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Women’s College Basketball: History And Background

February 16th, 2009

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL – HISTORY AND BACKGROUD

womens basketball, college basketball for women, basketball history

It’s well known that basketball was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Nesmith, but what do you know about the history of women’s basketball?

Here the story. The innaugural women’s college basketball session was in fact part of a physical education class at Smith College for girls in Conneticut. The very first women’s college basketball game was played at Smith College for girls in 1893. The game in fact took place behind locked doors and men were disallowed from watching!!

The rules of this first women’s college basketball game were altered from those of the original men’s version to enhance teamwork. So the court had 3 zones and three players from each team of nine were allowed in each zone but could not move out of their zone. Funnily enough, these early restrictions in women’s college basketball game are very similar to the game of netball that is played today by schoolgirls and women all over Europe.

Then women’s college basketball spread quickly and the first game between two different women’s college basketball teams was played in April 1896 with Stanford beating Berkley. There were still 9 players on each women’s college basketball team in this inter-college game, but instead of the original rule where a player could only hold the ball for 3 seconds and must dribble it 3 times before passing, it was changed to that a player could not run more than 5 feet before having to pass the ball. But … as with the first women’s college basketball game … men were not allowed to watch the game!

The formal rules of women’s college basketball were then produced in 1901 and went through numerous changes before developing into the game as it is played today. One of the most interesting aspects of early women’s college basketball games is that the basket was sewn shut so that the umpire had to remove the ball from it every time it was put through the hoop.

The familiar indoor basketball court that today’s women’s college basketball teams play on was not made available to the women for a couple of decades after the sport began. So some women’s college basketball teams had to play on grass courts outside and did not have the chance to play on an indoor court at all.

{women in basketball}

It’s well known that basketball was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Nesmith, but what do you know about the history of women’s basketball?

Here the story. The innaugural women’s college basketball session was in fact part of a physical education class at Smith College for girls in Conneticut. The very first women’s college basketball game was played at Smith College for girls in 1893. The game in fact took place behind locked doors and men were disallowed from watching!!

The rules of this first women’s college basketball game were altered from those of the original men’s version to enhance teamwork. So the court had 3 zones and three players from each team of nine were allowed in each zone but could not move out of their zone. Funnily enough, these early restrictions in women’s college basketball game are very similar to the game of netball that is played today by schoolgirls and women all over Europe.

Then women’s college basketball spread quickly and the first game between two different women’s college basketball teams was played in April 1896 with Stanford beating Berkley. There were still 9 players on each women’s college basketball team in this inter-college game, but instead of the original rule where a player could only hold the ball for 3 seconds and must dribble it 3 times before passing, it was changed to that a player could not run more than 5 feet before having to pass the ball. But … as with the first women’s college basketball game … men were not allowed to watch the game!

The formal rules of women’s college basketball were then produced in 1901 and went through numerous changes before developing into the game as it is played today. One of the most interesting aspects of early women’s college basketball games is that the basket was sewn shut so that the umpire had to remove the ball from it every time it was put through the hoop.

The familiar indoor basketball court that today’s women’s college basketball teams play on was not made available to the women for a couple of decades after the sport began. So some women’s college basketball teams had to play on grass courts outside and did not have the chance to play on an indoor court at all.