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The history of the emergence of basketball

The history of basketball goes back 130 years. We will tell you about who and how invented basketball, as well as about the periods and stages of its formation as a popular sport.

Who Invented Basketball?
James Naismith, who taught at the American College of the Youth Christian Association (ICA) in Springfield in the late 19th century. Naismith was looking for a new way to engage college students in sports. In those days, students were engaged only in gymnastic exercises, which very quickly bored them. James Naismith has developed a new action game to bring boring gymnastics to life.

Basketball creator James Naismith

The first basketball match took place on December 21, 1891. Naismith secured two fruit baskets to the balconies, divided the students into two teams, and handed them a homemade ball. The object of the game was the same as in modern basketball - to throw the ball into the basket. The team that has thrown the ball more times wins.

The game was fundamentally different from modern basketball. Initially, there was no dribbling, and the players simply threw it to each other, moving a short distance across the court, on which there were practically no markings. To get the ball out of the basket, players had to climb a ladder.

When did the first rules appear?
In 1892. Naismith and the students were satisfied with the game with almost no rules only at first. Over time, the need arose for a clear regulation of matches, because sometimes even the fans on the balcony interfered in the course of the game - they caught the ball and threw it into the basket. In 1892, James Naismith compiled the first 13-point rulebook for basketball. That same year, physical education instructor Senda Berenson of a private women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts adapted the rules for women's teams.

The new rules were revised and supplemented after the very first matches. The fans continued to "hooligan" and forced Naismith to come up with a shield that protected the basket. In 1893, the fruit basket went down in history, giving way to the familiar mesh ring. A year later, the first official basketball rules were approved, which operated throughout the United States.

Basketball court markings
Basketball court layout and dimensions
The history of basketball development
In the United States, basketball was promoted to schools as part of physical education classes. Even before the beginning of the 20th century, basketball appeared in Canada, where college and university students also liked it. James Naismith promoted basketball in the United States, and the ICA College, where the first match took place, regulated the rules of the game around the first ten years of basketball.

Later, two organizations picked up the baton from the MHA college at once: the National University Sports Association and the Amateur Sports Union. They were responsible for popularizing basketball in America. Already in 1898, supporters of the new sport tried to create the first official association of teams - the National Basketball League. However, this organization lasted only five years, and basketball itself, meanwhile, got out of North America.