NEW DELHI: Nearly 130 years ago, Dr James Naismith, a Canadian-American physical educator, professor, doctor and coach, devised an "athletic distraction" to immerse students and keep them occupied during the harsh winter months. It was the game of basketball.
Today, Google has dedicated an animated Doodle to Naismith for his illustrious contribution to the sporting world.
Ontario-bred Naismith was born on 6 November 1861 and showed immense interest in sports and physical education from an early age. The interest led him to McGill University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1888.
He began his career as a physical education teacher and later, moved to the US, where he took a job at the YMCA International Training College in Springfield, Massachusetts. On December 21, 1891, his class took to court after he posted 13 rules of his new game on a bulletin board.
His invention initially featured rules of soccer, American football, hockey, rugby and consisted of two teams of nine. The rules were published in the pages of “The Triangle,” a Springfield College school newspaper.
The sport was introduced in a time when schools were racially segregated and Naismith strove to bridge racial ills through the game. By 1936, the sport made its Olympic debut in Berlin, Germany. As the brain behind the games, Naismith was honoured with throwing the ball for the tip-off of the first game.
Naismith retired from the university in 1937 and died two years later at the age of 78, of a brain haemorrhage. After this death in 1939, the game of Basketball only grew.
The NBA's Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, is named in his honour. As of today, the game is played in nearly 200 countries around the world.
“Here’s to Dr James Naismith – thank you for creating one of the world’s favourite pastimes!” the Google Doodle reads.