Hey, Basketball Fanatics!
Basketball is a game of great coordination and skill. From dribbling, to passing, shooting, and dunking, players have been perfecting their performance since the game saw its beginning nearly a decade before the turn of the 17th Century. The game was invented for a new indoor sport, intended to keep the young athletic students of Springfield College active and conditioned during the winter months.
Conceived of in the month of December back in 1891 by the Springfield College instructor, Dr. James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, he thought a game in which the players threw a ball at a target would be safe enough to play indoors.
He nailed peach baskets to the lower railing of the gymnasium’s balcony at ten feet high on either end of the gym and created some rules. The objective of the game was simple: the team to toss the ball the most times into the basket would win.
The game was originally named as two words—Basket Ball and Dr. James wrote up 13 different rules for his game and that was the birth of Basketball. The game spread and multiplied when some of the students that played the original game grew up and became teachers and coaches themselves. As time went on, popularity went up.
Alterations were made and some rules were tweaked. Dribbling was added as an element of the game as well as the addition of backboards and netting to the 'basket'—which was now just a simple hoop.
Enjoy playing this popular game which is typically found in the activity programs of most summer camps! Also, check out this previous post on the Blog about Michael Jordan and the basketball summer camp that he started—the Michael Jordan Flight School, one of the best youth basketball camps in the world. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Folks!
- John