as possible. Many excellent event platforms have come to Xiamen, and the children have goals and dreams. This is the greatest hope for Chinese basketball."

According to Lin Wenwu, Secretary-General of Xiamen Basketball Association, Xiamen Basketball has achieved fruitful results in recent years. Since 2019, the total number of participants in the Xiamen Basketball Event has exceeded 10,000. In the 2025 Fujian Youth Basketball Championship and Middle School Basketball League (Group A) competition that ended not long ago, Tong'an No. 1 Middle School won the first place in the men's group and Xiamen Double Ten Middle School won the second place in the women's group. In the basketball league (Group B), Xiamen No. 10 Middle School won the third place in the men's group, and Xiamen Double Ten Middle School won the women's group championship.

Xiamen Daily reporter Lu Pengyu

Photo/Siming Culture and Tourism