Basketball began in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts when Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith invented it. Naismith was a 31-year-old physical education graduate student at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, which is now Springfield College. Naismith wanted to make a game that was simple to learn, yet sophisticated enough to keep players interested. Indoors, the game had to be playable, and it had to be able to handle multiple players at the same time. The game had to provide the pupils with lots of exercises while avoiding the violence of football or rugby, which could cause more serious injuries if played in a restricted setting. This is how the idea of basketball came into Naismith’s mind.
