Excerpt from How to Play Basket Ball: A Thesis on the Technique of the Game

The game known as basket ball was invented in 1892 by Dr. James Naismith, at that time a professor in the Y. M. C. A. Training School, Springfield, Mass, and now physical director of the Department of Physical Training in the University of Kansas. The game has passed through all of the usual stages of evolution, has been played by all types of people and in almost every land. The rules have evolved with the game. They were at first very simple, but have become, more and more complex with each succeeding year. It has been a game peculiarly adapted to all classes of people, for it can be played without raining or skill and for exercise only, or it may be made a scientific game, requiring careful training, great skill and constant practice.

It is needless to say that the scientific game has been the one which has commanded the greatest attention; the sporting world has produced some genuine students of the art, for an art it surely has become. Basket ball has come to stay. It has met a very great need in the world of sport. It is interesting both to the player and to the spectator. It produces a winter sport fully as popular as foot ball or base ball and develops personal quali ties in the player which may be of great value in life's struggle. There are many dangers to be avoided and many strong points to be developed, but the writer believes that the best method of playing a clean, fast and successful game is to give attention to the playing of the ball rather than to the play as directed against an opponent. Various parts of the country have developed different styles of play, about which there are many Opinions as to their value. It is not the purpose of the writer to discuss such matters.

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