HISTORY OF BASKETBALL

In contrast to other sports, basketball has a clear origin. It is not the evolution
from an ancient game or another sport and the inventor is well known: Dr. James
Naismith.

In 1891, while working as a physical education teacher at the YMCA International

Training School in the United States, Naismith was faced with the problem of
finding in 14 days an indoor game to provide "athletic distraction" for the
students at the School for Christian Workers. After discarding the idea of adapting
outdoor games like soccer and lacrosse, Naismith recalled the concept of a game
of his school days known as duck-on-a-rock that involved accuracy attempting to
knock a "duck" off the top of a large rock by tossing another rock at it. Starting
from there, Naismith developed a set of 13 rules that gave origin to the game of
basketball. Of course it was not exactly as we know it today. The first game was
played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets nailed 10-feet high used as
goals, on a court just half the size of a present-day court. The baskets retained
their bottoms so balls scored into the basket had to be poked out with a long
dowel each time and dribbling (bouncing of the ball up and down while moving)
was not part of the original game. The sport was an instant success and thanks to
the initial impulse received by the YMCA movement, basketball's popularity
quickly grew nationwide and was introduced in many nations. Although Naismith
never saw the game develop into the spectacular game we know these days, he
had the honor to witness basketball become an Olympic sport at the 1936
Games held in Berlin.

These are James Naismith original thirteen rules of basketball:

1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.
2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands, but never
with the fist.
3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on
which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man running at good
speed.
4. The ball must be held in or between the hands. The arms or body must not
be used for holding it.
5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an
opponent. The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a
foul; the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made or, if there
was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game. No
substitution shall be allowed.
6. A foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violations of Rules 3 and 4 and
such as described in Rule 5.
7. If either side make three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the
opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime
making a foul).
 8. Goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the ground into
the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch
or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edge and the opponents move
the basket, it shall count as a goal.
9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and
played by the first person touching it. In case of dispute the umpire shall
throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he
holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying
the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them.
10. The umpire shall be judge of the men and shall note the fouls and
notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall
have the power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.
11. The referee shall be the judge of the ball and decide when it is in play
in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide
when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals with any other
duties that are usually performed by a referee.
12. The time shall be two 15-minute halves with five minutes' rest
between.
13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the
winners.

History of Basketball Time Line:

1890's - 2000's

December 1891: Dr James Naismith, an instructor at the School for Christian

Workers in Springfield, Massachusetts, invents basket ball (then two words).

1894: The free throw line is moved from 20 feet to 15 feet.

1895: The field goal value is changed from three points to two points. The free
throw value is changed from three points to one point.

1896: The first known professional basketball game is played in Trenton, New
Jersey.

1921: The spelling of basket ball becomes basketball.

August 1-16, 1936: Basketball becomes an official Olympic sport. The United
States defeats Canada 19-8 for the gold medal. The games were played in Berlin,
Germany.

December 30, 1936: Hank Luisetti's (Stanford) one-hand set shot becomes the
new rage in shooting. Until this point, players used the classic two-hand shot.
June 6, 1946: The Basketball Association of America (BAA) is founded. Maurice
Podoloff is named the league president.

April 23, 1950: The Minneapolis Lakers become the first team to win back-to-back
championships.

October 30, 1954: The NBA introduces the 24-second clock. As a result the pace
of the game quickens.

1978-79: The NBA Adds a third referee.

1979: The NBA adopts a three point line.

April 26, 1988: The NBA Permanently adds a third ref. The NBA experimented with
a third ref in 1978-79.

April 24, 1996: The NBA Agrees to start a Womens Nation Basketball Association
(WNBA).
 HISTORY OF VOLLEYBALL

The game of volleyball, originally called “mintonette,” was invented in 1895 by

William G. Morgan after the invention of basketball only four years before.
Morgan, a graduate of the Springfield College of the YMCA, designed the game to
be a combination of basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball. The first volleyball
net, borrowed from tennis, was only 6’6″ high (though you need to remember that
the average American was shorter in the nineteenth century). The offensive style
of setting and spiking was first demonstrated in the Philippines in 1916. Over the
years that followed, it became clear that standard rules were needed for
tournament play, and thus the USVBA (United States Volleyball Association) was
formed in 1928.

Timeline of Significant Volleyball Events

In 1900, a special ball was designed for the sport.

