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Articles and Products of History Basketball HistoryA professor from Springfield College first invented basketball in 1891.
As we all know the professor had nothing to worry about and Basketball took off like a brush fire. There is some debate over who really started basketball. It is argued that the American Indians already had a game very similar to Basketball. The Native Americans would set up baskets at each end of a field. The object was to get a ball shaped object into the other teams basket. Early balls were usually made out of animal skins and filled with water. As with many Indian games, Basketball was also a way for two tribes to settle disputes without going to war. In some cases the winning teams would even receive women of the loosing tribe as payment of a trophy for the win. I wonder what the ladies in the Womens basketball leagues would think of that today. Dr. Naismith was the primary force in spreading the game of basketball in the early days. The Dr. greatly enjoyed teaching the game to new players. This was especially true of the young children. The Dr. taught at local YMCAs and also put on demonstrations at local colleges. Some of the first colleges to create a basketball program were Cornell and Yale. Due to the fact the colleges had large endowments the game of Basketball spread to the other Ivy League schools. The first basketball league was formed among these schools aptly named the Ivy League. Over the years the popularity of Basketball has grown one thousand fold.
Basketball is now a multi million dollar per year business. If you have
never seen a live game it is highly recommended. Bring the family and
get some floor seats you will be right in the action. Further Reading
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