Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1913-03-20
HOW BASKETBALL
WAS ORIGINATED
Popular Sport Born Twenty
one Years AgO---Early
Recognized

TO the many person who enjoy q
we'll contested basketball game the
origin of the pastime is more or less
mystery, but to the few who have
followed it since its very inception
basketball is an open book Basket
ball was first though of by DR.. James
Nalsmith. about twenty-one years ago,
Naismith Is now the Director of Ath-
letics at Kansas University. In the
early nineties. when he planned the
game of basketball Or. Naismith was
the director Of gymnasium work at
the Springfield (Mass) Training
School. Naismith has followed the
game closely and is today member
of the intercollegiate basketball rules
committee
Work in the Winter time. at the
/ Springfield School, consisted OF mass
drills and set exercises, very bench
cial, but monotonous and tiresome,
The students took no interest in the
work, shrked and we're on the verge
of a strike.
DR.. Naismith realized that II he
could only make the students take an
interest In the work there would be
no more trouble. He thought the way
10 do this was TO arouse the spirit of
competition among them. and accord
ingly i'm the Winter OF 1892 set about
dcvising an indoor game 10 take the
place of the mOnotonous mass drills
lie had always been an admirer of
the game OF lacrosse and used this as
a foundation. He first of all elimin'
lated the sticks and reduced the size
of the goal. making the players pass
land forbddng running as In lacrosse
lThis proved unsatisfactory. for when
a big fellow stood in front OF the
small goal il was impossible to score
Or. Naismith then made his llrsi
radical change. He raised the goa
ten feet from the foor, so as to make
IL impossible for one big fellow e
block ID entirely. and an old peaci
basket was used Soon it was though
hest to get large ball and a football
bladder was tried This proved too
soft. so they shifted over 10 an as
sociation football. and the prcscn
basketball is little changed since then
This scheme Of competition provcl
immensely successful and all trouble
about getting the students to eNer
else ceased. They liked the game a
once and soon they plunged into
series OF class games.
In 1898 the game was taken up 70
, similar purposes In many gymnas
iums throughout New England Il
1894 Yale took II up, and since the
Its spread has been rapid. until "a
lday it ranks as one Of the leadln
sports in schools. colleges and attn
, lotic clubs throughout the countr'
The professional clubs took up th
I sport about 1897. Tho New York teal
was the first team of pros and wa
/. soon followed by Trenton There hay
fbeon some changes as the game PR
!, crossed but, on the whole, the rul'
y today are almost identical with tho
y devised by DIT. Naismith back in 1S9
I, The ball. the basket and the lacros
- rules against running with the bf
i are still the basis of the game. an
are practically the same now as the
n Leaders IN intercollegiate baske
) ball work did not know that Dr Ma
= smith was the inventor of basketba
i until he attended the meeting la
4 Fall. The subject came up, and
the discussion Dr. Naismith told
II his work. and then followed the al
n pointment of the Kansas delegates
g. the Rules Committee.