A “Peach” of a Game
In 1891, James Naismith, a graduate student teaching physical education at the International YMCA Training School, in Springfield, Massachusetts created the game of “basket ball” based on a children’s game “Duck on a Rock” which combined the game of tag with throwing.
Lacking containers to use as “goals” Naismith nailed a peach basket to the lower rail of the gymnasium balcony and another on the opposite side of the room. The balcony rail was ten (10) feet off the ground. The students were divided into two teams, their objective was to get the ball into their team’s basket.
From Naismith “Rules of Basket Ball” (1891):
Rule #8: A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal
A basket minder was situated near each peach basket. When another player scored a “basket” it was the basket minder’s job to remove the ball from the basket and put it back into play. (1)
(1) aismithbasketballfoundation.com/about-basketball/naismiths-rules-for-basketball/