FROM MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY TO THE MARKET PLACE: THE HISTORY OF MEN\u27S AND BOY\u27S BASKETBALL IN THE UNITED STATES, 1891-1957

In December of 1891 at the International Training School for the Young Men\u27s Christian Association (YMCA) in Springfield, Massachusetts, James Naismith, under the direction of Luther Halsey Gulick, developed the game of basketball. Between 1891 and 1957 the game of basketball underwent significant changes. Naismith and Gulick intended to develop a truly amateur activity designed to attract young men back to Christ and the YMCA while developing Christian principles. By 1957 the game of basketball included a national professional league where the motive was producing a profit. This growth and development was basically a three step chronological process. First, the youth base was established outside the schools and colleges through various groups. Second, the schools and colleges established their network of competition that included league, conference, state, regional, and national championships. Third, a national professional league was established. The game of basketball grew and developed in this manner as a result of a stimulation to product demand achieved by individuals and groups of individuals with four characteristics in common: (1) available time; (2) access to or the necessary resources to carry out the game; (3) knowledge of the specific characteristics of the game to use it effectively; and (4) a missionary zeal for their endeavor. It did not matter whether individuals or groups were involved, basketball, due to its adaptable nature, was used as a means to bring about a desired end. In all three stages of development and at all levels of play the picture was the same--individuals or groups promoting basketball play to serve their own altruistic or self-serving goals