Basketball is now one of the most popular and spectacular game sports. They are doing it all over the world. Competitions are held for both men and women. Since 1936, basketball has been a regular feature of the Summer Olympics. And although this sport appeared in its modern guise not so long ago, such a game existed even among the ancient peoples.
Instructions
Step 1
Even the Maya Indians, according to historians and archaeologists, played some kind of basketball. It was in the second millennium BC, when this civilization began to exist. Then the game was called, of course, not "basketball", but "pok-ta-pok", but the rules were similar. Ancient grounds for this game were found, which were about 150 m long. Players of each team lined up along a certain line, which was forbidden to go beyond, and behind each team there were rings at a height of 10 m, which had to be hit. However, the rings were located not as in modern basketball, but vertically.
Step 2
Some facts of this ancient likeness of basketball are interesting: at first, the Indians played with the heads of captured enemies. Then heavy rubber balls the size of a human head began to be used for the game. But passions at such competitions, which were perceived as entertainment, flared up significant. The losing team, like the winning team in principle, could have been sacrificed to the gods after the match.
Step 3
It is not surprising that on the site of former Indian settlements - on the territory of modern Mexico - these gaming traditions were continued by the Aztecs, which had existed since the XIV century. The Aztecs modified the game a bit, making the ball even heavier. The game "pok-ta-pok" still exists in some northern regions of Mexico and is called "ulama".
Step 4
America is considered the birthplace of modern basketball. Its founding father is a Canadian-born teacher, Dr. James Naismith. He worked as a physical education teacher at the Youth Christian Association College in Springfield, Massachusetts. Due to the fact that the then winter physical education classes held in the hall could not please the children, and could also severely injure the players, such as American football, he decided to come up with another entertainment for young people, which, moreover, could contribute to the development strength and agility.
Step 5
On December 21, 1891, he decided to hang two peach baskets opposite each other, attaching them to the gymnastic balcony. Having divided the group of students into two teams of 9 people, he invited them to throw a soccer ball into the opponent's basket. This game became, in his mind, a continuation of the popular children's game "duck-on-a-rock", in which the players with the help of a small pebble had to get to the top of a large stone. A significant role is also assigned to the guard of this college, who used a ladder to get balls from baskets, and then suggested, in fact, to cut off the bottom of them.
Step 6
After the first matches, some changes took place: the baskets began to be protected with shields so that the fans themselves could not finish off the unbeaten balls from the stands that flew towards them, and the fruit baskets were replaced with iron rings with a net in a circle. On January 15, 1892, James Naismith published a list of rules for the game of basketball in the newspaper, after which this day became considered the birthday of the game.
