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116-476: The Upstate Dragons were a professional indoor football team based out of Anderson, South Carolina , and played their home games at Anderson Sports and Entertainment Center in the 2018 season. They were members of Supreme Indoor Football as a travel team in 2017 and the American Arena League in 2018. The team was first announced to be based out of Greenville, South Carolina , and called

232-418: A touchdown , but stops after an extra point or two-point conversion attempt. If a quarter ends as a touchdown is scored, an untimed conversion attempt takes place. The play clock is 30 seconds, starting at the end of the previous play. In all arenas, the final minute of the period is measured in tenths of a second. Prior to the 2018 season, during the final minute of the fourth quarter, the clock stopped if

348-515: A "dead" player may participate on kickoffs, or as long snapper or holder. In 2006, the AFL changed its substitution rules such that free substitutions were allowed on all kickoffs. The most significant change was the introduction of free substitution , the so-called " Elway Rule". Previously, AFL coaches were limited to one substitution per position per quarter. From 2007 to 2019 and come 2024 , coaches can substitute players at will. The rationale

464-435: A 15-minute halftime ( ArenaBowl has a 30-minute interval). Teams are allowed three timeouts per half, and two per overtime period if regulation ends tied. Teams must use a timeout if there's an injury inside a half-minute left in regulation or overtime; exception applies to when team has no timeouts, and this occurs, they're granted an extra timeout. The clock stops for out-of-bounds plays, incomplete passes, or sacks only in

580-477: A University of Kansas alumnus and basketball enthusiast, went on a crusade in 2010 to persuade moneyed alumni to consider bidding on and hopefully winning the document at auction to give it to the University of Kansas. Swade eventually persuaded David G. Booth , a billionaire investment banker and KU alumnus, and his wife Suzanne Booth, to commit to bidding at the auction. The Booths won the bidding and purchased

696-660: A certain level of stability, however. The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) began in 2001 and was the most successful league in the early 2000s. The Indoor Football League (IFL) began in the autumn of 2008 when two already-established leagues (the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football ) chose to merge into a single organization. The IFL's expansion model has been based less on establishing new teams and more on acquiring existing teams from other leagues. The IFL has 16 teams as of 2024. Other, regional leagues include Champions Indoor Football (CIF),

812-580: A coaching career that would lead him to be known as "the Father of Basketball Coaching". During his time at Kansas, Allen coached Dean Smith (1952 National Championship team) and Adolph Rupp (1922 Helms Foundation National Championship team). Smith and Rupp have joined Naismith and Allen as members of the Basketball Hall of Fame . By the turn of the century, enough college teams were in the East that

928-508: A few team names and logos owned by outside parties, in a December 2009 bankruptcy auction. Shortly after the purchase, AF1 adopted the Arena Football League name, and the AFL relaunched in 2010 . The "iron man" rule, requiring at least six of the eight players to play on both offense and defense, was dropped, but most other past AFL rules remained unchanged. The relaunched league saw franchises return and renewed interest, but by

1044-507: A field that was identical in size to a standard North American ice hockey rink, 200 by 85 feet (61 m × 26 m). This resulted in the field being 50 yards long (half of the length of a standard American football field) with eight-yard end zones (which may, if necessary, be curved in the end zones as hockey rinks are), and the field being slightly over half as wide as a standard football field. Foster adopted short-pile artificial turfs (which were then standard) such as AstroTurf for

1160-463: A free-for-all in the middle of the gym floor. [The injury toll: several black eyes, one separated shoulder, and one player knocked unconscious.] It certainly was murder. [Naismith changed some of the rules as part of his quest to develop a clean sport.] The most important one was that there should be no running with the ball. That stopped tackling and slugging. We tried out the game with those [new] rules (fouls), and we didn't have one casualty. Naismith

1276-417: A hockey rink; this is much like some Canadian football fields where the end zones can be cut off by a track). Each sideline has a heavily padded barrier, with the padding placed over the hockey dasher boards. The goalpost uprights are 9 feet (2.7 m) wide, and the crossbar is 15 feet (4.6 m) above the playing surface. Taut rebound nets on either side of the posts bounce any missed field goals back into

