How the Game Started

How the Game Started

In the previous blog, I introduced two heroes in the world of sports, Dr. James Naismith and Senda Berenson. Naismith invented the game of basketball in December of 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts where the winters were very cold.2 The game was originally created to keep the students active in PE during the cold winters because they couldn’t go outside. It only took him 2 weeks to make the game that transformed the world of sports. He started the game with a soccer ball, 2 peach baskets, a ladder and a rulebook with 10 rules.2

He made the sport for men because women did not play sports that were viewed as too strenuous. They only participated in individual sports such as horseback riding, hiking, rowing, swimming, golf, fencing, archery, and tennis.  The history of women’s basketball didn’t start until Senda Berenson adapted the rules and got women involved. Berenson knew there was something different about basketball. She believed the physical aspect would keep the girls healthy and the social aspect would teach them lifelong communication skills.

Berenson was a woman that worked hard in everything she did. She went to school for music but couldn’t finish because of her health so she joined gymnastics because she believed physical activity would help. She was only the second women to attend her gymnastics school so it was clear from a young age that she had a drive and would make a difference one day.2

Berenson joined the staff at Smith College after finishing up her gymnastics school and within a year after joining the staff Berenson read about the new game created by Naismith that had been invented as a class exercise for boys and developed a plan to get women involved.1 In order for her idea to be accepted she modified the original rules of "Basketball", for her female classes as a means of exercise, stressing socialization and cooperation rather than competition. She allowed only six team members to play on the court at one time where she divided the court into three sections from which players were assigned and remained throughout the game. She believed this prevented the women from overexerting themselves running all over the court and prevented exceptional players from dominating the game. The game of women’s basketball was finally created in 1892 and has developed over time to one of the greatest sports of all time.1

 

Reference

1A. (1972). official basketball rules for girls and women. pp. 1-48. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED080474.pdf

2Wheelock. (2014). historical timeline - women's basketball hall of fame. Retrieved March 22, 2016, from http://www.wbhof.com/Timeline.html