Today is World Basketball Day! Congratulations to all basketball coaches, athletes, fans and basketball fans on this wonderful holiday! We wish you all good health, dizzying successes, boundless luck and the highest victories! For reference. The first mentions of basketball are deeply rooted in history. One basketball-like playground was found in Mexico and dates back to the first millennium BC.
In the Mayan Indians, a similar game was called Pok-ta-Pok. Maya viewed it as a model of Cosmos – the movement of the ball on the field reminded them of the movement of planets in the universe. The team had to score the ball, which was made of rubber and weighed up to four kilograms, into a ring made of stone and positioned vertically in the wall. There is also information that in the sixteenth century, a similar game of basketball was also the Aztecs.
The game of modern basketball was invented in December 1891 at the Christian Youth Association training center in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. Dr. James Nayasmith spent a long time looking for what to replace the boring gymnastics, in physical education classes. He introduced new competitions into the curriculum: tug-of-war, wellness games, but everything quickly bored. After analyzing all the games with the ball, he formed certain limits and rules of the game. On February 12, 1892, the first official match was held. After this match, the basketball spreads at the speed of sound.
In 1894, the first official rules were issued in the United States. During the development of basketball, most of the rules of that period remained. Since the twenties of the twentieth century, national basketball federations have been formed and international meetings have been held. In 1923, France hosted the first women’s international tournament.
In the U.S., blacks were banned from playing with whites. In Harlem, the first Black New York Renaissance team was formed in 1922. This team easily beat the white teams, and in 1927 there was a match: “New York Renaissance” with “Bolton Celtics”. Seven games were played, as a result of the battle draw, after this meeting the athletes were no longer divided into whites and blacks. And basketball has become a unifying link in this long-standing confrontation.
In 1936, the Olympic Committee introduced basketball to the Olympic sport. And in the same year he appeared in the program of games in Berlin. The first Olympic champion was the U.S. national team. And in 1950 the first World Basketball Championship was held, the winner was the Argentine team.
In Russia, the Russian propagandist of physical culture and sports Georgy Dupperon learned about basketball in 1901, in St. Petersburg. And in 1906 the first matches were held. And already in the USSR basketball took one of the leading sporting events. In 1947, the All-Union Basketball Section joined the International Basketball Federation. Now Soviet basketball players could participate in all international competitions held by FIBA. In the same year, the USSR men’s team won the title of European champions.
Basketball has achieved the most development in the United States. Where one of the strongest basketball championships was organized – the national basketball association (NBA) championship. In Lithuania, basketball is considered a national sport.