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1392-634: A howling success. The men had no trouble in catching punts, and football was played on its merits, without the handicaps of a wet field or a strong wind. Toward the end of the second half it got very dark, and the spectators were treated to a novelty in the shape of football by electric light." Although both critically and commercially successful, the Coliseum was destroyed in a fire less than two years after its opening, and its replacement could not accommodate an American football field. Later, at Madison Square Garden in 1902 and 1903, there were games known as

1508-503: A losing record (55–60). However, Naismith coached Forrest "Phog" Allen , his eventual successor at Kansas, who went on to join his mentor in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame . When Allen became a coach himself and told him that he was going to coach basketball at Baker University in 1904, Naismith discouraged him: "You can't coach basketball; you just play it." Instead, Allen embarked on

1624-466: A major network television broadcasting contract with NBC , and eventually launched an official minor league , af2 , beginning in 2000. This effort basically served two purposes: one as a developmental league for the AFL, and as a place where former collegiate players could develop while at the same time learning and becoming accustomed to the unique arena rules, and secondly as a pre-emptive way of shutting out potential new indoor football competitors (this

1740-472: A new ownership group that had acquired the league's trademarks and social media accounts announced another revival of the league, which began play in 2024. On May 12, 2024, kicker Melissa Strother made an extra point while playing for the Washington Wolfpack , making her the first female player to score a point in the league. Other indoor football leagues have been formed, without the use of

1856-420: A newspaper account, the field grew dark in the second half, and play was halted for ten minutes to discuss whether play should continue. Play was resumed, and the lights were finally turned on after Michigan scored a touchdown. The press proclaimed the experiment in indoor football to be a success: One thing at least was settled by the game, and that is, that indoor football is literally and figuratively speaking

1972-536: A non-traditional (spring-summer) season, was in operation in 1983–1985. When the USFL ceased operations, Foster saw his opportunity. He staged a "test" game in Rockford, Illinois in 1986 and put together a four-team league for a "demonstration season" in the spring of 1987, with games televised on ESPN . Foster had to adopt a field that would fit within the smaller playing surfaces found in most arenas and thus created

2088-426: A pole so a large ball could be thrown into them. In his attempt to think up a new game, Naismith was guided by three main thoughts. Firstly, he analyzed the most popular games of the times (rugby, lacrosse, soccer , football, hockey , and baseball ); Naismith noticed the hazards of a ball and concluded that the big, soft soccer ball was safest. Secondly, he saw that most physical contact occurred while running with

2204-585: A professorship; he served as the de facto athletic director at Kansas for much of the early 20th century. Naismith had "strong feelings against segregation ," dating back to his World War I-era service in France and his service on the United States-Mexico border, and he strove for progress in race relations through modest steps. During the 1930s, he would not or could not get African-Americans onto Kansas' varsity Jayhawks, but he did help engineer

2320-402: A punt striking the ceiling. The end zones were slightly shorter—eight yards instead of the standard ten (coincidentally, the eight-yard endzone length is the standard in modern indoor football). While several attempts to create a true indoor football game have been made since shortly after American football was developed, the first version to meet with relatively widespread success and acceptance

2436-472: A radio interview in January 1939, Naismith gave more details of the first game and the initial rules that were used: I showed them two peach baskets I'd nailed up at each end of the gym, and I told them the idea was to throw the ball into the opposing team's peach basket. I blew a whistle, and the first game of basketball began ... The boys began tackling, kicking, and punching in the clinches. They ended up in

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2552-402: A result, he started the effort to bring a Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter to his University of Kansas (KU). On February 18, 1923, Naismith, intending to bring a SigEp Chapter to KU, was initiated as a SigEp member by national office of the fraternity. Under Naismith's leadership, the University of Kansas Sigma Phi Epsilon Chapter was founded and officially Charted on April 28, 1923, with Naismith leading

