New Basketball wales Club Shooting challenge is here

Basketball Wales is launching a new monthly Club Shooting Challenge, giving junior players across the country an opportunity to test their skills, track their progress and compete for a place on the national leaderboards.

Clubs are encouraged to take part, starting in October 2026 and continuing until May 2027.

The shooting test is already used within the Basketball Wales National Academy programme. Introducing it across the club network will allow the Basketball Wales performance team to benchmark players who currently sit outside the Academy pathway. It will also help National Academy players improve their scores by completing the test regularly in their club environment.

How does the challenge work?

Club coaches should set aside time at the beginning of a training session during one session each month.

The challenge takes just 90 seconds to complete. Using a full basketball court, two players can take part at the same time—one at each basket.

Once the 90 seconds are complete, players should record and submit their individual scores through the dedicated Club Shooting Challenge page on the Basketball Wales website.

[Take part and submit your score]

Clubs are encouraged to give every eligible junior player attending the session an opportunity to complete the challenge.

Monthly national leaderboards

At the end of each monthly challenge window, the Basketball Wales performance team will analyse the submitted results and publish the top 10 performers in each of the following categories:

• Under 12
• Under 14
• Under 16
• Under 18

Players will be able to compare their results from month to month, monitor their development and aim for a place on the national leaderboard.

The results will also help Basketball Wales identify performance and participation trends throughout the season. Following the final challenge in May, the overall winners in each age category will be announced in June 2027.

Ryan Chambers, Basketball Wales Head of Performance and Coaching, said:

“The Club Shooting Challenge gives young players across Wales an opportunity to test themselves, track their progress and compare their performances with players of a similar age.

“By using the same test across our clubs and National Academy programme, we can establish consistent benchmarks and identify talented players who may currently sit outside the performance pathway.

Most importantly, we want the challenge to make purposeful shooting practice enjoyable and encourage players to keep working to improve their score each month.”

How clubs can get involved

We see the shooting challenge as a great way to start or end a session, either as a warm up or finisher activity. It has been specifically designed to be as quick and easy as possible to run. With the goal of improving the technical skills of players across Wales through healthy competition. 

Raising standards across Welsh basketball

The Club Shooting Challenge is the first in a planned series of Basketball Wales challenges designed to help raise standards across the game.

Future challenges will focus on other important areas of player development, including shooting, free throws and physical performance.

Full instructions, monthly challenge dates and details of how to submit scores will be available through the Basketball Wales website.

Are you ready to take the challenge? Get your club involved this October and see how your score compares with junior players across Wales.