Basketball
History: Origin of the Sport
In contrast to other sports, basketball has a clear
origin. It is not the evolution from an ancient game or another sport and the
inventor is well known: Dr. James
Naismith.
Naismith was born in 1861 in Ramsay township, Ontario,
Canada. He graduated as a physician at McGill University in Montreal and was
primarily interested in sports physiology.
In 1891, while working as a physical education teacher
at the YMCA International Training School (today, Springfield College) in the
United States, Naismith was faced with the problem of finding in 14 days an
indoor game to provide "athletic distraction" for the students at the
School for Christian Workers (Naismith was also a Presbyterian minister).
After discarding the idea of adapting outdoor games
like soccer and lacrosse, Naismith recalled the concept of a game of his school
days known as duck-on-a-rock that involved accuracy attempting to knock a
"duck" off the top of a large rock by tossing another rock at it.
Starting from there, Naismith developed a set of
13 rules that gave origin to the game of basketball.
Of course, it was not exactly as we know it today. The
first game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets nailed 10-feet
high used as goals, on a court just half the size of a present-day court. The
baskets retained their bottoms, so balls scored into the basket had to be poked
out with a long dowel each time and dribbling (bouncing of the ball up and down
while moving) was not part of the original game.
The sport was an instant success and thanks to the
initial impulse received by the YMCA movement, basketball's popularity quickly
grew nationwide and was introduced in many nations. Although Naismith never saw
the game develop into the spectacular game we know these days, he had the honor
to witness basketball become an Olympic sport at the 1936 Games held
in Berlin.
These are James Naismith original thirteen rules of basketball:
- The ball may be thrown in any direction
with one or both hands.
- The ball may be batted in any direction
with one or both hands, but never with the fist.
- A player cannot run with the ball. The
player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be
made for a man running at good speed.
- The ball must be held in or between the
hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.
- No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking
or tripping in any way of an opponent. The first infringement of this rule
by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall disqualify him until
the next goal is made or, if there was evident intent to injure the
person, for the whole of the game. No substitution shall be allowed.
- A foul is striking at the ball with the
fist, violations of Rules 3 and 4 and such as described in Rule 5.
- If either side make three consecutive fouls
it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the
opponents in the meantime making a foul).
- Goal shall be made when the ball is thrown
or batted from the ground into the basket and stays there, providing those
defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on
the edge and the opponents move the basket, it shall count as a goal.
- When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall
be thrown into the field and played by the first person touching it. In
case of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The
thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to
the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall
call a foul on them.
- The umpire shall be judge of the men and
shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls
have been made. He shall have the power to disqualify men according to
Rule 5.
- The referee shall be the judge of the ball
and decide when it is in play in bounds, to which side it belongs, and
shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep
account of the goals with any other duties that are usually performed by a
referee.
- The time shall be two 15-minute halves with
five minutes rest between.
- The side making the most goals in that time
shall be declared the winners.
This game, as volleyball, was created by a physical education teacher (called James Naismith), in America, in the same decade. Naismith was asked to create an indoor sport that could be played without the players suffering serious injuries. To create basketball (one of the first players suggested this name to Naismith) he combined characteristics of other games. It's interesting to see how rules has developed from the first game in which they used peach baskets as goals, on a court just half the size of a present-day court, even bouncing the ball up and down while moving was not part of the original game.
ResponderEliminarHello Gabriel, i like your post and i think that is very interesting because usually we like a sport but we don't know anything about the history of it, basketball is not my favourite sport but i liked the history, i'm surprised because basketball and volleyball were invented by the same person. It's interesting too the original rules of the basketball. I like a lot your post, thak you for the information. Good bye.
ResponderEliminarHi Gabor. I found interesting your post. I supposed that it was created in America, but I didn't thought about the rules that make me think about some sports.
ResponderEliminarI also found interesting about how much basketball has evolved of playing with a soccer ball or without moving when the ball is catched to the sport as nowadays we know.