ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE YOUTH BASKETBALL SYSTEM IN UKRAINE (2015–2025)

Abstract

The youth basketball system plays an important role in the development of national sport and the formation of the athletic reserve. In the context of long-term transformations in the Ukrainian sports sector, changes in organizational forms of athlete development, and the increasing presence of private initiatives, the analysis of current trends in youth basketball development becomes particularly relevant. An additional factor influencing the functioning of the system has been the full-scale war. The purpose of the study is to identify the main trends in the development of youth basketball in Ukraine and to analyze organizational changes in the athlete training system during the period from 2015 to 2025. Methods. The empirical basis of the research includes official statistical data from the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and publicly available analytical data from the Basketball Federation of Ukraine. The study employed methods of scientific literature analysis and synthesis, statistical data analysis, comparative analysis, and a systems approach. Results. The findings reveal a long-term decline in the number of departments, training groups, and participants within the system of state and municipal youth sports schools. The full-scale war intensified these processes but was not their primary cause. The observed increase in the proportion of specialized training groups, despite the overall decline in the number of athletes, appears to be associated not with improvements in training quality but with the system’s adaptation to smaller group sizes and the need to maintain coaches’ workloads. Private youth basketball clubs do not create an alternative vertical system of athlete development; however, they play an important role in the popularization of basketball, the development of marketing practices, club culture, branding, and modern communication strategies. The dominance of youth sports schools is largely explained by their structural advantages, including access to infrastructure, stable public funding, favorable working conditions for coaches, and accumulated institutional reputation. Conclusions. The development of private youth basketball clubs in Ukraine is largely based on the enthusiasm and professional motivation of their founders rather than on sustainable economic models. In the long term, however, such clubs may become an important driver of modernization in youth basketball if their experience in training methodology, organizational practices, marketing, and cooperation with parents is integrated into the broader national sports development system.