Imagine every time you through a basketball into a hoop someone would have to get a ladder and crawl up to grab the ball and throw it back down to you well my greatest Canadian did exactly that for years. Dr. James Naismith was born on November 28th, 1861 in Ramsay Township a town near Ontario. James was the eldest child of, two Scottish immigrants, Margaret and John Naismith. His mother Margaret Young was born in 1833 and was the fourth of 11 children to immigrate to Lanark County Canada. James dad John Naismith immigrated to Lanark County also at 18. After marrying John worked as a saw hand sadly the couple died when James was 9 years old of a fatal fever. James was taken care of by his strict religious grandmother and Uncle Peter. In June 20, 1894, Naismith married Maude E. Sherman from Springfield. The couple had five children: Margaret Mason (1895), Helen Carolyn (1897), John Edwin (1900), Maude Ann (1904) and James Sherman (1913) Maude Naismith died in 1937, and on June 11, 1939, he married his second wife Florence Kincaid.

James struggled in his schoolwork but was a master on the farm. When his farm work was done he would run out to play with his friends, they would play catch, hide-and-seek and duck on a rock. Duck on a rock was a medieval game which there would be guards and players. The guards would well guard the object (in this case a stone on a stand) and the players would try to knock it down by throwing smaller stones at it. James soon realized a slow lob throw was much more affective then a hard straight throw. Hint, Hint.

The harsh New England winters came to the Springfield YMCA many years later in James’ life after graduating; the kids had to stay inside the building. The group was loud and restless, so the head of physical education gave James 14 days to create an indoor game for the kids to play. It had to have the ability to be played in a small space and not too rough. Naismith struggled with this until he created a strategy, he thought of all sports and how they were played. He noticed that running with the ball concluded in the most physical contact so that’s when he decided that you could only pass and next he noticed that a small hard ball hurt the most when it contacted with human skin so that resulted him in deciding that the game had to be played with a soft soccer ball. After doing a little more research he noticed most injuries would happen if there were players to guard the goal so he placed the “goal” (a peach basket) above the player’s heads. To score goals the players had to shoot a slow lob shot into the peach basket which proved his theory in duck on a rock and right then and there basketball started.

 The first game of Basket Ball was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report Naismith handed in the first 13 rules of basketball. Naismith clearly stated on the first day the game was played,

 ”When Mr. Stubbins brought up the peach baskets to the gym I secured them on the inside of the railing of the gallery. This was about 10 feet from the floor, one at each end of the gymnasium. I then put the 13 rules on the bulletin board just behind the instructor’s platform, secured a soccer ball and awaited the arrival of the class… The class did not show much enthusiasm but followed my lead… I then explained what they had to do to make goals, tossed the ball up between the two center men & tried to keep them somewhat near the rules. Most of the fouls were called for running with the ball, though tackling the man with the ball was not uncommon.”

                        Back when the game was first invented the original rules did not include the “dribble” which is a mandatory rule now. The game became so popular that the Springfield dedicated a article called “A new game” The college wanted to call the game “Naismith Ball” but Naismith did not agree and refused that when he came up with the idea of calling it “Basketball” according to the two baskets at each end of the court that soon he realized the uselessness of throwing the ball up and getting with a ladder. He started to think, and logic came to him, what if there was no bottom to the basket so that if you through it up into the hoop it would come right down. He asked the care taker of the YMCA to cut a hole in the bottom of the peach basket. The care taker took his saw and cut the bottom out. That was when the first basket was made.

                The game was first officially played in 1898 by the newly born University of Kansas Men’s Basketball Program. The teams usually were played against nearby YMCA teams and did they rarely ever play schools a far distance as it was harder to get together. After Naismith graduated from getting his medical degree he went on a different path and back to basketball. He started to coach at the U of Kansas and ironically had the first losing streak in the whole association. As the turn of the century the game grew very popular and soon there were enough college teams to play a more competitive game. Though the popularity of basketball grew Dr. (after medical school) James Naismith still preferred wrestling and gymnastics for athleticism.  Even though how popular basketball got Naismith was said not to care for self glory but for his physical education career and got his PE masters degree in 1910 and wrote 3 books.

                In 1935 the association of Basketball Coaches raised money so that the 74 year old Naismith could witness his game being introduced into the Olympics. He awarded America (gold), Canada (silver), and Mexico (Bronze) in basketball. In Dr. James Naismith’s last few years he retired from the National Association of Coaches, and at 76 years old in 1939 Dr. James Naismith died of a fatal brain haemorrhage and was buried in Lawrence, KS.

                Dr. James Naismith helped develop a wonderful healthy athletic sport for the world to enjoy. It brings entertainment not just to play but to watch and ref and don’t forget coach. In the Olympics it brings friendly international competition for all to take pleasure in from. I thank Dr. James Naismith for creating a game that people of all ages can play.