The 1997 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes was the 12th edition of the European basketball championship for U16 women's teams, today known as FIBA U16 Women's European Championship. 12 teams featured in the competition, held in Sopron, Hungary, from 18 to 27 July 1997.
19 countries entered the qualification round. They were divided in three groups. The top three teams of each group qualified for the main tournament.
Hungary (as host), Russia (as incumbent champion) and Italy (as incumbent runner-up) received a bye to the main tournament and did not play in the qualification round.
In the preliminary round, the twelve teams were allocated in two groups of six teams each. The top four teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The last two teams of each group qualified for the 9th-12th playoffs.
Source: FIBA Archive Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record. Notes:
^ abcdThe four teams were first ranked by their head-to-head records: HUN 2–1, FRA 2–1, CRO 1–2, CZE 1–2. Then, Hungary/France and Croatia/Czech Republic were ranked by their game result (HUN 58–57 FRA) / (CRO 59–57 CZE).
^First appearance as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. They made nine more appearances as part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. FIBA considers the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as successor of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.