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This sport appeared in November 1891 in a college in Springfield, Massachusetts (the USA). The students (were fed up with athletics and football. They wanted a sport they could play indoors, even during cold winters. Luther Gulick, director of the school, didn't I know how to help them. So, he called together all the teachers and spoke to them about the problem. "We must invent a new game".
Among the teachers there was James Naismith, a Lutheran pastor of Canadian origin who taught philosophy and loved sport. Naismith thought about it for a few days and then showed his idea to the director. It was for a ball game, less strenuous and violent than American football, with 13 basic rules.
The director asked for a demonstration. Naismith formed two teams with nine students each and hung two fruit baskets at the ends of the gymnasium. Every time a student succeeded in getting the ball in the basket he earned two points for his team and the caretaker came with a ladder to get the ball out.
The students and the public enjoyed themselves very much. The director was satisfied. All winter, the students in the college played amongst themselves, and then they began to involve the students from nearby schools.A new sport was born: basketball.
The basket is made of an orange-coloured iron circle with a white string net. The circle, which has an internal diameter of 45 centimetres is attached to a pole so that it is 3,5 metres from the ground.
The shoes are made from soft leather and synthetic materials.
Nowadays they incorporate very efficient shock-absorbing systems.
The court measures 28 x 15metres. Normally the surface is parquet. A circle 1,8 metres in diameter marks the exact centre of the court. The twin areas under each basket define the limits for aiming at the basket and for stopping. The line which divides the two small circles is the free throw line and from here to the basket is the three-second zone.
The first masculine world cup is conducted in 1950th, and in 1953 — woman. Now conducted every four years. Prestige competitions among the collapsible commands of countries are the Olympic games, World Cup from basketball
Cписок використаних джерел : 1.Науково – методичний журнал “ Англійська мова та література ” № 5(195)лютий 2008р. 2.Інтернет ресурси :uk.wikipedia.org