1 News Now:
Census figures from the New Zealand Secondary School Sports Council show basketball has overtaken football as the third most-played sport.
On current growth trends, it will become the most popular in 2020.
In 2017 a total of 25,649 secondary school students played basketball in a way deemed by the NZSSSC to be “meaningful engagement” in a school setting.
Netball retains top spot despite their numbers falling to 28,455 while rugby has dropped to 26,951.
Basketball NZ chief executive Iain Potter says his organisation has been working hard to provide more opportunities to meet the increasing demand.