In 1908, Prof. E.J. Milne, director of physical activities at the University of Utah, advised the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations on equipping the gymnasiums that were becoming an increasingly important site for young men’s activities:
As basket ball is the greatest of all indoor games in the country, and especially in the state of Utah, I shall describe in brief how (for the annual fee of $5 each for twenty-five men) a well equipped game room can be maintained.
First the room must be secured, I do not count this, nor the lighting or heating as equipment. The room should be as large as possible, especially should the ceiling be high. The rules specify that the basket ball court shall not be larger than thirty-five by seventy feet, (35×70) but does not say it shall not be smaller, in fact, all basket ball court3 in the state at present are smaller. The windows must be screened, or strips of hard wood placed six inches apart to prevent the ball from breaking the glass. The lights must be protected by wire netting, usually a wire waste basket is of sufficient strength to protect the lights.
The room thus provided, the next is the court. The diagram of the courts is simple, and is illustrated in all rule books for basket ball. Two basket ball goals made of iron, the rims being made of the same size steel as a tooth of a hay rake, eighteen inches in diameter, are used; and, in fact, an old hay rake tooth will do nicely where the regular goals cannot be secured. One ring is placed at each end of the court, fastened to a solid back board four by six feet (4×6); the rings or goals are fastened on the back board one foot from the bottom on the back, and project six inches outward. Said goals are placed ten feet above the floor, and iron braces supporting the goal are placed in such a manner as not to interfere with the balls being thrown in the goal when directly under it. Nets for the goals may be made from mason’s twine or small window-cord rope The goals and nets being up, the floor marked off, (according to rule book), the ball is the next consideration. The ball is an inflated rubber bladder with a leather covering. It shall not be more than thirty-two inches nor less than thirty inches in circumference, and shall weigh not more than twenty-one ounces, nor less than eighteen ounces. The ball is blown up tightly by means of a bicycle or air pump, laced up, and is ready for use. We now have the floor, the goals and the ball provided for; the next is the man.
The basket ball equipment consists of rubber-soled shoes, (high tops preferred) long stockings, knee pants, jock strap, and a one-quarter sleeve jersey. The basket ball played in this state, and most all others, is played under the Spalding rules, and as the only house in Utah carrying Spalding goods is the Western Arms and Sporting Goods Company, all balls to be official must come from them. They are located at No. 115 So Main St., Salt Lake City, Utah, and the price of a Spalding official No. M. Ball is $6. The nets and goals combined are also carried by them, and cost $3.75 per pair.
It’s obvious that Prof. Milne was completely ignorant of hockey.
I hate basketball. I had no coordination as a youth and never had any interest in developing it to throw or bounce a ball around. I know as many people who left activity over church basketball than were ever converted through the hoop.
The windows must be screened
I’m not sure when it occurred to people that windows in a basketball arena are a really bad idea, and not because they are breakable. I played in a church tournament in Benson once (very early 70s), where the gym had windows at court level. The glare was so bad, I thought I was playing right field again. (Didn’t seem to bother the other team, though.)
Don’t ask me why I pasted the wrong thing on that first comment. Feel free to delete the quotation, Ardis.
I believe that as an institution, we don’t do a very good job evaluating “downside risk.” While I certainly agree that Grant is right about basketball, it’s probably also true about Scouting, sanitized history lessons, and endless church callings.
Just as the “never once club” YW lessons on chewed gum, and the image of the perfect family probably do some good, but also may be as damaging as they are helpful.
Ugh.
This was extremely entertaining. I found it comforting that the price for the ball is roughly $160 today–makes me feel better about what I paid for one on KSL…
I love basketball, and in fact have been playing regularly all my life, and I am glad that the Church chose it as one of the Purest of True Doctrinal Principals. I am a marginal player, but I am tall, and as a coach once said, you can’t coach height.
I’m with Grant.
