Brother James Naismith
Bro James Naismith, born on the 6th November 1861 was a Canadian-born American who invented the game of Basketball. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education in 1888, Bro Naismith became a physical education teacher. In 1891 he became the first director of Athletics at McGill. Before long he left Montreal for a job as the physical education teacher at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the Springfield YMCA, Bro Naismith was met with a challenge. He had a class of rowdy young men, who, unable to go outside in the harsh winter, had become almost uncontrollable. Because of this Naismith's boss directed to come up with a new activity for the young men and gave him only 14 days to create it. The game had to be no contact as Naismith's boss did not want anyone getting hurt. he looked at the popular games at the time including Baseball, Football and Lacrosse. To help with the idea it should be a no contact sport, Bro Naismith decided to put the goals, two peach baskets he attached to the railings, 10 feet above the gym floor. Initially people were allowed to move with the ball, this led to a variety of injuries since people just instinctively tackled the player with the ball. After the first round of injuries, he made it, so the players didn't, they strictly passed the ball. By 1892, the game was already gaining popularity, especially in YMCA facilities. There were calls for the game to be called Naismith Ball, however Bro Naismith refused the honour. Bro Naismith was a member of Russell Lee Lodge in Springfield, Massachusetts. Later he affiliated with Lawrence Lodge No. 6 in Kansas. He was Worshipful Master of Lawrence Lodge from 1927 until 1928. He passed away on the 19th November 1939 aged 78 years old of a major brain haemorrhage and is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Lawrence.
