Defining the ball size
This discussion has an associated proposal. View Proposal Details here.Comments about this discussion:
Started
I got a private message from Tim Slason a few days ago, where he aked me to raise this discussion in the basketball commitee - I'm not an basketball expert, so I can't judge how big this issue is, but I like to start this discussion. Attached you find the messgae from Tim:
We need to define the correct ball size. I’ve poured over FIBA rules a bit and it does not clearly define a correct ball for mixed gender competition between adults except in 3x3. Organizers and players should know what ball to expect when they show up to play.
There are three possible balls to consider in my opinion. The size 7 ball is what men’s basketball uses, the size 6 is what women’s and youth men (12-14) uses, and the 3x3 ball has the diameter of the size 6 with the weight of the size 7.
I think a fiba size 7 basketball being the only one is the easiest to achieve and probably what ought to be called out,m specifically for both 5 on 5 and 3 on 3 competition unless there is a fairness consideration that the basketball players believe is solved by a different size. I don’t think I have the expertise to judge that.
Comment
In France, for very practical reasons, we play everything with the basket height and the ball size corresponding to what the FIBA rules specify for adult men (thus size 7 for the ball).
We may decide differently in the IUF Rulebook, but I think the rule should nevertheless allow the director some flexibility.
Also, again because of practical constraints, it happens that the courts we are using are not full size courts. This was the case for exemple at Unicon 20. We however used there a full size court at least for the last games of the Youth and A tournaments.
Any opinion on these points (court size, basket height, ball size, other equipment considerations)?
Comment
I think basket height and ball size should be specified. I would explicitly allow changes to court size for all games except finals (including 3rd place game) but require full courts and clear lines for the free throw, 3 pt, half court, and out of bounds.
Comment
If you think we need to create a proposal out of this discussion, please remember that today (20.07.) is the last day to do so!
The wording of the proposal can still be adjusted in the coming days, but the proposal must be created today.
Comment
Proposed text
15A.3 Court and Equipment
Unicycle Basketball is played with a FIBA size 7 ball. The basketball hoop shall be 10 feet (3.05 meters) off the ground. The directors may choose to modify the court size from the FIBA requirements but the court must have clearly delineated out of bounds, 3pt, and free throw lines.
Comment
Thanks a lot for the proposed text. I will make minor adjustments for the proposal.
In particular, I realized that most sections have a "D Event Organizer Rules", which seems perfectly appropriate for this text and the one on tournament style.