Women’s basketball… I think it’s been around long enough for guys to stop making fun of it… yeah, even the big guys. In fact, I bet the majority of guys enjoy watching these matches.
Some people don’t think women’s basketball has been around that long… it actually started in 1892 at Smith, a women’s college in Northampton, Massachusetts. This was due to the perseverance of Senda Berenson, the director of physical education. She taught girls to play basketball to improve their health; this made basketball the first women’s sport to have teams.
Senda was criticized for her efforts, not because the sport was too “manly” for women, but because that particular era in history was more Victorian. This means that the culture aimed to keep women in the home, in the kitchen and in the bedroom. Sensing this, Senda changed the rules of the game to protect the ladies:
Nine players on a team
Prohibition to take the ball from an opposing player
Prohibition on knocking the ball out of the hands of an opposing player
Every time someone scored, a center jump was required
There were other rules, and soon other women’s colleges, YMCAs, and high schools began using them and starting their own women’s basketball teams.
The very first basketball games didn’t even use basketballs…they used footballs, thrown into peach baskets. The girls’ uniforms were also decidedly Victorian, still trying to retain their femininity and the incorrect label of ‘weaker sex’. Eventually, girls were allowed to wear pants, followed by bloomers with stockings. Men weren’t allowed to watch girls’ basketball, thanks to bloomer uniforms…soon, that rule was abandoned,
While middle and high schools across the country already had their own women’s basketball teams, the first professional team women’s basketball The team was not established until 1936, when the All American Red Heads team was founded.
Below is a gallery of some Michigan high schools girls basketball teams.
Do you see any bloomers here?
Women’s basketball in various Michigan cities: 1905-1920
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