{"id":9506,"date":"2015-03-13T08:54:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T12:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=9506"},"modified":"2015-03-13T08:54:19","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T12:54:19","slug":"local-ymcas-celebrate-birth-of-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=9506","title":{"rendered":"Local YMCA&#8217;s celebrate birth of basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/TheY-300x227.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1068057\" alt=\"TheY\" src=\"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/TheY-300x227.jpg\" \/><\/a>WEST CHESTER \u2014 In 1891, a YMCA program director named Luther Gulick asked James Naismith, a gym teacher at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., to invent a new indoor sport. Gulick wanted an activity to keep Y directors fit and limber during the winter months. After much trial and error, Naismith decided to hang two peach baskets from the bottom of an elevated running track, posted a list of 13 simple rules, and basketball was born.<\/p>\n<p>The game quickly gained popularity nationwide. The first official rules were published in January 1892, and the rest is hoop history.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Today, James Naismith would be amazed at what his \u201csimple\u201d game has become. Thanks to his imagination, terms like \u201cMarch Madness,\u201d and \u201cFinal Four\u201d are part of America\u2019s collective vocabulary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBasketball is such a great sport for kids and adults,\u201d said Denise L. Day, President and CEO for YMCA of Greater Brandywine. \u201cIt\u2019s fun, it teaches the values of good sportsmanship and teamwork, and it also provides an excellent form of exercise \u2013 all part of the Y\u2019s goal of building healthy spirit, mind and body for all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Martin Luther King, Olympic track star Jesse Owens and baseball legend Jackie Robinson, all honed their athletic skills and built friendships on YMCA basketball courts.<\/p>\n<p>Naismith\u2019s legacy lives on, with every NCAA tournament and at local YMCAs everywhere. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to be part of a tradition that has a lasting impact on people\u2019s lives,\u201d Day said. \u201cToday\u2019s youth-league players may well be tomorrow\u2019s champions \u2014 a wonderful testament to James Naismith and his imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>YMCA of Greater Brandywine will celebrate the invention of basketball with special community events and a \u201cPlay now, pay later\u201d membership offer. Free \u00a0family fun days\u00a0\u200bin celebration of basketball \u200bwill be held on Sunday, March 22 and 29 from noon to 3:00 pm for members and the community.<\/p>\n<p>\u200bEvent locations: Brandywine Y, Coatesville; Jennersville Y, West Grove; Kennett Area Y, Kennett Square; Lionville Y, Exton; Upper Main Line Y, Berwyn and West Chester Area Y, West Chester. \u200b<\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ymcagbw.org\/\">www.ymcagbw.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WEST CHESTER \u2014 In 1891, a YMCA program director named Luther Gulick asked James Naismith, a gym teacher at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., to invent a new indoor sport. Gulick wanted an activity to keep Y directors fit and limber during the winter months. After much trial and error, Naismith decided to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[5155,2959],"class_list":["post-9506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-featured","tag-basketball","tag-ymca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}