The Ins and Outs of Women’s Basketball

The Creator of…..BASKETBALL DR. JAMES NAISMITH

From the Beginning… The inventor of the actual game was Dr. James Naismith. Women’s basketball has been around since 1892, only one year after basketball was invented. The first women’s basketball team was organized at Smith College in Northhampton by Senda Berenson.

The Rules of Senda Berenson Senda would change some of Naismith’s rules to strive teamwork and cooperation rather than competition. The court was separated into 3 zones with 3 players in each zone. Nine players would exist on each team. No player was able to leave her zone. Each player could hold the ball for only 3 seconds and dribble the ball 3 times before passing. This reduced the ability for single payers to become stars and required the effort of all. Senda Berenson

Spreading Like Wild Fire! In the first game, one basket was worth 1-point. During the game, men were not allowed to watch because it was not considered socially acceptable. Soon enough women’s basketball would spread across the country. By 1896 it was established in several colleges and in April 1896 the first intercollegiate game was played.

Hoop! There It Goes… During the initial era of women’s basketball, the style of hoop changed quite a bit. Some had closed bottoms with a string attached to them. When a basket was scored, the string would be pulled, popping the ball out of the hoop.

The Change Progresses During the initial era, the rules changed every so often. In 1901 the first set of rules was created by Spalding and was edited by Senda Berenson. Women playing basketball grew into a great concern, it was a general agreement that women were more “selfish” and not as team oriented in team games as men were.

In the Flesh… The All American Red Heads

The All American Red Heads Began during the early 1950’s. C.M. Olson (Ole), from Cassville Missouri had a famous traveling basketball team called The Terrible Sweedes. His wife, Doyle, owned a hair salon and several of her employees played basketball at night. Legend has it that one night her employees dyed their hair red and played against a local men’s team. At an instant they became a hit. Ole decided to book the team against men’s teams. They were to play by the rules of the men. The team was originally known as the Cassville Red Heads, but would soon change their name to “All American” when AAU All Americans like Peggy Lawson and Kay Kirkpatrick joined the team.

The Coming of Ages for Women’s Basketball From This To This

The WNBA!! The WNBA is a professional women’s basketball league. It began in 1997 when the NBA wanted to create a women’s basketball league that would play in the summer, thus creating the Women’s National Basketball Association or WNBA for short. This effort was spearheaded WNBA president Valerie Ackerman. The WNBA’s first season began in 1997, as the Houston Comets won it all in the leagues inaugural season.

The Misses of Liberty On October 30, 1996, New York was selected as one of the eight charter members of the Women’s National Basketball Association. Within four months, Carol Blazejowski, a member of the basketball Hall of Fame, was named vice president and general manager of the New York franchise. Rebecca Lobo and Teresa Weatherspoon joined as the team’s first players and the franchise name and logo was introduced. The first WNBA game was played on June 21, 1997 in Los Angeles. Led by head coach Nancy Darsch, the Liberty defeated the Los Angeles Sparks with a score of 67-57, before a crowd of 14,284 at the Forum. Rebecca Lobo

Washington Mystics One of the top basketball teams in league today. They started to play in 1988, the second year of the WNBA and are one of the WNBA’s first expansion franchises. They are the counterpart to the Washington Wizards but as of 2005 the two franchises are owned by two different companies. Temeka Johnson

Sacramento Monarchs The team is one of the WNBA’s eight original franchises and were noticed early on for their standout players: Ticha Penicheiro, Ruthie Bolton, and Yolanda Griffith. For the first time in 2005, the team brought Sacramento its first major championship in a professional sport, winning the WNBA Finals for the first time. The team is named after the monarch butterfly and the type of ruler. They are the sister team of the Sacramento Kings. Ticha Penicheiro

Websites I Used: http://www.womensbasketballmuseum.com/ http://www.wnba.com/ http://www.wnba.com/liberty/ http://www.wnba.com/mystics/ http://www.wnba.com/monarchs/