Canadian Inventions – Basketball (Dr James Naismith)

The challenge for a young, 30-year-old professor who had been a physical education teacher and Director of Athletics at Montreal’s McGill University was presented to him in his new post at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts: create an indoor game as an “athletic distraction” for a rowdy class during the winter term. The result was the invention of the game of basketball, which made its debut in December, 1891. Not unlike several other inventions in this series, many sports fans and historians, whether they be Canadians or not, may be surprised to learn that this game was invented by a Canadian. Born and raised in Lanark County in Eastern Ontario, west of Ottawa, Naismith was a successful athlete at the university level, despite his relatively small frame. He excelled in football, soccer and lacrosse and when he graduated from McGill University, Naismith was awarded the Wicksteed Gold Medal as the top athlete in his senior class. He remained at McGill to study for a three-year theology degree and was the silver medalist on graduation in 1890. Moving to Springfield to teach, Naismith developed the structure and rules of basketball under a deadline imposed by the head of Physical Education at the YMCA institution. The task: in 14 days, devise an indoor game that would keep athletes in shape over the winter, would be fair regardless of physique and would not be too rough. The version he presented to the world in late 1891 used nine players on each team, and the goals into which the ball was shot were not hoops, as they later became, but were initially peach baskets! Moving in 1895 to Denver, Naismith remained active in the YMCA as Director of Physical Education while attending the University of Colorado and attaining a medical degree. He then spent the next several decades in various posts at the University of Kansas, including professor and university chaplain, basketball coach, and athletic director, and served in the US Army during World War I. Throughout the first half of the 20th Century basketball continued to thrive, and when it was welcomed into the pantheon of modern Olympic sports at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Dr Naismith had the thrill of officiating at the opening tip-off of the basketball tournament. Interestingly, the result of that first tournament was a ranking of: (1) the USA; (2) Canada; and (3) Mexico. Women’s basketball first became an Olympic sport at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. Looking back on the birth of basketball may produce mixed emotions for some Canadian observers of sport. Although it has never attained the stature and popularity of hockey or lacrosse in Canada, basketball is widely played in Canada and around the world at secondary schools and universities – and has become a successful and financially rewarding professional sport. And it should be noted that, as individuals, Canadians are capable of excellence in the sport. Steve Nash, one of the leading and most valuable players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is a Canadian, from Victoria, BC. Summary by: Richard Potter