Three Cheers: Women's basketball

Women's basketball

Origins

When it was introduced in 1901 basketball became the first competitive team sport to be played by Mount Allison women against an outside team.

James Naismith, a graduate of McGill University from Almonte, Ontario, introduced the game of basketball to his students at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Naismith's game was not as rough as other indoor team sports and did not involve body contact. Unlike hockey it was also a more mobile game, requiring a minimal amount of equipment. Basketball allowed for competitive exercise during the winter months and could be played outdoors during the warmer months. In 1892 basketball was brought to YMCA gymnasiums in Montreal and St. Stephen, New Brunswick, by members of Naismith's original class. [1]

The first reference to basketball at Mount Allison occurred in the November 1901 edition of The Argosy. The article stated that Beethoven Hall, a large room within the Conservatory of Music which doubled as the women's gymnasium, was being used for women's basketball "at all recreation hours." [2] Due in part to the minimal equipment needed to play the game, the sport was instantly popular but was played only by women at Mount Allison until 1909. [3] Within a month there was already a match between the University women and students of the Ladies' College. [4] By January 1904 the Ladies' College had first and second basketball teams [5], consisting of six players each, and the women were ready to compete against outside teams.

Women compete

On 9 February 1904 [6] the Ladies' College basketball trip to Saint John was the first excursion by a female team from Mount Allison in any sport. Accompanying the team of six on the CPR train trip to Saint John was a male coach, the Ladies' College piano teacher, and ten supporters. [7] The game played in the YMCA gymnasium at 9:00 p.m. [8] was reported in the Ladies' College student journal The Allisonia (March 1904):

"The Mt. A. players were very nervous at the start as was natural in their first match game, and various things about the hall, notably its shape, the overhanging gallery at the sides, and the different styles of baskets, bothered them considerably, so that the game was all in St. John's favor the first half." [9]

Entering the second half, down 12-4, Mount Allison "began to get accustomed to the hall" and came back to tie the game 14-14. Forward and captain [10] Florence Porter scored more than half of the points for Mount Allison. However, Saint John won the game 16-14 after playing 15 minutes of overtime. Although it was defeated the Mount Allison team was proud of its accomplishment. The Allisonia (March 1904) explained:

"The game was a splendid exhibition of Basket-Ball. If it had one fault, it perhaps consisted in the throwing for free goals, which was a little weak at both ends of the hall. Outside of this, both sides played splendid ball, and the wearers of the garnet and gold think it no disgrace to take defeat in their first match game, by so narrow a margin, at the hands of such a brilliant crowd of players as the St. John girls." [11]

Intercollegiate competition

The level of play of Mount Allison's women's basketball became more consistent and its structure more organized when the Ladies' Amateur Athletic Association (LAAA) took over the sport in 1910. [12] University interclass competition, such as Freshmen versus Sophomores [13], also began. In 1910 competition between the first teams of the University and Ladies' College was given an added incentive when a trophy was provided for the winner. [14]

Through the efforts of the LAAA Mount Allison's first intercollegiate women's basketball game was played in the Ladies' College new gymnasium in the basement of Hart Hall against the University of New Brunswick (UNB) on 2 November 1910. [15] Mount Allison defeated their opponent 19-4. This game pre-dates by ten years the 1920 game between McGill and Queen's University, commonly identified as the first intercollegiate women's basketball match in eastern Canada. [16] It is also interesting to note that half of the Mount Allison match was played according to "Spaulding's Rules" [17],which were the rules the UNB team was used to. The second half was played under rules familiar to the Mount Allison women.

