Early life
James Naismith was born on November 6, 1861, in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. His parents were immigrants from Scottland. He was orphaned in early childhood and lived with his aunt and uncle. Naismith was not talented in school but was gifted in farm work. He attended grade school near Almonte and later enrolled in Almonte High School, graduating in 1883.
As a child, James Naismith often played catch, hide-and-seek, and the medieval game duck on a rock. After graduating high school, Naismith enrolled at the McGill University in Montreal. He was a talented athlete and played football, lacrosse, rugby, soccer as well as participated in gymnastics. In 1888, Naismith earned BA in Physical Education and a diploma from the Presbyterian College in Montreal. After graduating, he began working as a physical education teacher at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.
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Game invention
James Naismith was struggling with his classes at Springfield YMCA. Due to the harsh New England winter conditions, he had to lead his classes indoors. He became short-tempered, but the head of Physical Education, Dr. Luther Gulick assigned him a task to create an indoor game as an athletic distraction. He was given an assignment to invent a game that would be relatively safe but would keep the athletes in good physical shape.
Three main thoughts guided Naismith- he analyzed the favorite games at the time and concluded that soft soccer ball was the safest option. He also noted that most injuries occurred while dribbling and running with the ball, therefore making the passing of the ball the only legal option. He also reduced body contact by making the goal unguardable- placing high above player’s heads. He created 13 basic rules and named his game Basket Ball.
The first Basket Ball game was played in December 1891. At the time, the game was played in teams of 9 people, and soft soccer ball was used. In the following year, the game became very popular on the campus. Dennis Horkenbach of the Springfield college newspaper wrote an article “A New Game.” The game was introduced internationally by the YMCA movement. Naismith himself went to Denver and acquired a medical degree. In 1898 he joined the University of Kansas.
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