Dr. James Naismith invented the game of basketball in 1891 while working as a physical education teacher at the International Training School of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Springfield, Massachusetts. He created 13 original rules for the game and hung two half-bushel peach baskets at opposite ends of the gymnasium as the first basketball hoops. Naismith was searching for an indoor game that involved physical activity, running, jumping, coordination, and handling a ball. The game quickly spread from the YMCA to schools and colleges, leading to the building of dedicated basketball gymnasiums and the formation of professional leagues.

1. Basketball: How it Began
Dr. James Naismith (picture above), developed basketball's original 13 rules and consequently, the game of
basketball.
Basketball game is one of popular and well-known sports we’ve known since its date of birth. It
was on December 1, 1891, in Springfield, Massachusetts, James Naismith created two half-bushel
peach baskets at the opposite ends of a gymnasium and defined 13 rules based on five philosophies
to his students at the International Training School of the Young Men's Christian Association
(YMCA), which later became Springfield College. Naismith (1861-1939) was a physical education
teacher who was in search of a team sport with some degree of physical contact but a lot of
jumping, running, shooting and the hand-eye coordination necessary in handling a ball. The peach
baskets he hung as goals gave the sport the name of basketball. His students were thrilled about
the game and Christmas vacation gave them the chance to tell their friends and people at their local
YMCAs about the game. The association leaders wrote to Naismith asking for copies of the rules,
and they were published in the Triangle, the school newspaper, on January 15, 1892.
Naismith's five basic principles center on the ball, which was termed as "large, light, and handled
with the hands." Players could not move the ball by running alone, and none of the players was
limited against handling the ball. The playing area was also open to all players, but there was to

2. be no physical contact between players; the ball was the objective. To score, the ball had to be shot
through a horizontal, elevated goal. The team with the most points at the end of an allocated time
period wins.
Early in the history of basketball, the local YMCAs provided the gymnasiums, and membership
in the organization grew quickly. The size of the local gym depend on the number of players;
smaller gyms used five players on a side, and the larger gyms allowed seven to nine. The size of
the team became generally well-known as five in 1895, and in 1897 this was made formal in the
rules. The YMCA lost concern in supporting the game because 10-20 basketball players
monopolized a gymnasium previously used by many more in a variety of activities. YMCA
membership dropped and basketball supporters played in local halls. This led to the building of
basketball gymnasiums at schools and colleges and also to the formation of professional leagues.
Full story at http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/basketball.aspx
Related Links:
http://www.livehoops.com/basketballHistory.html
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0875085.html
http://www.ultimate-youth-basketball-guide.com/history-of-basketball.html
http://www.softschools.com/facts/sports/basketball_facts/567/
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/01/the-origin-of-basketball/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_basketball