James Naismith - Basketball created by: biography

Sometimes even the most ordinary physical education teacher may be glorified forever and write his name in history, as did James Naismith at the end of the XIX century. In one day he invented the game with the ball, which today has become one of the most popular in the world. Basketball - this is not just a sport, but a part of popular culture and lifestyle in the United States. NBA top stars earn tens of millions a year and are idols of young people.

However, few people know that the history of basketball began in the provincial college in the American outback more than a hundred years ago. Unlike football and ice hockey, basketball is a famous parent, who came up with this game.

Becoming a teacher

Biography of James Naismith may not have been interested in basketball fans, although it does not represent anything unusual until a certain point. He was born in the village of Ramsey, in Ontario, Canada, in 1861.

After graduating from high school in the town of Almond, he decided to continue his education and went to conquer the higher education institutions of the main places in Canada. James Naismith safely to Montreal and in 1883 enrolled at McGill University.

Here he conscientiously studying for a physical education teacher and simultaneously protects the honor of the university in the competition on the Canadian and European football. It was here the first time revealed the inventive vein of James Naismith, who proposed the use of a helmet as a protection for the players in the hard contact and Canadian football.

In 1888 he successfully passed the exams on the bachelor's degree in physical education and was teaching at the home university, and later became the first director of physical education.

What to do with the students in the winter?

At some point, James Naismith decided a change of scenery and moved to the United States, where he began in the YMCA College in Springfield, Massachusetts. Here he taught anatomy and the Canadian gymnastics.

Favorite game of the students at the time was American football. However, a rough contact sport and was very traumatic, students often missed classes, to heal the sores, that did not like the college director.

He demanded that the physical education teachers inspire students in some other occupation, in order to avoid losses in their ranks and save precious head boys.

Besides, the James Naismith drew attention to the fact that students are bored with monotonous gymnastic exercises in the gym during the winter period, during which it was impossible to play baseball or football outdoors. All this was the beginning of the history of basketball.

"Duck on a Rock"

child's play "Duck on a Rock" was prevalent in the XIX century. The gist of it was that the player throwing the stone, trying to hit them top of another stone with high resolution. James Naismith was familiar with this fun / B, she gave him the idea of ​​the invention is a new ball game, the meaning of which also lay in the fact that hit the exercise equipment specific purpose.

So, the teacher decided to invent a dynamic sports game, which develops agility and coordination to take the students on a rainy period and developed the rules, starting from children's games.

Start

James Naismith developed the rules of the new game long sleepless nights, resulting born leadership, consisting of thirteen points. Many of them have significantly changed for a hundred years, in the Old Testament rules did not envisage a gradation scoring depending on the throw distance, no penalty attempts, did not provide dribbling player. The funny thing is that even the rules does not establish the exact number of members of the opposing teams on the court, and during the historic first game of basketball, James Naismith simply divided all of his students into two teams, each of which turned out to be nine people.

December 1, 1891 the school teacher asked the employee to nail two baskets of peaches to the balconies at opposite ends of the gym. The balconies have been installed at a height of 3, 05 meters. The distance from the floor to the ring is still in use in modern basketball.

The first match took place in December 1891 and in January 1892 Naismith published in the school newspaper the rules of the new game. The date of this event is the official day of basketball was born.

The guard and the basket

One of the fathers of the popular game can rightly be considered a school caretaker Mr. Stebbins. It was he nailed a basket of fruit that was used in those years instead of a modern ring with a grid. The duties Stebbins during basketball matches were that to climb the ladder and pull the balls from the basket after a successful throw.

At some point, the old man tired all the time messing around with ladders and balls, and it just took a saw and cut the bottom off the baskets. This was the first revolution in basketball.

The first matches of James Naismith's students would have caused surprise in today's basketball fans. Venerable bachelor of physical education is not provided for in its rules of the possibility of the ball.

Players, assuming the ball remained on the spot and had to carry out further transfer or roll. To move around the site could only basketball, do not possess the ball. No wonder that at first this game seemed pretty static and could not compete with the combat fun and football in popularity.

Basketball epidemic

Thrust teacher regularly included basketball in the curriculum, and the students are gradually sucked and loved new fun. The news about the game James Naismith soon spread throughout the country. Of the colleges and schools of New England came letters asking to get acquainted with the rules of basketball, and soon this game is to conquer all states.

Already in 1894 the first official rules were published. A year later, basketball jumped across the ocean and began to spread throughout Europe, at a rate of fire of the steppe. Only seven games after the invention of the first professional league, bearing the name of the National Basketball League was created.

Today, basketball is incredibly popular and spread all over the world, and the Hall of Fame, built in Springfield, is the proud creator of the beloved game - James Naismith.