Basketball - The Origins of Basketball

Not many people know that the credit for inventing and starting basketball goes to Dr James Naismith. As child, Naismith along with his friends used to play a game called Duck on a Rock. In this game, a duck was placed on top off a rock and a child has to dislodge the duck by hitting it with another rock.

Once Naismith grew up, he went to study at the McGill University in Montreal. Later he became McGill University’s Athletic Director. Following this stint, he went on to YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was here in Massachusetts that the game of basketball actually started in 1891.
As we are all aware that Massachusetts has extremely cold and harsh winters. Naismith started looking for a sporting activity which could be played indoors while developing skills and not just relying on strength. The first game of basketball was played with two peach baskets as goals and a soccer ball.
Naismith, who was born in 1861 in Ontario, Canada, became a medical doctor specializing in sports physiology and Presbyterian minister. As time passed, Naismith was the proud witness to the fact that his invention of basketball has gained popularity in several countries through YMCA. The ultimate acceptance of basketball was in 1936 when for the first time it was played at the Berlin Olympics.
Today, basketball is a professional and extremely popular sport. Clubs vie with each other to get the best players and basketball is considered to a highly prestigious and competitive sports watch by millions world over.