2668-731: A rock , a medieval game in which a person guards a large drake stone from opposing players, who try to knock it down by throwing smaller stones at it. To play duck on a rock most effectively, Naismith soon found that a soft lobbing shot was far more effective than a straight hard throw, a thought that later proved essential for the invention of basketball. Orphaned early in his life, Naismith lived with his aunt and uncle for many years and attended grade school at Bennies Corners near Almonte. Then, he enrolled in Almonte High School, in Almonte, Ontario, from which he graduated in 1883. In

2784-469: A rock . For this purpose, Naismith asked a janitor to find a pair of boxes, but the janitor brought him peach baskets instead. Naismith christened this new game Basket Ball and put his thoughts together in 13 basic rules . The first game of "Basket Ball" was played in December 1891. In a handwritten report, Naismith described the circumstances of the inaugural match; in contrast to modern basketball,

2900-585: A three- or four-point stance at the start of the snap. Two defenders serve as linebackers , called the Mac and the Jack. The Mac may blitz from the side of the line opposite the offensive Tight End. The Jack's role has changed after new rules set in place by the league in 2008. The Jack cannot blitz, but under new, more defense-friendly rules, the Jack Linebacker may roam sideline to sideline within five yards of

3016-477: A time from a 21-man active roster. Before 2007, players played both offense and defense except for the Quarterback , Kicker , and Offensive Specialist (Wide Receiver/Running Back combination) and two Defensive Specialists (Defensive Backs). If a player enters and leaves, from the moment he leaves the player is considered "dead" and cannot return to play until the designated time is served. Exception:

3132-556: A year during the 1930s; the stadium stopped hosting games in 1940 and did not resume hosting football games until 1961. In the 1960s, the Boardwalk Bowl , a post-season game involving small college teams, was contested at the convention center. The Bowl was an attempt to make Atlantic City more of a year-round resort in the pre-gambling era as opposed to a single-season one (the Miss America Pageant , also held at

3248-474: Is 17,000 square feet (1,600 m )). The scrimmage area is 50 yards (46 m) long (unlike the field in NFL which is 100 yards (91 m) long), and each end zone is approximately 8 yards deep, two yards less than the standard 10 yards. Depending on the venue in which a game is being played, the end zones may be rectangular (like a basketball court) or, where necessary because of the building design, rounded (like

3364-494: Is ahead after one possession wins. If the teams are tied after each has had a possession, true sudden death rules apply thereafter. Each overtime period is 15 minutes, and continues from the ending of the previous overtime period until the tie is broken. All overtimes thereafter are true sudden death; no games can be tied. This includes both games of all semifinal series. James Naismith James Naismith ( NAY-smith ; November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939)

3480-480: Is ironically the only losing coach in Kansas history. Naismith is at the beginning of a massive and prestigious coaching tree, as he coached Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Phog Allen , who himself coached Hall of Fame coaches Dean Smith , Adolph Rupp , and Ralph Miller who all coached future coaches as well. In addition to Allen, Naismith also can be seen as a mentor and therefore beginning for

3596-403: Is kicked off from the goal line, to start the halves and odd overtimes, or after any score. The team with the ball is given four downs to gain ten yards or score. Punting is illegal because of the size of the playing field, however, a field goal that either misses wide (therefore bouncing off the nets surrounding the goalposts) or falls short, may be returned. Thus an impossibly long field goal

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3712-449: Is most recently known as American Indoor Football (AIF) went through three names and two ownership changes in its first three seasons. Several other indoor leagues have been announced without ever actually commencing play, or operating only briefly with a handful of teams. Some were claimed attempts to form a second "major" league of indoor football while others were strictly efforts to form a new "minor" league. A few leagues have achieved

3828-434: Is played exclusively indoors, in arenas usually designed for either basketball or ice hockey teams. The field is the same width 85 feet (26 m) and length 200 feet (61 m) as a standard NHL hockey rink, making it approximately 30% of the dimensions of a regular American gridiron football field , and 19% of a Canadian gridiron football field (the total playing area, including the end zones of an Arena football field

