Delano de Windt III

3/8/99

History of Women’s Basketball; a Rough Road

In 1891 Dr. James Naismith decided to invent a game of his own, a different kind of sport. A sport that differed from the popular sports of soccer, football, tennis and others. The sport that was originally called netball has grown into one of the most popular and greatest sports today. A physical education professor, Naismith struggled with the concept for a new kind of game that would condition young athletes during the winter. Typical gym classes at the time were growing tired of the prototypical calisthenics, gymnastics and drills during the winter. After studying high school physical education class, one reporter stated, “The students...appeared to be antsy for active games they could play indoors.”[1] Naismith had similar feelings after teaching physical education for three years at McGill University. It was not until he received a teaching assignment of a gym class of 18 restless young men and women at the local YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, that Naismith would change winter gym dissatisfaction forever.

Naismith proposed a game in which one could play within the confines of a gymnasium without the roughness of either football nor rugby, which would allow girls to interact in the same games boys did. Naismith admits using similar concepts from lacrosse, rugby and football, and due to his Canadian upbringing in Almonte, Ontario he recalled the “duck on the rock” game. “Duck on the rock,” is a Canadian childhood game in which the object is to throw a small rock at a large rock in hopes that the small rock would stay on the big rock. “Duck on the rock,” gave Naismith the idea of tossing a ball in an arc toward the goal. Again Naismith was concerned with keeping the game from becoming too rough. He invoked the idea of one dribbling the ball in order to advance or take the ball with only one stride before passing it to a teammate. Naismith was not concerned with creating a physical, rough, manly type game, but rather a game which extinguished boredom in gym classes for both genders.

On the last day of the teaching assignment, Naismith selected a soccer ball for his new game and asked the local janitor for some old wooden boxes that he could use as goals. The janitor offered Naismith two peach baskets that were in the corner of the storeroom, which Naismith cordially accepted. Naismith hammered the two baskets into opposing walls in the gymnasium and instructed the department secretary to type up his thirteen rules of his new game. Naismith’s first class of the day was all girls in which he organized his class into two groups of nine girls each. Naismith asked the custodian if he would not mind sticking around to retrieve the ball out of the peach basket after a point was scored. The custodian obliged and was on hand with his stepladder to retrieve any ball that laid in the bottom of the basket. Only one ball lay successfully in the basket that day in December, 1891. The first basketball game in the history of the sport occurred between eighteen girls at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. One student that day suggested that they call this new game “Naismith Ball,” people remembered Naismith laughing and saying that such a name would kill the game. The students quickly proposed “basketball” which Naismith agreed. From that point on, Naismith created an exciting solution which extinguished boredom while keeping his athletes in top condition in the winter months.

Naismith was a strong supporter of the YMCA and the ideals for which it stood; spiritual and physical development. Women in the area felt that they might be excluded from organized basketball. Females felt that no female leagues would be formed and, if they did organize such a thing, they would receive no support. Naismith strongly believed that girls as well as boys could benefit from the game and that no one should be excluded from such an activity. A group of grade school teachers asked Naismith about the games continued suitability for girls. Naismith proved his commitment to women’s athletics by taking an active role, he organized a girls team and a league for the women to play in along with offering gym time to allow them to practice and play. Maude Sherman, Naismith’s wife, was encouraged by her husband to play, and when the girl’s first basketball tournament was held in March of 1892 at the YMCA, Maude was among the players. Naismith’s active part in the organization of women’s basketball demonstrates that basketball was invented for all, regardless of gender. Daniel Chase, the state physical training supervisor for New York State Board of Education, in December 30, 1922 stated:

The attention of public school authorities is now being centered on the needs of the girls. In the past we have been thinking in terms of athletics for boys and men exclusively. Girls need the training for life that comes from athletic competition even more than boys do. The lessons of sportsmanship, self-control and group loyalty must be taught to these girls who are to bear equally the burdens of citizenship if our democracy is to endure and our civilization to continue its advance.[2]

Such words must have made Naismith proud of his new invention. Basketball started to gain popularity and become everything it was created to be.

