How Basketball Started !
Basketball is a fascinating sport. This sport is famous all around the world. The sport basketball started in the year of 1891, in YMCA training school, today known as Spring Field College. Dr. James Naismith, a physical education teacher looked for a vigorous indoor game to keep to keep his students occupied during the long New England winters to keep them in shape.
After rejecting many ideas of the rules he came up with the basic rules and nailed a peach basket on to a 10 foot elevated track. In contrast with modern basketball nets, this peach basket retained its bottom, and balls had to be retrieved manually after each “basket” or point scored; this proved wasteful, however, so a hole was drilled into the bottom of the basket, allowing the balls to be poked out with a long rod each time. The peach baskets were used until 1906 when they were finally replaced by metal hoops with backboards.
The first official basketball game was held at YMCA gymnasium on January 20, 1892, with 9 players on each team. Not only men played basketball, by 1892 women basketball team began at Smith College. Basketball’s early adherents were dispatched to YMCAs throughout the United States, and it quickly spread through the USA and Canada.
By 1895, it was well established at several woman’s high schools. While the YMCA was responsible for initially developing and spreading the game, within a decade it discouraged the new sport, as rough play and rowdy crowds began to detract from the YMCA’s primary mission. By the 1950’s basketball was a widely played game in college during the long winter.
