Canadian History for Kids: The Rules of Basketball

Dr. James Naismith, from Almonte Ontario, invented the game of basketball. This Canadian History for Kids Beaver Tale discusses how Basketball was invented!

He attended McGill University in Montreal and was McGill’s Athletic Director. He moved on to work at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. While working as a physical education teacher at the school, Naismith was asked to develop a game that would not take up much room, was not too rough and could be played indoors. He was inspired by a game he played as a child in Canada called “Duck on a Rock.”

The first game was played on December 15th, 1891. The first game had a peach basket nailed to either end of the school’s gymnasium, and two teams of nine players. The original rules did not include what is known today as the dribble, and only allowed the ball to be moved up or down the court via passes between players. It was on January 15th, 1892, the rules to the game were published in the Springfield, Massachusetts school newspaper, The Triangle.

And that’s this week Canadian History for Kids Beaver Tale!
 

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