3x3 basketball for juniors in Melbourne: how it works and where to play

What 3x3 is

3x3 is basketball on half a court, three against three, with one substitute each. It's fast, it's short, and there's no coach running the game from the sideline. FIBA's own coaching guide says substitutions and any change of tactic are made by the players themselves.

It isn't a backyard version of the real thing. 3x3 made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games, and FIBA's qualifying events are already on the road to Los Angeles 2028. Australia's national 3x3 teams are the Gangurrus, who have played in the Asian 3x3 competitions since 2017.

For a junior, the appeal is simple. With only three players a side, every player is involved in almost every possession, at both ends. FIBA's coaching guide puts it plainly: the skills of 3x3 are the skills of basketball, and teams have used 3x3 to prepare for the five a side game for almost as long as the game has been played.

The rules a parent needs to know

Most of the rules are normal basketball. These are the ones that change, taken from FIBA's official 3x3 rules, which are current from 1 January 2026.

FIBA recommend softer rules for Under 12s: a ring lowered to 2.60 metres, no shot clock and no time outs. Events decide for themselves whether to use them, so check the event's own rules before the day.

• A team is up to four players: three on court and one substitute.
• A game is one period of ten minutes. The first team to reach 21 points before time runs out wins straight away.
• If it's tied at full time, the first team to score two points in overtime wins.
• A basket inside the arc is worth one point, a basket from behind the arc is worth two, and a free throw is worth one.
• There's a 12 second shot clock.
• Play restarts with a check ball, a hand over between a defender and an attacker behind the arc at the top of the court.
• A coin flip decides who gets the first possession.
• From the seventh team foul, the other team gets two free throws. From the tenth, they get two free throws and the ball.

Basketball Victoria's 3x3 pathway

Basketball Victoria run 3x3 for juniors through two programs, and both feed the official FIBA ranking system, so every game a player plays earns them individual ranking points.

3XCup is Basketball Victoria's official 3x3 pathway. Teams of up to four play State Qualifiers in the July school holidays, then the Victoria 3XCup State Championships in the September school holidays. The 2026 State Championship was held on Friday 25 September at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South, for Under 11 to Under 19. Open qualifiers cost $140 per team per event, and school teams pay $100 for primary and $120 for secondary.

The Junior 3XTour is the second program. In 2026 it ran for Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 on Sundays from 14 June to 9 August, with teams of four to six players. Fees and dates for 2027 hadn't been published when we checked, so check Basketball Victoria's 3XTour page for the 2027 details.

Setting up a FIBA 3x3 profile

Official 3x3 events run through FIBA's 3x3 Planet website, play.fiba3x3.com, which is where teams register and where ranking points are recorded. A player profile is free. Basketball Victoria's instructions are to click New Player Account, fill in the player's details, create a password and sign up.

Players under 13 can't have a standard FIBA 3x3 profile. FIBA let them register for events with a nickname profile instead, so a parent of a ten or eleven year old should expect that step to look a little different.

Junior 3x3 tournaments around Melbourne

Outside Basketball Victoria's own events, most junior 3x3 in Melbourne is one day tournaments run by associations, usually in the school holidays. The September 2026 school holidays alone had four. None had been announced for later in 2026 when we checked, so treat the table as a guide to who runs them and roughly what they cost.

The pattern to expect is a burst of events in the September holidays, the odd one over summer, and Basketball Victoria's qualifiers in July. Ask your own association whether they run one, because most of these are only advertised a few weeks out.

How to enter a team

You enter as a team, not as a player. Find three or four kids in the same age group, check the event's birth year rules, because some use next season's age groups, and pick a team name.

Then register through the organiser. Basketball Victoria's events and some association events go through FIBA's 3x3 Planet, so each player needs a profile first. Others use their own form or a council booking page. The fee is usually per team, so agree with the other families who's paying before the day.

On the day, expect several short games rather than one long one. Bring water, food and a parent who's happy to keep track of game times, because there's no coach on the sideline making those calls.

Is 3x3 worth it for my child?

For most juniors, yes, as an extra rather than a replacement for their normal team. With three players instead of five and no coach calling plays, a player gets far more time on the ball and has to make far more of their own decisions than in a normal game.

It also suits kids who are still deciding how serious they want to be. There's no season to sign up for and no tryout, just a team of friends and a Sunday or a holiday weekday. If they love it, the 3XCup and 3XTour are there, and every game counts towards an official FIBA ranking.