BBALLHIST

HISTORY

Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian, originated the game of Basketball at the International YMCA Training School during the winter of 1891. Naismith was the newest and youngest Physical Education teacher at the school. His focus was to create a game for the purposes of stimulating interest in Physical Education. His aim was to augment the usual winter sessions of Marching, Gymnastics and Calisthenics with an exciting, easy to learn indoor game.

His goal was to combine the elements of existing games like lacrosse, football and soccer, with a new principle. Naismith reasoned that elevating the baskets would promote finesse and agility over the brute strength associated with football. The next day, the kids in Naismith's class played the game-- and loved it.

Although the original games was played with a soccer ball and nine players per team, including a goal-keeper, the game has undergone many rule changes and revisions. Today we see Basketball as a game of speed, mobility and quickness.

Basketball was first introduced in the Olympics in Germany of 1932. It was extremely successful as 21 teams competed in an effort to win gold. In the end, U.S.A. went on to beat Canada by a 19-8 score to win the first ever Olympic Basketball Title.

James Naismith went on the become an ordained Presbyterian minister and a medical doctor. Until his death at the age of 88, he remained a sports enthusiast and physical fitness nut.

Taken in part from: Walffson, Don. When Human Heads Were Footballs, New York, Aladdin Paperbacks, 1998.

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