3944-413: Is tantamount to a punt in other football variants. A receiver jumping to catch a pass needs to get only one foot down in bounds for the catch to be ruled a completed catch, just as in college football . Practically, this means that one foot must touch the ground before the receiver is pushed into the boards by an opposing player. Passes that bounce off the rebound nets remain "live." Balls that bounce off

4060-954: The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin , as well as the birth of the National Invitation Tournament (1938) and the NCAA Tournament (1939). Naismith studied and taught physical education at McGill University in Montreal until 1890, before moving to Springfield, Massachusetts , United States later that year, where in 1891 he designed the game of basketball while he was teaching at the International YMCA Training School . Seven years after inventing basketball, Naismith received his medical degree in Denver in 1898. He then arrived at

4176-786: The Amateur Athletic Union on January 16, 1889. The first documented indoor football game was an exhibition between the Springfield YMCA Training School and a Yale Senior Class team played on December 12, 1890, at Madison Square Garden II . James Naismith scored a touchdown for Springfield, though Yale won the exhibition 16–10. The following day a second exhibition game was played, with Pennsylvania defeating Rutgers 20–12. The field at Madison Square Garden measured 260 feet (79 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide. The first documented indoor regulation football games were those played at

4292-805: The American Arena League (AAL) and National Arena League (NAL). Both CIF and the AAL were formed by mergers of existing leagues. The CIF was formed from a merger of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League and the Lone Star Football League in 2015. The AAL was formed in late 2017 as the combination of three leagues that each played one season: the Can-Am Indoor Football League , Arena Pro Football , and Supreme Indoor Football . Champions Indoor Football merged with

4408-545: The Chicago Coliseum in the late 1890s. The first such game matched Michigan against Chicago on Thanksgiving Day 1896. The match was "the first collegiate game of football played under a roof." Adding to the novelty, as daylight turned to darkness, the field inside the Coliseum was lit with electric lighting. With seven acres of floor space, the sprawling Coliseum is believed to have not needed any compromises to accommodate an American football field. According to

4524-973: The Naismith College Player of the Year , the Naismith College Coach of the Year , and the Naismith Prep Player of the Year . After the Olympic introduction to men's basketball in 1936, women's basketball became an Olympic event in Montreal during the 1976 Summer Olympics . Naismith was also inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame , the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame ,

4640-997: The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame , the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, the McGill University Sports Hall of Fame, the Kansas State Sports Hall of Fame, FIBA Hall of Fame . The FIBA Basketball World Cup trophy is named the "James Naismith Trophy" in his honor. On June 21, 2013, Naismith was inducted into the Kansas Hall of Fame during ceremonies in Topeka. Naismith's home town of Almonte, Ontario , hosts an annual 3-on-3 tournament for all ages and skill levels in his honor. Every year, this event attracts hundreds of participants and involves over 20 half-court games along

4756-613: The United States , for the gold medal, Canada , for the silver medal, and Mexico , for their bronze medal. During the Olympics, he was named the honorary president of the International Basketball Federation . When Naismith returned, he commented that seeing the game played by many nations was the greatest compensation he could have received for his invention. In 1937, Naismith played a role in

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4872-550: The University of Kansas , later becoming the Kansas Jayhawks ' athletic director and coach. While a coach at Kansas, Naismith coached Phog Allen , who later became the coach at Kansas for 39 seasons, beginning a lengthy and prestigious coaching tree . Allen then went on to coach legends including Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith , among others, who themselves coached many notable players and future coaches. Naismith

4988-517: The YMCA physical director training program that had brought him to Springfield, Naismith was hired as a full-time faculty member in 1891. At the Springfield YMCA, Naismith struggled with a rowdy class that was confined to indoor games throughout the harsh New England winter, and thus was perpetually short-tempered. Under orders from Luther Gulick , head of physical education there, Naismith

5104-585: The " World Series of Pro Football ." The games were played on a 70-yard by 35-yard dirt field but otherwise adhered to outdoor rules. Poor attendance led to the tournament being discontinued after two years. The Chicago Bears of the National Football League hosted an experimental game against their crosstown rivals, the Cardinals , after the 1930 NFL season , at the indoor Chicago Stadium . Two years later, poor weather conditions led to

