History of Basketball

Have you ever wondered who or where does basketball comes from? Well, in my previous posts, I talked generally about basketball but in this post, I'll share with you of what I know about basketball. So, instead of evolution from an ancient game or another sport, basketball has its origins and it is actually invented by a well known Dr. James W. Naismith.

Naismith is a physician at McGill University in Montreal who was also interested in sports physiology. He was born in Ramsay Township in 1861. When Naismith was working in YMCA International Training School which is now known as Springfield College in US, as a physical education teacher in 1891, he faced a problem to provide an indoor "athletic distraction" for the students at the school for Christian Workers. At that current time, Naismith was also a Presbyterian Minister.

The idea of adapting outdoor games like soccer and lacrosse were given but he chooses to discard the idea. Instead of having the same games to be played indoor, he quickly thought of a game he once played during his schooling days called duck-on-a-rock which involves an attempt to knock a "duck" off the top of a large rock by tossing another rock.

From there, Naismith developed 13 rules to basketball game. The first game, however, was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets that was nailed 10-feet above the ground as a goal. During the time, the bottoms to the baskets was retained and each time a person scored, the balls had to be poked out with a long dowel and bouncing the ball while moving was not allowed at all.

The ball can be thrown and batted in any directions with one or both hands but definitely not by using a fist. However, a player cannot run with the ball but to throw it from the spot where he catches the ball. Furthermore, the ball only can be held between the hands not the arms or body.

Basketball's popularity quickly grew nationwide thanks to the impulse received by the YMCA's movement. It was an instant success and although Naismith never get to see the development of the game that turns into such a spectacular game known worldwide these days yet he still had the honor to witness it becoming an Olympic sport at the 1936 Games that was held in Berlin.