Did you ever wonder about the origin of the game of basketball?

By David McClelland

I wondered just how old the game of basketball is and how it was created. My research revealed the following story:

It dates back to the winter of 1891-92 in Springfield, Massachusetts at the International YMCA Training School, which in now known as Springfield College. At that time, there were no college sports during the winter months after football season ended and before lacrosse began in the spring. The young men were required to participate in indoor activities to burn off the energy that built up after football season ended, but it consisted primarily of exercises and running.

The instructor for this physical education class was a 31 year-old graduate student, James Naismith, who was himself studying physical education. His supervisor was Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick, who had introduced a new course, the psychology of play. Dr. Gulick challenged Naismith to come up with an indoor sport which would be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play in the winter, yet complex enough to be interesting.

What Naismith came up with was an adaptation of many games of the time, including American Rugby (passing), English Rugby (the jump ball), lacrosse (use of a goal), soccer (the shape and size of the ball) and "duck-on-a-rock", a game that he had played as a child in Bennie's Corners, Ontario, Canada. Duck-on-a-rock used a goal that had a horizontal opening high enough that the ball would have to be tossed up and into it.

Naismith asked the janitor if he could find two 18-inch square boxes to be used as goals. The janitor came back with two peach baskets which Naismith nailed to the lower end of the balcony which just happened to be ten feet above the floor. After each successful shot, the ball had to be lifted out of the basket by an extra man so that play could resume. It was a few years later that the bottoms were removed from the baskets.

Naismith drew up 13 rules which included the method of moving the ball and what constituted a foul. A referee was appointed. He decided that the game should be divided into two fifteen-minute halves with a five minute rest period in between. The rules were posted on a bulletin board. When the first class met, two teams were chosen such that there were three centers, three forwards and three guards per side. Two of the centers met at mid-court, Naismith tossed up the ball and the game of "basket ball" was born.

The game caught on quickly and was a huge success. YMCA's added basket ball to their activities. An article was published in college magazine which was mailed to YMCA's across the country. Soon, the game was adopted in many foreign countries as well. In this country, high schools and colleges began to introduce the game and, by 1905, "basketball" was officially recognized as a permanent winter sport.

Over the years, the rules have been modified, but basketball is basically the same game with the same rules as were tacked up on that first bulletin board in 1891. Now, you know when, where and why basketball was created. Most of are glad that it was and continue to enjoy the sport at all levels.