5220-554: The "deuce": if a kickoff goes through the uprights, the kicking team receives two points. This rule had previously been in effect in the IFL and the NAL . The league also instituted the rouge / single , as used in the CFL , whereby, on a kickoff, the kicking team receives one point if the receiving team fails to bring the ball out of its own end zone. After scoring a touchdown, the scoring team has

5336-429: The 10-yard line after any touchdown, if they want to. Any kickoff that goes through the uprights is scored as a "deuce", or two points. Four offensive players must be on the line of scrimmage at the snap ; one of the linemen must declare himself the tight end . One offensive player may be moving forward at the time of the snap as long as he has not yet crossed the line of scrimmage. Three defensive players must be in

5452-543: The 20th century. Basketball player Michael Jordan came in first in the ESPN poll and second (behind Babe Ruth ) in the AP poll. Both polls featured fellow basketball players Wilt Chamberlain (of KU, like Naismith) and Bill Russell in the top 20. The original rules of basketball written by James Naismith in 1891, considered to be basketball's founding document, was auctioned at Sotheby's, New York, in December 2010. Josh Swade ,

5568-636: The Bears hosting the 1932 NFL Playoff Game against the Portsmouth Spartans (now the Detroit Lions ) at the stadium. A dirt and tanbark field measuring 80 yards long (60 yards plus two ten-yard end zones ) and 45 yards wide was constructed on the arena's floor. The Chicago Stadium games were notable for introducing several rule changes, including the introduction of hash marks to keep play away from spectators who were seated next to

5684-631: The Debruce Center, which houses the rules and opened in March 2016. Naismith was designated a National Historic Person in 1976, on the advice of the national Historic Sites and Monuments Board In 1991, postage stamps commemorated the centennial of basketball's invention: four stamps were issued by Canada Post , including one with Naismith's name; one stamp was issued by the US Postal Service . Another Canadian stamp, in 2009, honored

5800-752: The Dragons left the SIF and joined the new American Arena League (AAL) for its inaugural season. The team had their first home game on March 31, 2018, against the Austin Wild, and AAL affiliated traveling team that had also come from the SIF where it had been known as the Cap City Bulls. The Dragons lost 51–50. The Dragons got their first win against another AAL traveling team, the Peach State Cats , on April 7. The AAL had many canceled games during

5916-473: The Greenville Dragons. The team started using "Upstate" when they instead became a traveling team as a member of Supreme Indoor Football (SIF) for the 2017 season. The SIF recorded the Dragons had played six games, all losses, and finished last in the four-team league. After their first traveling season, the Dragons moved to Anderson when they got an arena lease for the 2018 season. At that time,

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6032-492: The Spalding Athletic Library official basketball rule book for 1893–1894. The University of Kansas men's basketball program officially began following Naismith's arrival in 1898, seven years after Naismith drafted the sport's first official rules. Naismith was not initially hired to coach basketball, but rather as a chapel director and physical-education instructor. In those early days, the majority of

6148-525: The Springfield college newspaper) featured it in an article called "A New Game", and there were calls to call this new game "Naismith Ball", but Naismith refused. By 1893, basketball was introduced internationally by the YMCA movement. From Springfield, Naismith went to Denver, where he acquired a medical degree, and in 1898, he joined the University of Kansas faculty at Lawrence . The family of Lambert G. Will, disputing Naismith's sole creation of

6264-603: The X cup (formerly Legends Cup and Lingerie Bowl), the LFL played a variant of indoor rules with most of its games in indoor stadiums, although a few teams experimented with playing in outdoor stadiums. The league's brief foray into Australia was played in outdoor stadiums; these teams nevertheless played under indoor football rules. All other women's leagues play on outdoor fields with outdoor rules; there have been several other attempts to form indoor women's football leagues, but none have made it to play. As its name implies, arena football

