History of basketball

The history of basketball began with its invention in 1891 in Springfield,

Massachusetts by Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith as a
less injury-prone sport than football. The game became established fairly
quickly and grew very popular as the 20th century progressed, first in America
and then throughout the world. After basketball became established in
American colleges, the professional game followed. The American National
Basketball Association (NBA), established in 1946, grew to a multibillion-
dollar enterprise by the end of the century, and basketball became an integral part of American culture.

Early history
Invention of the game
The game of basketball as it is known today was created by Dr. James Naismith in December 1891 in Springfield,
Massachusetts, to condition young athletes during cold months. It consisted of peach baskets and a soccer style
ball. He published 13 rules for the new game. He divided his class of eighteen into two teams of nine players each
and set about to teach them the basics of his new game. The objective of the game was to throw the basketball
into the fruit baskets nailed to the lower railing of the gym balcony. Every time a point was scored, the game was
halted so the janitor could bring out a ladder and retrieve the ball. After a while, the bottoms of the fruit baskets
were removed. The first public basketball game was played in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1892

The first basketball game

On December 21, 1891, James Naismith published rules for a new game using five basic ideas and thirteen rules.
That day, he asked his class to play a match in the Armory Street court: 9 versus 9, using a soccer ball and two
peach baskets. Frank Mahan, one of his students, wasn’t so happy. He just said: "Harrumph. Another new game".
However, Naismith was the inventor of the new game. Someone proposed to call it "Naismith Game", but he
suggested "We have a ball and a basket: why don’t we call it basketball?" The eighteen players were John G.
Thompson, Eugene S. Libby, Edwin P. Ruggles, William R. Chase, T. Duncan Patton, Frank Mahan, Finlay G.
MacDonald, William H. Davis and Lyman Archibald, who defeated George Weller, Wilbert Carey, Ernest
Hildner, Raymond Kaighn, Genzabaro Ishikawa, Benjamin S. French, Franklin Barnes, George Day and Henry
Gelan 1–0. The goal was scored by Chase. There were other differences between Naismith’s first idea and the
game played today. The peach baskets were closed, and balls had to be retrieved manually, until a small hole was
put in the bottom of the peach basket to poke the ball out using a stick. Only in 1906 were metal hoops, nets and
backboards introduced. Moreover, earlier the soccer ball was replaced by a Spalding ball, similar to the one used
today.

First international games

After its arrival in Europe, basketball developed very quickly. In 1909 the first international match was held in
Saint Petersburg: Mayak Saint Petersburg beat a YMCA American team.[23] The first great European event was
held in 1919 in Joinville-le-Pont, near Paris, during the Inter-Allied Games. United States, led by future Hall of
Fame player Max Friedman, won against Italy and France, and then Italy beat France. Basketball soon became
popular among French and Italians. The Italian team had a white shirt with the House of Savoy shield and the
players were: Arrigo and Marco Muggiani, Baccarini, Giuseppe Sessa, Palestra, Pecollo and Bagnoli

Formation of FIBA
World basketball was growing, but it was on June 18, 1932 that a real international organization was formed, to
coordinate tournaments and teams: that day, Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania
and Switzerland founded the International Basketball Federation (Fédération internationale de basketball amateur,
FIBA) in Geneva. Its work was fundamental for the first inclusion of basketball in the Berlin Olympic Games in
1936. The first Olympic title was won by the U.S. national team: Sam Balter, Ralph Bishop, Joe Fortenberry, Tex
Gibbons, Francis Johnson, Carl Knowles, Frank Lubin, Art Mollner, Donald Piper, Jack Ragland, Willard
Schmidt, Carl Shy, Duane Swanson, Bill Wheatley and the trainer James Needles. Canada was runner-up; the
games were played on an outdoor clay court. The first World Championship was held in Argentina in 1950
 History of Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are

separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball
on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of
the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since 1964.
The complete rules are extensive, but simply, play proceeds as
follows: a player on one of the teams begins a 'rally' by serving the
ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm),
from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into
the receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be
grounded within their court. The team may touch the ball up to 3
times, but individual players may not touch the ball twice
consecutively. Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for
an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way
that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.
The rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either (1): a team makes
a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent's court and winning the rally; or (2): a team commits a fault and loses
the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the
most common faults include:
 causing the ball to touch the ground or floor outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the
net;
 catching and throwing the ball;
 double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
 four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team;
 net foul: touching the net during play;
 foot fault: the foot crosses over the boundary line when serving.
The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball
with any part of the body.
A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because these
plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as
passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.

Origin of volleyball
In the winter of 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts (United States), William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical
education director, created a new game called Mintonette, a name derived from the game of badminton,[4] as a
pastime to be played (preferably) indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its
characteristics from other sports such as tennis and handball. Another indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in
the area, having been invented just ten miles (sixteen kilometers) away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts,
only four years before. Mintonette was designed to be an indoor sport, less rough than basketball, for older
members of the YMCA, while still requiring a bit of athletic effort.
The first rules, written down by William G Morgan, called for a net 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) high, a 25 ft × 50 ft (7.6 m
× 15.2 m) court, and any number of players. A match was composed of nine innings with three serves for each
team in each inning, and no limit to the number of ball contacts for each team before sending the ball to the
opponents' court. In case of a serving error, a second try was allowed. Hitting the ball into the net was considered
a foul (with loss of the point or a side-out)—except in the case of the first-try serve.
After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 1896,
played at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College), the game quickly became
known as volleyball (it was originally spelled as two words: "volley ball"). Volleyball rules were slightly
modified by the International YMCA Training School and the game spread around the country to various
YMCAs