BASKETBALL

The game of basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in December 1891 at the international YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts USA (known as Springfield College). Dr. Luther Gulick , the director of physical education department assigned Naismith the task of devising a competitive game like Football or Lacrosse that could be played indoors during winter months. In response to this , Naismith came up with a game called basketball featuring nine players per team as he had only 18 students in his school. In a few years , the number had been changed to five per side , a metal ring with a net , replaced the original peach baskets that players shot at , and the five basic rules were modified eliminating running with the ball . The YMCA Training School graduates took basketball to every part of the five continents. In 1924 , it had been placed as an exhibition game at the Olympic games in Paris and became part of the Olympics in 1936 in Berlin , where Naismith himself was present to address the competing teams .