Basketball is a game played by two teams made up of five players. In the game, goals are scored by throwing a ball through a netted hoop fixed at each end of the court.
The game first surfaced in Springfield, Massachusetts, during the late 1800s. It was invented as an alternative to more high-impact and dangerous sports such as football by Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith. He created the game to encourage his students at Springfield College to participate in healthy and interesting competitive games. In creating the game, Naismith came up with 13 guidelines. He described the acceptable methods of moving the ball and what moves were prohibited or considered fouls. After appointing a referee, Naismith outlined the way the game would progress. The game was played in 35 minutes, broken into two 15-minute halves and split by a 5-minute break. Subsequently, his secretary was tasked with typing up the regulations, later tacked onto the bulletin board. After some time, Naismith gathered the gym class and appointed three centers, three forwards, and three guards. To start the game, two of the centers met in the middle of the court while Naismith tossed the ball into the air. He split his eighteen-student class into two teams, each with nine players, and began teaching them the foundations of his new sport. The game was played by throwing the basketball into the fruit baskets attached to the lower railing of the gym balcony. A janitor was assigned to use a ladder to fetch the ball out of the fruit basket every time a point was scored. As time went on, the game evolved to the point where the bottom of fruit baskets was no longer needed. In the following years, basketball became popular quickly, and the University of Iowa played against the International YMCA Training School (Springfield College) in what became the very first college game. This was in 1895, and Springfield College won the game 5 to 1. The year 1898 saw the formation of the premier professional league; however, it was disbanded in 1904. The National Basketball League's initial champions were the Trenton Nationals, quickly followed by the New York Wanderers, Bristol Pile Drivers, and Camden Electrics. Many minor championships were formed at the time, but most of them paled compared to some of the teams that played for money against each other. Subsequently, in the first international match held in Saint Petersburg in 1909, Mayak Saint Petersburg defeated a YMCA American team. In 1932, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Argentina, Latvia, and Czechoslovakia formed the International Basketball Federation (Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur, FIBA) in Geneva. Basketball was included in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games due to its efforts. It is important to note that the first all-African American professional team, The Rens, also known as the New York Renaissance or Harlem Renaissance, was formed in 1922. They played in the first World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1939 and emerged as winners. In 1949, the team went their separate ways. The United States national team won the first Olympic gold medal. Canada finished second in the games, which were held on an outdoor clay court. An official basketball association was formed in America on June 6, 1946; however, the organization partnered with its rival organization National Basketball League and took the name National Basketball Association. Conclusively, the NBA has taken modern-day basketball to another level as it is now recognized on an international level, with thousands of teams playing the game worldwide. The style of the game keeps changing over time. From fruit baskets to the present-day basketball net, it is undoubtedly a game that will continue to thrive for years to come.
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AuthorDaniel Ahasic - Emergency Services at Aurora Fire Department Archives
April 2022
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