Women’s basketball began to take shape. In 1892, a gymnastics instructor by the name of Senda Berenson Abbott got word of the new game and wrote Naismith asking for a copy of his rules. Naismith obliged, and graciously sent the rules to her at Smith College, an all girls school in Massachusetts. As basketball began to spread throughout New England and the rest of the United States, it became the primary activity in keeping athletes in shape during the winters. Later that year the first inter-institutional contest between the University of California and Miss Head’s School took place. Basketball continued to spread like hot-fire. A physical educator named Clara Baer introduced basketball to girls at Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans. Baer’s interest and enthusiasm in this sport brought interest into the deep south. In March of 1895 Baer published the first set of basketball rules for women. Baer named the rules Basquette, naming the rule book in a very feminist manner, tagging the sport with a very upper class, French, sportsman-like name. People attacked the idea of women playing such a sport. Thus, it became very hard for a girl in that era to even have the chance to play basketball. Religious sects and many others talked harshly about whether women and sports was a safe combination. This lengthy excerpt is from the New York Times in the early 1920’s where “Miss Lucille Eaton Hill of Wellesley College startled the New England Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools by a spirited attack on girls and basket ball. ...:”

Basket ball, should be stopped absolutely so far as a girls under the college age is concerned, and it should be admitted only tentatively, and under professional supervision, to a place among the sports open to women under a new age. The physical effects upon young girls at a critical period of their growth into womanhood, the chances of permanent injury to beauty and health, the evil influence of such excitement upon the emotional and nervous feminine nature, and the tendency to unsex the player - for she declared that the competitive game, with its traveling about, its exhibitions before mixed audiences, and its cultivation of the win-at-any-cost spirit, was not womanly, and made neither for character nor refinement - were all urged against the game for young girls.[3]

This type of outrage towards women playing basketball was a common place, but not affective in changing some girls’ minds. Women’s basketball continued to gain in popularity even under such heated scrutiny.

Women’s interest in basketball still continued to grow, universities began to start women’s teams that would compete amongst each other. The first women’s intercollegiate basketball game took place on April 4, 1896 at the San Francisco Armory Hall between Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. In a tough fought game that went right to the end of the wire, Stanford prevailed with a 2-1 victory over the losers from California Berkeley. Women’s basketball associations began to form and amendments to the rules took place. The biggest rule change in eleven years took place in 1903 when the halves were shortened from twenty minutes to fifteen minutes. Players decided to change the rule because they felt that forty minutes of playing time was too long and hard on their bodies. One player reported that fatigue set in the last few minutes of the game which she felt hurt the quality of the game and the interest of the spectators. Two years later the Executive Committee on Basket Ball Rules (National Women’s Basketball Committee) formed under the auspices of the American Physical Education Association. The National Women’s Basketball Committee set the regulations for teams; six to nine players on a team and each game was refereed by an outrageous eleven officials. One might surmise that people would attend the games to bet massive amounts of money due to the ridiculous amounts of officiating, but as one New York Times article stated, “gambling on women competitions is not a common occurrence, it is considered un-gentlemanly in every sense.”[4] In 1918 women’s basketball adopted an amendment to the rules that conform to the men’s wording and sequence. The same year the biggest equipment change in the history of basketball took place; the baskets were officially configured to have open bottoms instead of a closed basket with pull chain. Open baskets were a ploy to help speed up play and hence increase scoring, which it unquestionably did.

In 1926 the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) sponsored the first ever national women’s basketball championship. The Amateur Athletic Union was the main governmental body of women’s basketball for over forty years, but other ruling bodies started to form. In 1969 the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) hosted their first of three “national championships” of women’s college basketball which West Chester State College won. Three years later another women’s basketball coalition, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) held their first women’s collegiate basketball championship and the following year, 1973, the AIAW gave scholarships to women basketball players the year after President Richard Nixon signed the Title IX of the educational Amendment of 1972. Title IX states:

No person on the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal assistance.[5]

Title IX sparked huge amounts of interest in the youth of women’s basketball players and many other sports around the country. Basketball became especially popular in the inner cities. Women began to feel compelled and encouraged that receiving a good education for free was now possible where before it would not of been a reality.