In 1916, in the Philippines, an offensive style of passing the ball in a high

trajectory to be struck by another player (the set and spike) were introduced.

In 1917, the game was changed from 21 to 15 points.

In 1920, three hits per side and back row attack rules were instituted.

In 1928, it became clear that tournaments and rules were needed, so the United
States Volleyball Association (USVBA, now USA Volleyball) was formed. The first
U.S. Open was staged, as the field was open to non-YMCA squads.

In 1934, national volleyball referees were approved and recognized.

In 1947, the Federation Internationale De Volley-Ball (FIVB) was founded.

In 1949, the initial World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

In 1964, volleyball was introduced to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In 1983, the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) was formed.

In 1986, the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA) was formed.

In 1990, the World League was created.

In 1996, two-person beach volleyball became an Olympic sport.

 HISTORY OF TABLE TENNIS

The game began in the 1880s, when lawn tennis players adapted their game to
play indoors during the winter. The game quickly caught on, and as early as 1901,
tournaments were being conducted with over 300 participants. The Ping-Pong
Association was formed but was renamed The Table Tennis Association in 1922. In
Britain, table tennis had also begun to spread outside the distinctly middle-class
confines of London, and leagues sprang up in provincial towns as far apart as
Sunderland and Plymouth. In 1922, an All England Club was formed. Table tennis
was firmly on the map, and on April 24, 1927, the English Table Tennis Association
was born, under the chairmanship and direction of Ivor Montague, son of Lord
Ewatthling.

The first world championships were held in 1927 and were won by a Hungarian,
Dr. Jacobi. Apart from the famous Fred Perry redressing the balance for England in
1929, this was to be the start of an unprecedented run of success for the
Hungarians, who completely dominated the game throughout the thirties. Their
team was led by the legendary Victor Barna, whose inspiration and skill did so
much to elevate the game to sports status.

The 1950s saw the game turned upside down by the invention of the sponge or
sandwich rubber, this new material for bats, which, up until now, had been a
relatively simple affair with a universal thin covering of pimpled rubber.

Until this time, spin had played only a minor part in a game that had been
dominated by the defensive style of play. But these new bats or paddles,
introduced by the Japanese, had the capacity to move the ball around in an
almost magical way. The ITTF, the game’s governing body, was quick to legislate
in a bid to control this new development, seen in some quarters as equipping
players with an unfair advantage. The thickness of the sponge and rubber
sandwich was controlled and remains so to this day. But the nature of the game
had been changed, establishing the fast attacking speed and spin style of the
modern game.

Today, the sport both in England and abroad is very well established and is
growing each year. The culmination of this has been its recognition as an Olympic
Games sport, being featured for the first time in the 1988 games in Seoul.
Television coverage of the men’s singles final attracted an incredible worldwide
audience of 2 billion. In China, the game is played by literally millions at work, in
school, and in community parks. Chinese top players are regarded as national
heroes with pop star statuses.
 HISTORY OF FOOTBALL

Football are believed to have descended from the ancient Greek game
of harpaston. Harpaston is mentioned frequently in classical literature, where it
is often referred to as a “very rough and brutal game“. The rules of this ancient
sport were quite simple: Points were awarded when a player would cross a goal
line by either kicking the ball, running with it across the goal line, or throwing it
across the line to another player.

Football didn’t really begin to take on any consistency of rules and boundaries
until it was picked up as a sport in the seven major public schools of England in
the early 1800’s. Six of the seven schools were largely playing the same game
(including Eton, Harrow and Winchester) - while the seventh, Rugby School
(founded in 1567) was playing a markedly different version of football.

The other schools moved ahead refining their rules and eventually their game
became known as "association football" – or soccer, which was played back then
much as it is today.

The birth date of football in the United States is generally regarded by football
historians as November 6, 1869, when teams from Rutgers and Princeton
Universities met for the first intercollegiate football game. In those early games,
there were 20 players to a team and football still more closely resembled rugby
than modern football.

The game of football has a history of constant rule changes. Rule changes have
been implemented to bolster the excitement of the game of football and to
increase the game's safety.

In 1873, representatives from Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, and Yale Universities

met in New York City to formulate the first intercollegiate football rules for the
increasingly popular game. These four teams established the Intercollegiate
Football Association (IFA) and set 15 as the number of players allowed on each
team.

Though refinements to the game would continue to the present day, the modern
game of American football had arrived.