History of Basketball
Basket ball is unique among the national sports, in that it was a deliberate invention to meet the need for an indoor game which would be the great seasonal game…
From: 1892 C.E. To: 1922 C.E.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
“History of Basket Ball” from Basket Ball for Men by Walter E. Meanwell, 1922.
Unique Origin—Basket ball is unique among the national sports, in that it was a deliberate invention to meet the need for an indoor game which would be the great seasonal game in winter, as football is in Fall, and base ball in Summer.
Basket ball was deliberately originated in 1892, by Doctors Naismith and Gulick, at the International Y. M. C. A. Training School, Springfield, Massachusetts. Apparatus work and class exercises, indoor track, recreative games, boxing, wrestling, and other forms of exercise were conducted then, as now, indoors, and while many participated in them, the number was but a fraction of those who played the great outdoor games. Also, there was an evident dearth of interest and enthusiasm for the indoor games of that date as compared to the outdoor games. Something vital and worth while in the latter was lacking in the indoor activities aside from considerations of space and facilities. Study and analysis of the great popular games was therefore begun to ascertain the bases of their popularity.
Origin and Characteristics of the Great Games—The origin of the other great team games is obscure. They came into existence as the spontaneous activities of associated youth, and not as the work of any individual or group in particular. They developed gradually, through many years, and finally came to have more or less uniform rules in the course of centuries of play. Thus foot ball dates back a thousand years to its obscure beginning in England, while the other great traditional sports, as Baseball, LaCrosse, Cricket, etc., were practiced, in their original forms, centuries ago. They all present a history of gradual evolution as to style of play, rules, numbers engaged, and the like. They all possess similar play elements and major characteristics, chief of which are:
Competition—A youth delights to measure his strength, endurance, skill, strategy, and daring with his fellows;
Cooperation—or the team element, by which he strives for the success of his team rather than for his own individual glory, and wins or loses with his group, though still amply able to display ability and initiative and to achieve personal distinction;
Personal Contact—the shock of man to man, which requires and encourages in the players the development of speed, strength, skill, courage and endurance, and high powers of coordination. All were games played with a ball, which insures by its vagaries a multitude of rapid changes and possibilities, and which in consequence requires numberless immediate decisions and responses.
These were the chief characteristics of the old games, were the ones selected for incorporation into the new one to be produced, and are the chief bases for its tremendous growth, and popularity. Because of them, basket ball rewards its devotees more generously than does any other sport, with symmetrical physical development, strength, ability, endurance, fine powers of coordination, and habits of correct physical response. For training in initiative, decisiveness, and immediate response, and for developing traits of leadership, basket ball is second to no other play activity.
Each member of the team is and must be his own field general, and is chiefly on his own responsibility during play, following out the main plan of the game in general, and cooperating with his fellows along established lines, but meeting the ever changing situations according to his own resourcefulness and initiative. That such a game develops the manly qualities and the essentials of leadership in an unusual degree is well illustrated by the record achieved in the recent war by the basket ball letter men of my six Wisconsin teams, from 1912 to ’17 inclusive. There were nineteen in all. Every man but one won a commission in the branch of the service that he entered; six became captains, and two were decorated or cited for gallantry in action.
Principles—In addition to the play elements enumerated, certain principles were also established for basket ball. These were, first, that the new game should demand of and develop in the players the highest type of physical and athletic development; second, that it should be so readily learned that any individual could soon make a fair showing at, and gain pleasure from, the play, without a long period of practice; third, that on account of the varying sizes of the buildings available for the purpose, any ordinary hall or gymnasium would suffice, and that the equipment would be simple; last, that it should be pleasing to beginners and yet be capable of such development as to hold the continued interest of the most experienced and proficient of players.
Evolution of the Game—Peach baskets for goals were at first used, and a football. The present rules and equipment were gradually evolved. The rules for men at one time included the division of the court by lines somewhat as in the present girl’s game. Nine, seven, and finally five men have constituted the teams, and generally, basket ball has been gradually improved and modified as were the older team games, excepting that the process has been a much speedier one—just as the game is speedier than its predecessors.
Extension—The adoption and promotion of basket ball by the Y. M. C. A. led to its rapid extension throughout the country and thus, finally, to its acceptance by Colleges, other educational institutions and by athletic clubs generally. .Because of its vigorous character, skill, speed, openness, and the beauty of its team play, basket ball has become the major sport of the indoor season. The simplicity and comparative cheapness of its equipment, and the fact that but five are needed on a team, especially adapts basket ball to the requirements of small institutions, high schools, boys clubs, and the like. It is often the only representative game for such organizations. All this has placed basket ball in the lead of all other sports with respect to the number of its players, and of teams engaged.
Rules—For years the Y. M. C. A. teams operated under a code of rules compiled by officers of that organization, while the other principal promoting bodies, the Amateur Athletic Union and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, also had their own distinctive sets of rules. Again, and especially in the East, variations from all three codes of rules mentioned, were observed among the professional and independent teams. Diversity of rules and of types of play so hindered the progress of the game that several years ago a Joint Rules Committee, comprised of representatives from all three of the organizations named, met and formulated one uniform code known as the Official Rules. This Committee still meets annually to consider changes and improvements.
The adoption of one official code of rules has done much to advance the game by establishing uniformity of rule, of refereeing, and of type of play throughout the country. The Joint Rules Committee has annually discussed, amended, and improved the rules in accord with suggestions submitted to it, until the present quite satisfactory set as presented in the official guide has resulted. It is decidedly to the best interests of the game that the official code be followed in its entirety, and to the exclusion of all variations.
Championship Divisions—There is no National Championship in basket ball covering all classes of players, and including Collegiate, Y. M. C. A., and A. A. U. teams, despite the frequent claims of various organizations to National Championship honors. The Amateur Athletic Union annually conducts sectional championships in various parts of the United States, and also a National Championship tournament for all teams enrolled or affiliated with it. The Y. M. C. A. does not endeavor to determine its championship team. Many of the colleges of the country are members of so called conferences, or associations, which determine the championships in their respective leagues, of these the Big Ten, or Western Conference, composed of ten large Middle West Universities, the Eastern Association of six, the Missouri Valley Conference of eight Universities, the Pacific Coast of six and the North- west of seven members, are the greatest in influence and in number of students represented. There is a tendency for the champions of these college leagues to play post-seasonal intersectional series, and the practice is helpful and stimulating to the game, and to athletics generally.
Type of Play—Basket ball of late years has become an exceedingly fast, scientific and highly organized game. While the type of game differs considerably in different sections of the country, two chief systems may be distinguished—the one calling for a series of short, fast passes in the attack, terminating finally in an attempt at goal from directly under or close to the basket, and the other style encouraging the use of long passes to bring the the ball to a scoring position. Quite frequently the long-pass style requires that at least one man be kept constantly near the basket. A combination of the two styles is more often adopted than is the use of either one alone.
The styles of defense include the more recent “five-man” defense in which each player actively guards an opponent when his team loses possession of the ball, and the older method of keeping at least one and sometimes two men constantly on offense, and the placing the burden of defense on the balance of the team.
Meanwell, Walter E. Basket Ball for Men. Democrat Printing Company, 1922.
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