INDOOR BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22438, 19 September 1947, Page 4

INDOOR BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

r JMIE North Island men’s and women’s indoor basketball championships, to be held here tomorrow, constitute a sporting event of more than ordinary interest. Inasmuch as the games are attracting young people from the length and breadth of the island it can be added that their significance is not confined solely to healthy competitive activity. That such a gathering is possible is due in large measure to the development of improved transport amenities linking this district with other places. Early in the post-war years it is being proved that the barrier of comparative isolation is being broken down, and it is to be hoped that this week-end’s fixtures will meet with the same popular success that attended the New Zealand Fire Brigades Association’s championships and the visit of a rugby team from as far away as Otago. On all occasions of this nature the hospitality of Gisborne has been acclaimed; the visit of the basketball exponents should be no exception. The game itself had quite a romantic beginning. It was invented by one man, James Naismith, in one night of the year 1892. In response to what he regarded as a challenge to the personal ingenuity and application that would be necessary to devise a new game, Naismith immediately set to work to frame the rules of a sport -which would incorporate skill, speed, endurance and teamwork. Overnight he drew up the rules of a game which .was first played next morning at Springfield College, Massachusetts. It was adopted by the Y.M.C.A., and it was not long before schools and colleges not only in America but also in many other parts of the world were taking it up in large numbers. So thoroughly well thought out was Naismith’s conception that only three minor alterations in his set of rules have been made. It is now claimed to be the fastest ball game in the world, enjoyed by over 20,000,000 players. . . Indoor basketball has been a feature of the Y.M.C.A. training in Gisborne for some years, but only recently has it been taken up by teams outside that organisation. The return of young men from military service who played outside New Zealand gave the game a big fillip. It is believed that a high standard of play has been reached here and elsewhere in the Dominion. From the purely competitive point of view, therefore, the North Island championships should be full of interest.