Informative Essay Mariah

History of Women's Basketball

When i started getting interested in basketball would have to been when i was in the 6th grade and when i first met Shoni.
Shoni is my most biggest inspiration because she's good at basketball, she came off the Rez and she made it to the WNBA.
Shoni played college basketball for the Lousiville Cardinals with her sister Jude. Shoni and Jude were the first Native Americans
to play in the NCAA final four. Shoni in now in the WNBA, she got drafted in April 2014, in the 1st round with the 8th overall
pick by the Atlanta Dream and Jude is a Senior playing for the Cardinals. Women have been playing Basketball as long as the Men
have but the Women dont get as much attention as the Men, and the Women dont get paid as much as the Men do.

History of the Men's and Women's Basketball. Hired a physical education teacher James Naismith, invented a new game
to entertain the school's athletes during the winter season. With an ordinary soccer ball, Naismith assembled his class of 18
young men, appointed captains of two nine-player teams, and introduced them to the game of Basket Ball (then two words).
Naismith, who had outlined 13 original rules, dispatched the school janitor to find two boxes to be fastened to the balcony railing
at opposite sides of the gymnasium, where they would serve as goals. The school janitor, however, only found two half-bushel
peach baskets, and the game was played with these. James Naismith's original 13 rules, the ball could be batted in any direction
with one or both hands, but it could not be dribbled because players could not move with the ball. Beginning in 1910 a player
could dribble the ball, but could not shoot after dribbling. It was not until 1916, following heated debate, that players were
allowed to shoot after dribbling. In 1893 physical education teacher Senda Berenson Abbott introduced basketball to women,
at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Because it was believed that Naismith’s version of the game could be too
physically demanding for women, Berenson Abbott made the following changes to the game.
The court was divided into three
equal sections, with players required to stay in an assigned area; players were prohibited from snatching or batting the ball from
the hands of another player and players were prohibited from holding the ball for longer than three seconds and from dribbling t
he ball more than three times. Women's Basketball started playing basketball after 1 year of the Men's playing Basketball. Dr. James Naismith
invented the game Basketball in Springfield Massachusetts in 1891. Less than a hundred years later girls basketball players can
dunk and play the game with a skill-set that rivals the men’s game, the WNBA. In 1893 The first women's basketball game was
played at Smith College between the freshmen and sophomores. All doors were locked and no men were allowed to watch.

Senda Berenson introduced basketball to the Women in 1892, She read from the rules Naismith's rules but soon she adapted
the rules to make it easier for women to play. She didn't let no Men watch while Women played basketball. Later on she made her
own rule book just for Women to play basketball. Barely 11 months after Berenson introduced the game at Smith, the first official
game between two institutions took place when the University of California-Berkeley played the Miss Head's school. By 1895,
the game was played all across the country, most prominently at Wellesley, Vassar and Bryn Mawr. The rules depended on where it was played.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was established in March 31, 1906. In 1973 it was divided into three divisions for
competition and legislative purposes. An institution in Division II or III may elect to participate in Division I in one sport, other than football
or basketball and must abide by the Division I by laws governing the sport, even though their membership rests in another division.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit association which regulates athletes of institutions, conferences, organizations,
and individuals. It also organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and helps college
student-athletes who compete annually in college sports.

Women's National Basketball Association started April 24, 1996. Val Ackerman is named first president of the WNBA. Houston Comets
forward Sheryl Swoopes becomes the first player signed by the WNBA. 1997 WNBA and Spalding introduce the league’s official orange and
oatmeal game ball during WNBA Pre-Draft Camp at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando. October 1997 The WNBA announces
that franchises in Detroit and Washington will join the fold as expansion teams for the 1998 season. April 1998 The league announces the
addition of expansion teams in Orlando and Minnesota for the 1999 season, bringing the total number of teams to 12.
Some major starts in the WNBA is Shoni Schimmel, she is Guard for the Atlanta Dream and another is Maya Moore, she is a Small forward for the
Minnesota Lynx. Seimone Augustus is a Shooting guard for the Minnesota Lynx.

Works Cited

Melnick, Ralph. Senda Berenson. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007. Print.
Grundy, Pamela & Susan Shackelford. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Print.
Barnes Mildred. Boston: Missouri State University. 1972

Informative Essay Peer Review Mariah

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