The 2012 Iowa Youth Basketball State Championship for grades 5-9 will be conducted by Pacesetter Sports at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls on Saturday, March 24, for girls in grades 5, 7, and 9, and boys in grades 6 and 8 and Sunday, March 25, for boys in grades 5, 7, and 9, and girls in grades 6 and 8.  All games will be held at the UNI Recreation Center, which features eight wooden courts with rectangular glass boards.  

All teams are guaranteed 3 games in the state tournament.  Each age/gender division will be limited to the first sixteen teams to register.  There are no divisions by class or school size.  All players must either attend the same school or live in the same school district.  Smaller schools may combine as long as their combined high school enrollment for grades 9-12 is not greater than 400 students.

The champion and runner-up from the Iowa state tournament will be invited to play in the Pacesetter Great Four-State Tournament (click this link to see Great State dates for 2012) at the Target Center in Minneapolis competing against the top teams from South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota.

All players in the state tournament will be offered free tickets to a Minnesota Timberwolves game in 2012-2013.  Teams are encouraged to register soon by either sending in the form (PDF) or registering online.  The team fee for the state tournament is $130/team.

For further questions email Pacesetter Director Jeff McCarron or call Pacesetter Sports at 320-243-7460.

The 2012 Iowa Youth Basketball State Championships have been scheduled at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls on Saturday and Sunday, March 24-25, for all Iowa teams currently in grades 5-9. The Iowa state tournament is hosted by Pacesetter Sports as part of a four-state series of state play offs that lead to the Great Four-State Championships at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

The top two teams from Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota in each age/gender division are invited to play in the 8-team “Great State” championship. Last year was the second year for the Great State play offs. No Iowa teams won a Great State title in 2011, but four Iowa teams finished as runner-up, which is the No. 2 team in four states in their age group: Pella 6th grade boys, Ankeny 7th grade boys, West Lyon 9th grade boys and Newell-Fonda 9th grade girls.

Each team will play 3-4 games in one day in the state tournament with the girls in grades 5, 7 and 9 and boys in grades 6 and 8 playing Saturday, March 24, and boys in grades 5, 7 and 9 and girls in grades 6 and 8 playing Sunday, March 25. Each age/gender division is limited to the first 16 teams to enter. Teams are not divided by class or size of school enrollment. All players on each team must either attend the same school or live in the same school district with one exception: smaller schools may combine as long as the combined enrollment of their high schools does not exceed 400 students for grades 9-12.

The NBA Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx, which both play home games at the Target Center, are sponsoring this Great State play off system. The Timberwolves are offering every player a free ticket to a 2012-2013 game, and the Lynx are sponsoring the Great State tournaments on Lynx game days and involving all teams in special fan experiences at the WNBA game that will follow the Great State games.

Registration for the Iowa Youth Basketball State Tournament is available on the Pacesetter website at www.pacesetternet.com or by emailing info@pacesetternet.com for a registration form. High school head coaches and teams that played last year have also been sent information and registration
materials.