James Naismith

Naismith got married to Maude Evelyn Sherman on 1894 in Massachusetts. They had five children together: Margaret Mason, Helen Carolyn, John Edwin and James Sherman.

His first wife died in 1937 and he got married again to Florence B. Kincaid but he suffered from a major brain hemorrhage in the same year and died at the age of 78 on November 28, 1939, in Lawrence, Kansas.

James Naismith was born in Ramsay Township, Mississippi Mills, Ontario, to Margaret and John Naismith. He was not very good at studies but was an excellent player at games that he sometimes only designed himself.

He was orphaned at a very early age in life and was brought up by his aunt and uncle and went to Bennies Corners near Almonte. He later graduated from the Almonte High School in Ontario in 1883.

Successfully graduating from the high school, Naismith attended the McGill University, Montreal. His athletic talent was put to use in the university as he was made to participate in Canadian football, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, etc.

He was a great gymnast and won many Wicksteed medals for his exceptional performance in gymnastics and earned a BA in Physical Education and a Diploma at the Presbyterian College, Montreal.

Shortly after finishing his education, in 1891 Naismith started teaching physical education, it being his specialty, and earned the position of the first ever McGill director of athletics. He later left Canada to become a physical education teacher in Massachusetts.

At YMCA, it was not easy for Naismith to deliver his services as a physical education teacher. He was stuck with a stubborn bunch of students who were only interested in playing indoors so he was instructed to design an easy one.

Naismith made the first game of ‘basket ball’ in 1891 and wrote the formal conditions of the game in which players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball and the goals were a pair of peach baskets.

This newly devised game became popular in the campus of YMCA and the editor-in-chief of ‘The Triangle’ published an article on it—‘A New Game’. It was being discussed to call it ‘Naismith Game’, but Naismith refused this.

In 1893, YMCA movement popularized the game internationally while Naismith went to Denver to earn a degree in medical science and in the following years he went to the University of Kansas after coaching the game at Baker University.

Apart from inventing the game of basketball at Springfield YMCA, Naismith’s major work is considered to be his role of basketball coach at the University of Kansas from 1898-1907. He was the first-ever campus basketball coach.