History of Basketball

By: Ethan Schmidt

Basketball is a very popular sport here in America. Have you ever wondered how it started and where it came from? It all started in the winter of 1891-18892. It was in Springfield college, which was known as the International YMCA Training School. It is located in Springfield Massachusetts. They had a gymnasium class, which offered activities like marching, calisthenics, and apparatus work.

The teacher for this class was James Naismith, a 31-year-old graduate student. He graduated from Presbyterian College in Montreal with a theology degree. He wanted to create a new game that could be played during the winter. He asked teachers and students to help him find a game that could be played. He started thinking of a sport that could be played with a large number of players and wasn't as rough as rugby and football.

After thinking he finally found it. He made an adaptation of American rugby, English rugby, lacrosse, and soccer. Naismith had to find two baskets so he went up to the janitor and he gave him two peach baskets. He nailed them to the lower rail of the gymnasium balcony. It was ten feet in the air. There had to be someone at each end to pick the ball out of the basket. Later they finally cut a hole in the bottom. Naismith created the thirteen original rules. He pinned them up for the gym class and the teams were chosen with three centers, three forwards, and three guards per side. He would take two centers and throw the ball up. This game became known as basketball.

The game spread really quickly. After a few weeks since the game was invented, students introduced it to their own YMCA’s. The rules were printed in a college magazine. This magazine was sent to YMCA’s all over the country. Colleges and high schools introduced it and it finally became a recognized winter sport. Some rules were changed but all in all, the game of basketball has not been changed drastically since the thirteen original rules.