Basketball

Basketball is a sport enjoyed by millions of fans in at least 100 countries. It's one of the best-known sports in the world. It all began in 1891.

Dr. James A. Naismith, the father of basketball, was an instructor at a YMCA training school. The school trained people to work in YMCAs. Officials at the school were concerned about the low attendance during the winter months. They felt that people didn't attend then because the school did not have a good winter sports program. So they asked Dr. Naismith for help. He came up with a new indoor game.

Naismith studied current games. He found that all the most popular games used a ball. So a ball would be part of his new game, he decided. But kicking the ball or hitting it would be too rough for indoors. So he put two peach baskets up on poles. The players had to try to throw a soccer ball into them. Naismith then made thirteen rules for the game. Twelve of them are still in use today. Just seven years after the game began, professional basketball teams were formed.

And that's how basketball was born.