Women’s basketball spread around the world, sparking interest in different countries including Russia, Japan, China, France, Sweden, Italy and many others. People saw an opportunity to create world competition which had a friendly exchange between people and government officials from different countries who held a common thread. Women’s basketball became a very useful tool in politics. With such idea in mind the International Women’s Sports Federation (IWSF) was formed in 1924 and hosted its own version of the Olympics where women’s basketball was the fore runner in creating such a federation. The New York Times wrote about the IWSF in 1924, “The Edmonton Commercial Girls Grads won the European and world championship with a 37-8 decision over Strasbourg, Alsace, in France in July 1924. ‘The Canadian girls played a scientific game. Every attack was featured by a signal play, which rarely went wrong.’”[6] It was not until 1953 that the US women’s basketball team won their first gold medal in the World Championships. After continued support and interest in women’s basketball the Olympic committee met and voted women’s basketball an official Olympic competition. In July of 1976 women’s basketball debuted in the Montreal Olympics and the United States took the silver medal losing badly to Russia 112-77 in the gold medal game. It would not be until eight years later in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California that the United States women would win their first of three gold medals. The other two would come in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics and the 1996 Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Women’s professional basketball leagues started to form in the United States in the late seventies. The pioneer of this concept was an eight team league started under the original name of the Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL). On December 9, 1978 the first professional game took place between the Chicago Hustle and the Milwaukee Does. The league fell on hard times early in its existence; a lack of money, support and interest forced the league to fold after just three seasons. New women’s leagues failed to catch on due to the lack of support and poor investment opportunities which caused them to fall bankrupt. For example, in 1991 the Liberty Basketball Association was launched which marketed shorter courts, lower rims and unitards in hopes to attract the public’s attention. The league got under way and after just one exhibition game the league folded. Just one year later the Women’s World Basketball Association (WWBA) started, but got off on the wrong foot and the six team Midwest league went under shortly thereafter. The American Basketball League (ABL) became the premier professional league in the United States when it tipped off their first season on October 18, 1996 with eight teams across the country. Even with scarce support, resources and a small following, the ABL survived by the skin on their teeth until 1999. The ABL was doomed when on April 24, 1996 the National Basketball Association (NBA) Board of Governors approved the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) notion. The best talent was going to be split between the two leagues and with the NBA fully backing the WNBA financially it was inevitable that the ABL had met its end. On June 21, 1997 the inaugural WNBA season began. Even though European countries still attract most of the best players from around the world including players from the United States, the WNBA is starting to attract the top players. Before long the one would believe that the European leagues will soon fold due to the diminishing interest by both players and fans.

Bibliography

Attner, Paul. “U.S. Women Win Medal.” Washington Post. 27 July 1976: D5.

Durso, Joseph. “It’s a Women’s Olympics, Despite the Politics and U.S. Men’s Swimmers.” The New York Times. 24 July 1976: 4, Seciton 5.

Roach, James. “News and Comments on Women in Sports.” The New York Times. 27 December 1931: X, 12.

Werden, Lincoln A. “Women in Sports.” The New York Times. 6 March 1934: 10.

“Field Sports for Women Athletes.” The New York Times. 23 August 1914: IV, 4.

“Comment on Current Events in Sport.” The New York Times. 17 April 1922: 21.

“Commendable at Least by Contrast.” The New York Times. 23 August 1922: 12.

“Basket Ball Denounced.” The New York Times. 11 October 1903: 11.

”Canadian Girls Win Titles.” The New York Times. 21 July 1924: 6.

“Girls Play Basket Ball.” New York Times. 4 March 1897: 3.

“School girls Need Athletic Training.” New York Times. 4 March 1897: 3.

“Girls’ Athletics Detrimental to Morals, Wisconsin Finds, Banning School Games.” The New York Times. 6 November 1926: 23.

“Basketball Tourneys for Girls Condemned.” The New York Times. 7 April 1930: 28.

Web Sites:

- http://www.wnba.com/

- http://alvin.lbl.gov/bios/Naismith.html

- http://pc65.frontier.osrhe.edu/hs/thnkqst/20952/history.htm

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[1]“Comment on Current Events in Sport.” The New York Times. 17 April 1922: 21.

[2]”School girls Need Athletic Training.” The New York Times. 30 December 1922: 10.

[3]”Comments on Women’s Sports.” The New York Times. October 11, 1903.

[4] “Girls Play Basket Ball.” New York Times. 4 March 1897: 3.

[5] http://www.wnba.com/

[6] ”Canadian Girls Win Titles.” The New York Times. 21 July 1924: 6.