6380-412: The admission of black students to the university's swimming pool . Until then, they had been given automatic passing grades on a required swimming test without entering the pool, so it could remain all-white. Through Naismith's association with Baker University Basketball Coach Emil Liston, he became familiar and impressed with Emil Liston's fraternity at Baker University, Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp). As

6496-425: The ball, dribbling, or hitting it, so he decided that passing was the only legal option. Finally, Naismith further reduced body contact by making the goal unguardable by placing it high above the player's heads with the plane of the goal's opening parallel to the floor. This placement forced the players to score goals by throwing a soft, lobbing shot like that which had proven effective in his old favorite game, duck on

6612-403: The basketball games were played against nearby YMCA teams, with YMCAs across the nation having played an integral part in the birth of basketball. Other common opponents were Haskell Indian Nations University and William Jewell College . Under Naismith, the team played only one current Big 12 school: Kansas State (once). Naismith is, ironically, the only coach in the program's history to have

6728-405: The bulletin board just behind the instructor's platform, secured a soccer ball, and awaited the arrival of the class ... The class did not show much enthusiasm, but followed my lead ... I then explained what they had to do to make goals, tossed the ball up between the two center men and tried to keep them somewhat near the rules. Most of the fouls were called for running with the ball, though tackling

6844-438: The center, likewise began as an attempt to extend the season beyond Labor Day). The Atlantic Coast Football League played its inaugural championship game at the convention center in 1962, but the game only drew 2,000 fans and the game would thereafter move to the home stadium of the team with the best regular season record. The Philadelphia -based Liberty Bowl game, which had been played at Municipal Stadium from 1959 to 1963,

6960-444: The coaching tree branches of John McLendon who wasn't permitted to play at Kansas but was close to Naismith during his time as an athletic director. Amos Alonzo Stagg , was primarily a football coach, but he did play basketball for Naismith in Springfield, coached a year of basketball at Chicago and had several football players who also coached basketball such as Jesse Harper , Fred Walker and Tony Hinkle . Naismith invented

7076-466: The defensive team for two points. Coaches are given two challenges per game, as in the NFL; to challenge, they must throw their red flag before the next play. If the play stands as called after review, the challenging team loses a timeout. If a team wins both challenges used, a third is granted. Video review is automatic in the final half-minute of regulation, all overtime periods, and all scoring plays and turnovers. A game has four 15-minute quarters with

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7192-508: The document for a record US$ 4,338,500, the most ever paid for a sports memorabilia item, and gave the document to the University of Kansas. Swade's project and eventual success are chronicled in a 2012 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary "There's No Place Like Home" and in a corresponding book, The Holy Grail of Hoops: One Fan's Quest to Buy the Original Rules of Basketball . The University of Kansas constructed an $ 18 million building named

7308-559: The end of the 2017 season, almost all of the league's teams had either folded or moved to other leagues, with only the Philadelphia Soul having existed prior to 2016. Five expansion teams, all in the Mid-Atlantic United States , were established over the next two years, before the league announced after the 2019 season that it was dissolving in a second Chapter 7 bankruptcy. However, on February 1, 2023,

7424-685: The fewest schedule conflicts (only competing with touring stadium rock concerts). The spring schedule has since been adopted by virtually all other professional indoor leagues as of 2010. Within a year of the AFL kicking off, its first challenger, the World Indoor Football League formed. The WIFL planned to play a schedule with six teams beginning in summer of 1988 with its own set of indoor-inspired rules, including an unusual system that would have eight men on offense and seven men on defense. Despite having backing from former NFL players, veteran coaches, and singer John Mellencamp ,

7540-514: The field (much like modern indoor football), while goal posts were moved to the goal line. To compensate for the smaller field, teams were "penalized" 20 yards upon crossing midfield. (The Bears' official Web site goes further and claims that field goals were outlawed for the 1932 game.) In 1930, the Atlantic City Convention Center constructed a nearly full-size indoor football field, and used it for one to three games

7656-399: The field because of its ability to be easily rolled up when the arena is being used for other sports. Foster adopted a modified version of eight-man football . He also mandated a one-platoon system that required at least six players to play on both offensive and defensive downs. This had the added desirable effect of limiting team payrolls. There were numerous other rules designed to help