Separate rules

At first the size of the basketball court and rules of play were not standardized. Women's basketball had three different sets of rules by the early 1920s. [18] In 1901 Sendra Berenson, an instructor of physical culture at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, who had organized the first women's collegiate basketball match in the United States in 1893, published her rules for women's basketball in A.G. Spalding's first Basketball Guide for Women. [19] Berenson's rules, commonly referred to as Spalding Rules, became the standard for women's basketball in universities across central and eastern Canada by 1929. [20]

Separate rules were made for women because females were believed to be physiologically weaker than men. [21] Spalding Rules stipulated that a woman's range had to be limited to within one of two or three sections on the court, depending on the size of the court and the age of the player. [22] The men's version permitted full-court play. This version tended to be played by both sexes at YMCAs and in other community leagues outside the control of physical educators in Canada. [23]

Despite enthusiasm for basketball among all women at Mount Allison, an intercollegiate league was not formed, and regular competition with outside teams was limited by a lack of standardized regulations and equipment. In April 1912 a team representing Mount Allison with players from the University and Ladies' College played the "Edelsteins" from Halifax in Sackville. [24] The two teams realized that they played under separate rules, so compromised by playing Halifax rules in the first half and Mount Allison rules in the second half. A similar situation occurred in November 1912 against Acadia University, whose gymnasium in Wolfville was much larger than Mount Allison's. [25]

Decline

Although varsity-level women's basketball at Mount Allison never achieved the promise of its early development, it continued to be a popular game. In October 1914 there were 11 women's basketball teams on campus [26], and the sport rivalled tennis in terms of popularity. [27] However, following the University women's team victory over UNB in November 1914 [28] there were no matches with outside teams throughout the rest of the war years.

Notes

[1] Blood, Sweat, and Cheers : Sport and the Making of Modern Canada, by Colin D. Howell, 2001, p. 35

[2] Argosy, vol. XXVIII, no. 2, Nov. 1901, "Ladies' College Notes," p. 60

[3] Argosy, vol. XXXV (may say vol. XXXVI) no. 7, Apr. 1909, "Academy Notes," p. 279 (first mention of men’s basketball at Mount Allison)

[4] Argosy, vol. XXVIII, no. 3, Dec. 1901, "LC Notes," p. 100

[5] Allisonia, vol. I, no. 2, Jan. 1904, "College Sports," p. 55

[6] Allisonia, vol. I, no. 3, Mar. 1904, p. 90

[7] Allisonia, vol. I, no. 3, Mar. 1904, p. 90

[8] Allisonia, vol. I, no. 3, Mar. 1904, p. 90 (not YWCA)

[9] Allisonia, vol. I, no. 3, Mar. 1904, p. 90

[10] Allisonia, vol. I, no. 2, Jan. 1904, "College Sports," p. 55 (says Miss Palmer elected captain of one of the two basketball teams formed on 23 January)

[11] Allisonia, vol. I, no. 3, Mar. 1904, p. 91

[12] Argosy, vol. XXXVI, no. 6, Mar. 1910, "L.C. Notes," p. 240

[13] Allisonia, vol. VII, no. 4, May 1910, "Sports," p. 115

[14] Argosy, vol. XXXVI, no. 7, Apr. 1910, "L.C. Notes," p. 282

[15] Argosy, vol. XXXVII, no. 2, Nov. 1910, "LC Notes," p. 98

[16] The Girl and the Game : A History of Women's Sport in Canada, by M. Ann Hall, 2002, p. 54

[17] Argosy, vol. XXXVII, no. 2, Nov. 1910, "LC Notes," p. 99 (note: written “Spaulding’s Rules” in article. Article also mentions that “Spaulding’s Rules” traditionally governed rules of play for boys, but The Girl and the Game, by M. Ann Hall, 2002, p. 56 refutes this)

[18] The Girl and the Game, by M. Ann Hall, 2002, pp. 55-6

[19] http://clio.fivecolleges.edu/smith/berenson/

[20] The Girl and the Game, by M. Ann Hall, 2002, p. 56

[21] The Girl and the Game, by M. Ann Hall, p. 56

[22] The Girl and the Game, by M. Ann Hall, p. 56

[23] The Girl and the Game, by M. Ann Hall, pp. 55-6

[24] Allisonia, vol. IX, no. 3, May 1912, "Sports," p. 95

[25] Argosy, vol. XXXIX, no. 2, Nov. 1912, "L.C. notes," p. 125

[26] Argosy, vol. XLI, no. 2, Oct. 1914, "L.C. Notes," p. 49

[27] Argosy, vol. XLI, no. 2, Oct. 1914, "L.C. Notes," p. 49

[28] Argosy, vol. XLI, no. 2, Nov. 1914, "Athletics," pp. 136-41