Jace LeTourneau
3/6/24
Basketball has had a very long history dating back to 1891. Women began playing the game less than a year after it was invented. After women began playing, people spoke out against it, they couldn’t play in the olympics. An organization known as the WDNAAF was made and even tried to ban women from playing the sport. As the sports popularity grew we started to see more women playing basketball, and even colleges giving out scholarships. This is the history of womens basketball.
Let’s start here. Womens basketball began in the fall of 1892. A young physical culture director known by the name of Senda Berenson, taught basketball to her students thinking the activity would improve their physical health. The director was taking a risk teaching the game to the women. Since women were seen as fraile or incapable it was highly frowned upon if women participated in the sport. So to keep women in the game Berenson taught modified rules. This ade the game easier for the girls to play, and less chance of them getting injured. After a while of fighting the media, the first intercollgiate game was played between Stanford University and the University of California on April 4, 1896. Berenson actually opposed this idea for health reason but the game played on.
It is now the 1900s support for womens basketball is finally rising, this is thanks to the introduction of industrial leagues (teams sponsored by companies for their workers) In 1953 USA took home a gold in the very first international basketball game. Womens basketball was played with modified rules until 1971, then it was the 5-player, full court game we allknow and love today.
The first ever professional league was the Women’s Basketball League (WBL), founded by Bil Byrne with 8 teams. This league lasted 3 season. This was commonly seen for women’s pro basketbal as may leagues formed but quickly faded into irrelevancy. The Ladies Professional Basketball Association was founded with six teams in 1980 but it lasted for less than a month until folding. The Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) was created with 6 teams in 1984, but folded after. The National Women’s Basketball Association (NWBA) founded in 1986, folded the same season.
Finally, there was hope for long time successful professional womens basketball. It wasn’t until the WNBA, established in 1996, that women playing basketball professionally experienced longevity as a league. The first player signed was Sheryl Swoopes, signed to the Houston Comets. Swoopes was the only player in WNBA history to have a three-time regular season MVP and three-time defensive player of the year in their career.
Athletes Unlimited was founded March 3, 2020 as a new model for pro athletes and sports, and has seen major success ever since it was founded. They have multiple categories for women’s pro sports, the most successful being, softball, volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse.
Women’s basketball has been through many ups and downs but over time, we’ve seen major success and improvements in the sport. It is now incredibly successful and still thriving!