Though Dr. James Naismith, a physical education instructor at the International
Young Men's Christian Association Training School, Springfield, Massachusetts, is credited
with having discovered modern basketball, the earliest evidence of a game resembling
basketball has been found in ancient Central and South American civilisations. In the
South American Yucatan Peninsula, playing courts bounded by stone walls and set among
groves of trees have been found dating back to the seventh Century B.C. Overlooking the
courts were sculptures of Gods and other religious symbols, suggesting that the game
normally took place as a part of a religious festival. The Olmecs of Mexico played a game
called 'Pok?ta?Pok' with a rubber ball filled with sacred plants. The object was to put
the ball into the goal using the hips, thighs and knees. In the 16th century Mexico, the
Aztec game of 'Ollanialitzli' required the players to propel a solid rubber b all through
a fixed stone ring. |
An engraving made by Brays in 1603, shows a precursor to basketball and Vieth in his
Encyclopaedia of Athletics (1818) details a game played in Florida in which players
attempted to throw the ball into a basket attached to the top of a pole.
Dr. James Naismith, however, created the modern version in December 1891 as an indoor
recreation during winter for young people who showed little interest in the usual physical
exercises of the day. The game has since caught on and the YMCA has been in the forefront
of spreading the game worldwide. The Federation Internationale de Basketball Amateurs
(FIBA) was formed in 1936 and following the demonstration of the sport in the Olympic
Games in 1904 and 1928 by the Americans, it has been a regular feature of the Olympic
programme since 1936. Charles S. Patterson, an American missionary worker employed with
the YMCA, Calcutta made the first attempt to introduce the game in India in 1905. But the
credit for popularising the game goes to the YMCA, Madras, which in the 1920s spread the
game in schools, colleges and universities through its instructors. Mostly played by
members of private clubs, the game also became popular in military units, and community
and recreation centres.
The first national championship for men was introduced in 1934 under the aegis of the
Indian Olympic Association. It continued to be organised by the IOA till 1950 on a
biennial basis. With the formation of the Basketball Federation of India in February 1950
with C.C. Abraham, Principal, YMCA College, Madras as the first president and D.N. Rajanna
as associate secretary, the onus of conducting the national championship was shifted to
the national federation. The national championship for men then became an annual affair.
Though women's basketball was introduced in the country in the late 1940s and early 1950s,
the first national championship for women was introduced in the 1952/53 season at
Bangalore
The Todd Memorial Trophy - the symbol of supremacy for the national men's championship -
was, donated by the Mysore Basketball Association. The trophy for the women's national
championship was donated by Prince Baslat Jha, the brother of the Nizam of Hyderabad, who
watched the first national for women organised at the Central College ground in Bangalore.
Till 1956, the women's event was not a regular feature of the BFI's calendar, but
subsequently became an annual event. The national junior championship for boys was
introduced in 1955 and the mini national championships for boys and girls in 1973. India's
first international exposure was the participation in the first Asian Games at New Delhi,
in 1951. India's first international win was in the quadrangular (India, erstwhile Ceylon,
Iran and Pakistan) league tournament organised by the Pakistan Basketball Federation at
Lahore in January 1962.
The BFI organised the first coaching camp by the American coach Frank Kaufman at the
National Stadium, New Delhi from 1st October 1951 under the aegis of the United States'
Information Services. This was followed by another coaching camp by another basketball
expert, Sam Fox, at New Delhi, Trivandrum, Madras and Calcutta. Though basketball was
devised as an indoor game, it has become a very popular outdoor sport in tropical
countries like India.
Some of the other national trophies are: C.C. Abraham Trophy for junior boys, Mukherjee
Trophy for league losers in the nationals, Traoib Shankaran Memorial Trophy for runners?up
in the senior nationals and the Kalinga Trophy for the best disciplined team in the
nationals. The BFI is affiliated to the Indian Olympic Association, the Asian Basketball
Confederation and the FIBA.
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