1891:
December: Basketball invented by Dr. James Naismith, an instructor at YMCA Training School in Springfield, MA.
13 RULES:
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.
3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowances to be made for a man who catches the ball when running if he tries to stop.
4. The ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.
5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed; the first infringement of this rule by any player shall come 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 substitute allowed.
6. A foul is striking the ball with the fist, violation of Rules 3, 4, and such as described in Rule 5.
7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul).
8. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do no touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal.
9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field of play by the person touching it. He has a right to hold it unmolested for five seconds. In case of a 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 that side.
10. The umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.
11. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball 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 fifteen-minute halves, with five minutes rest between.
13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner. In the case of a draw the game may, by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made.
1892:
Peach baskets and a soccer ball are used.
January: A description of the game is published.
Senda Berenson, a physical education instructor at Smith College, Northampton, MA, adapts the rules for women and introduces the game to her students. Court was divided into three areas, with six players per team. Two players assigned to each area (guard, center, forward) and they could not cross the line into other areas. A ball was advance from section to section by passing or dribbling. Players limited to only three dribbles and could hold the ball for only three seconds. No snatching or batting the ball away from a player. Center jump after each score. Peach baskets and the soccer ball are used. Berenson�s rules, often modified, spread rapidly across the country via YMCAs and colleges, but many women also used men�s rules.
First inter-institutional (extramural) contest between the University of California, Berkeley and Miss Head's School (girl�s prep) in Berkeley, CA.
1893:
March 23: First women�s basketball game held at Smith College. All doors locked, no men allowed, sophomores against freshmen.
Informal games on grass courts played at Iowa State College.
Clara Gregory Baer introduces basket ball (or basquette) to girls at Sophie Newcomb College, the female branch of Tulane University, in New Orleans. LA.
Max Exner, Naismith's former roomate, teaches basketball to the women of Carleton College in Minnesota.
1894:
September: Berenson�s article describing her game and its benefits in general terms is published in the issue of the magazine Physical Education.
1895:
Rules: Baer publishes first basket ball (called "Basquette") rules for women. Baer�s rules divide the court according to number of players on a side-11 sections if 11 players, seven sections if seven on a side, etc. No dribbling or guarding or talking is allowed. A player is given six seconds to aim and shoot the ball (later four). No backboards are allowed. Players may run only when the ball is in the air, and then only a few steps within their area. Goals are changed after each score so that offensive and defensive roles are reversed. The one-handed push shot is required (more than 40 years before the one-handed shot becomes popular in the men�s game). A two-handed shot (and a two-handed pass) is a foul. Baer�s rules are used widely across the South.
March 18: Sophie Newcomb College students play first public basketball game in the South at the Southern Athletic Club in New Orleans.
March 31: The Baltimore American reports a game of "basket ball" is played by the upper classes at Bryn Mawr School.
Kentucky: Berea College organizes its first basketball team.
1896:
April 4: First intercollegiate game on the West Coast played between Stanford and University of California, Berkeley.
April 17: First recorded game in Washington State at Ellensburg State Normal School vs. University of Washington.
Illinois: Chicago Austin High School plays Oak Park in the first known girls basketball game in the state.
Nebraska: Basketball is introduced to University of Nebraska's physical education classes for sophomores.
1897:
California: Basketball exhibition staged at end of Southern California Lawn Tennis Association�s annual tournament in Santa Monica, CA.
Kansas: Baker University's first women's basketball game is played in the spring of 1897 between the Delta Delta Delta team and one picked from the other girls of the University.
Maine: Thornton Academy gym teacher Louise Leib and Thornton's female students fervently take up the game, forming a TA Girls Basketball Association and playing interclass games until 1903, when they began playing teams from other schools.
Wisconsin: Oshkosh Normal School forms a women's basketball team.
1898:
March: Nebraska: University of Nebraska women�s team (girl�s rules), founded by Louise Pound, plays against an outside opponent for the first time � Council Bluffs, Iowa (boys rules), at the Nebraska armory, Grant Memorial Hall, winning 15-7.
Michigan: Lansing High School Girls' Team (photo)
April 9: University of Nevada at Reno travel to play powerhouse Berkeley, losing 14-1. Washington and Berkeley allow slapping and blocking of the ball.
Cal Berkley is the team to beat on the West Coast, defeating Mills College 13-1 and Mission Y 10-1.
Iowa: Six player game begins. Originally played in a three-court manner.
Massachusetts: With the opening of Hemenway Gymnasium on the Radcliffe campus, a women's basketball team is fielded. Annie Jackson '00 is chosen captain for the first "varsity" team. The sport gains popularity and, over the next decade, a strong rivalry develops with Smith College.
University of Missouri organizes their first women's basketball team. In that first year, there were inter-class games and intercollegiate games with Christian College (later Columbia College). Three years later, there were contests with teams from Kansas and Nebraska.
Oregon Agricultural College (later Oregon State University) fields their first team.
1899:
Rules: Formation of the Women's Basket Ball Rules Committee at the Conference of Physical Training, held at Springfield College, MA. The goal was to make the rules uniform and address concerns the game was getting too rough.
Oregon State University introduces basketball as varsity sport (two years before the men�s team is created.)
Stanford's faculty athletic committee rules that women can no longer compete at the intercollegiate level. Soon Cal follows suit. Though carried on at the intermural and amateur level, it didn't become an intercollegiate sport until 1974.
University of Tennessee introduces physical education to its coeds in skilled and competitive sports, including basketball.
Women's basketball team, University of Washington (photo)
The Aeliolian ladies defeated the Philathians 8-7 in Wheaton College's first recorded basketball game (the men played immediately afterwards).
Washington, DC: Washington DC High School girls basketball team
