It is a little-known fact that the man who invented the game of basketball was a 31-year-old grad student named James Naismith. He loved athletics and physical education even though he was qualified as a theologian. Interestingly, physical education was a relatively recent addition to curriculums at the time. Teaching sports in school was the brainchild of a college superintendent, Luther Gulick, who went on to spread his idea throughout the entire country.
How The Game of Basketball Started
It was difficult to play football during the winter months at Springfield College (better known as a training school called the International YMCA in those days). The inactivity experienced by players in the colder months was not good for maintaining fitness levels. Naismith was inspired by one of Gulick’s lectures on the need for an indoor game to be invented.
Some of the factors that a new indoor game had to take into account in those days were the need for artificial lighting, the importance of a simple game plan, and one that the football players would consider challenging, but still fun. With the onset of fall and winter, all the players had to occupy them was the equipment in the gymnasium.
Third Time’s a Charm
Two instructors had already tried to develop a game stimulating enough to pique the players’ interest, while still being easy to learn. Both had failed. So, Gulick asked Naismith to give it a try. The game had to be able to playable indoors in winter and outdoors in summer, on various surfaces, and by a number of players who could be scaled up or down according to availability.
Naismith ended up basing his concept on a childhood game called Duck on a Rock. He asked for two square boxes they could use as goals, but all that could be found were peach baskets. These were nailed to rails at opposite sides of the gymnasium balconies that just happened to be 10 feet in height. The goal was to shoot the ball into the baskets.
It wasn’t until later that a hole was cut into the baskets at the bottom to allow the ball to fall through. Until then, two players had to be stationed next to the baskets to fish out the ball and throw it back into play. And so, the game of basketball started. If you want to know more about all things basketball, visit Ballers Republic.
How The Basketball Rules Came To Be
Naismith drew up 13 rules for the game. It laid down the guidelines on how the ball was meant to be moved and what would be considered foul play. It was stipulated that all games would have a referee and be divided into two halves of 15 minutes. A five minute resting period was permitted in between for water breaks.
Once the rules had been posted on the bulletin board, and players began to pick up the gameplay strategy, basketball was set to spread to other colleges and schools overall the United States.
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