This post is going to skew that nicely balanced male/female commenter thing that I was so proud of. 😀
I can only guess at how badly wrong church basketball (or, honestly, any sports) can go, though I believe I may have some guess from having spent at least a couple orders of magnitude more time in the classical music world than in the sports world: lots of practice needed to gain technical competence; feelings of glory unspeakable when you nail it; never felt so close to hell itself as when one person or group of people are excluding another on whatever spurious grounds.
But when it goes right, it can go very, very right.
In my late twenties, I was part of a newly-formed singles ward in the family stake I was attending. They had athletic activites on Wednesday nights, starting at some ridiculously late hour– eight or nine, I forget– and going until eleven. And because I have always been an obedient child, I went– despite being the sort of person who begins to droop at seven, despite hating to be in a crowd, despite the fact that I felt desperately incompetent at the games we were playing. And I have never felt more loved or included in any church activity before or since.
In all fairness, though, I have seen more fights at church basketball games than all of the NHL hockey games I have ever watched on TV.
Most of the young men in my ward were satisfied with basketball every Wednesday night. I had no interest at all. (Same with soccer on my mission in Argentina; I wrote letters on the sideline.)
Interestingly, though, I remember an article about the role Mormons played in introducing basketball in the Philippines: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/peculiarpeople/2014/02/mormons-and-basketball-in-the-philippines/
@2 Grant: Amen.
I actually enjoyed church softball, but basketball I loathe with a white-hot loathing.
Let me take you for a wander down memory lane. Montagu Bay, Tasmania. In 1958, (many… Okay, 10 years before I was born) the Rosny Chapel was dedicated, and great was the celebration thereof. An impressive building, with absolutely amazing views over the Derwent River and the majestic kunanyi/Mount Wellington, it was built by building missionaries and members. My parents married there, my siblings and I were all baptised there, as were my six children by myself (particularly fun with a set of triplets to finish off with!)
If you have Google Maps set in satellite mode, copy this number into the search bar: -42.863157,147.362646
That should put a pointer right in the middle of the courtyard, with cultural Hall and Chapel running West to East along the bottom, The old Relief Society room (now the nursery- with possibly the best views of any LDS nursery in the world) and classrooms run West to East along the top, with primary room and classes beneath, accessed via a set of stairs with the most slippery set of bannisters you can imagine! North to South is a corridor with windows looking out over the massive courtyard westward, and (did I mention the views?), with classrooms and baptismal font you could do laps in! Everything about it (for Aussie chapels at least) was big- except the cultural Hall. It contains the marking lines of a volleyball/badminton court, that barely fit within its confines.
Due to the local growth of the Church, seven years later an even larger building (eventually becoming the Hobart Australia Stake Centre) was built on the other side of the river; it has a larger chapel, backing on to… A basketball court! It has thus ever since been coveted by the majority of members in a state that now consists of two small stakes, and seven chapels of which that is the only one that has an inside court.
I didn’t covet it though (I, too, am with Grant, and have a scar on my chin as a constant reminder of the joys of Stake comps); as youth we survived well without the hoops; I had no love whatsoever of the game, and our ward would more often as not win stake volleyball tournaments. And that courtyard? Many a game of British Bulldog, and stacks on, and soccer, and primary and relief society window-breaking accidents were held in that vast space. It is still a cherished and much-used space, especially loved by the nursery children on warm (and not so warm) summer mornings, “reverently” letting off pent up energy chasing bubbles blown by nursery leaders, and kicking balls around.
In my late teens I found out the truth about why it was such a magnificently sized courtyard. We somehow stumbled upon the original architectural plans to the building… with a “stage two” overlay on it. If the second building hadn’t been built so soon, “stage two” would have been implemented on ours. Our cultural Hall (wonderful for “cosy” youth dances) would have become part of the chapel permanently, and our wonderful courtyard would be replaced with? If you look at the satellite view again, you can probably guess.
Yep. An enclosed roofed basketball court. Ack!
I thank my Father in Heaven for the growth of the membership in our little part of the Vinyard during those years, which resulted in the lack of physical growth of our chapel, the saving of the courtyard, and the wonderful views from that corridor!