SportsKnowHow.com - HISTORY OF BASKETBALL - Page
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Let’s
Invent a Game
Most sports develop
over time out of games that people begin
to play informally. Not so with basketball.
Basketball history shows that it has
the distinction of being an intentionally
invented game. In 1891, James Naismith
was assigned to create an indoor activity
for students at the YMCA Training School
in Springfield, Mass. The students, who
were training to be P.E. teachers, were
understandably bored doing nothing but
calisthenics and gymnastics during those
long New England winters. They longed
for action and competition.
Dr. Naismith combined elements
of outdoor games like soccer and lacrosse
with the concept of a game he’d played
in childhood, Duck on a Rock. To win Duck
on Rock, players threw stones to hit a target
placed on top of a large boulder. A ball
and an elevated goal—those are the
simple ingredients of the sport that now
has players and rabid fans in nearly every
part of the world.
Basketball History
at 1-0
Naismith’s class
played the first game of basket ball (two
words) using a soccer ball and two peach
baskets nailed to a balcony railing ten
feet above the floor. The class of 18
was divided into two teams of nine players.
The gym they played in was just 50 feet
by 35 feet (modern courts are 94 feet
x 54 feet). The final score of that first
ever basketball game was 1-0. William
Chase scored the lone goal from 25 feet—a
half-court shot in that small gym. Now
that’s
the kind of fact that will someday help
you win a basketball history sports trivia
contest.
Naismith
had just 13 rules for basket ball (see box),
which he carefully typed on two pages. The
game had to stop after each goal so the referee
could climb a ladder and retrieve the ball
from the basket. Fortunately, those early
games were very low scoring affairs.
The Original 13 Rules of Basketball
As written by Dr. James Naismith
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 (never with a fist).
A player cannot run with the ball. The player
must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to made
for a man who catches the ball when running if he tries to stop.
The ball must be held by the hands. The arms
or body must not be used for holding it.
No shouldering, holding, pushing, tipping, or
striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed; the
first infringement of this rule y any player 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 substitute allowed.
A foul is striking at the ball with the fist,
violation of Rules 3, 4 and such as described in Rule 5.
If either side makes three consecutive fouls
it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without
the opponents in the mean time making a foul).
A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown
or batted from the grounds into the base key and stays there, providing
those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball
rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count
as a goal.
When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall
be thrown into the field of play by the person first touching it. He
has a right to hold it unmolested for five seconds. In case of a 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 the side.
The umpire shall be the judge of the men and
shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls
have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to Rule
5.
The referee shall be judge of the ball and
shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to which side it belongs,
and shall keep the account of the goals, with any other duties that
are usually performed by the referee.
The time shall be two fifteen minute halves,
with five minutes’ rest between.
The side making the most goals in the in that
time shall be declared the winner. In the case of a draw, the game my,
by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made.