7772-402: The field of play. The ball is "live" when rebounding off these nets or their support apparatus. The entire goalframe and goalside rebound net system is suspended on cables from the rafters. The bottom of the two goalside rebound nets are 8 feet (2.4 m) off the playing surface. Each netframe is 32 feet (9.8 m) high by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide. A player is not counted as out of bounds on

7888-581: The first McGill director of athletics, but then left Montreal to study at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts . Naismith played football during his one year as a student at Springfield, where he was coached by Amos Alonzo Stagg and scored a touchdown in the first exhibition of indoor college football at Madison Square Garden . Naismith is credited with inventing basketball. Naismith

8004-479: The first intercollegiate competitions could be played out. Although the sport continued to grow, Naismith long regarded the game as a curiosity and preferred gymnastics and wrestling as better forms of physical activity. However, basketball became a demonstration sport at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis . As the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame reports, Naismith was not interested in self-promotion nor

8120-557: The formation of the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball, which later became the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Naismith became professor emeritus at Kansas when he retired in 1937 at the age of 76. In addition to his years as a coach, for a total of almost 40 years, Naismith worked at the school and during those years, he also served as its athletic director and

8236-519: The game of basketball and wrote the original 13 rules of this sport; for comparison, the NBA rule book today features 66 pages. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, is named in his honor, and he was an inaugural inductee in 1959. The National Collegiate Athletic Association rewards its best players and coaches annually with the Naismith Awards , among them

8352-549: The game's invention. In July 2019, Naismith was inducted into Toronto's Walk of Fame . On January 15, 2021, Google placed a Google Doodle celebrating James Naismith on its home page in 18 countries, on five continents. Naismith was the second child of two Scottish immigrants. His father left Europe when he was 18, and also settled down in Lanark County. On June 20, 1894, Naismith married his wife in Springfield, Massachusetts . The couple had five children. He

8468-413: The game, has claimed that Naismith borrowed components for the game of basketball from Will, citing alleged photos and letters. In an interview, the family did give Naismith credit for the general idea of the sport, but they claimed Will changed aspects of Naismith's original plans for the game and Naismith took credit for the changes. Spalding worked with Naismith to develop the official basketball and

8584-529: The last half-minute of regulation or overtime (there is only a half-minute warning , as opposed to the two-minute warning in the XFL /NFL and the three-minute warning in the CFL) or because of penalties, injuries or timeouts . The clock also stops for any change in possession, until the ball is marked ready for play; for example, aside from the final half-minute of regulation or overtime, time continues to run down after

8700-490: The league administrators and team owners had allowed player salaries and other costs to rise to the point where the league and many of the teams were losing a substantial amount of money. Late in the summer of 2009, with the team owners unable to agree on a plan for making the league viable again the AFL announced that it was folding, eventually putting its assets up in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. The developmental af2, however, played its 2009 season as scheduled. Most of

8816-453: The league canceled its 1988 season, folded half of its franchises (including Mellencamp's), and made an unsuccessful bid for the remaining three teams to join the AFL; the WIFL never played a single game. In 1990, Foster patented the rules of arena football, meaning that only persons authorized by him could use his rules and his name for the sport. While the AFL asserted throughout the 1990s that

8932-403: The league had actively promoted for 20 seasons, and that the change took away a key component of what made arena football a distinctive sport. The iteration of the league that began play in 2024 restored the "ironman" rules at the beginning of the season. After the league reorganized, the league abandoned ironman play and restored free substitution; unlike in 2007, the reason for the 2024 change

9048-494: The league's inaugural season, and Terrell Owens joining the following year ( Michael Vick was also announced as a player midseason but would not play). FCF suspended operations following the 2022 season. The best-known indoor women's football league is the X League (formerly known as the Legends Football League, and Lingerie Football League ). Known for its scantily-clad players and its signature event,

9164-460: The line of scrimmage and drop into coverage once the Quarterback pump fakes . (Before this rule, the Jack could not drop back into coverage until the ball is thrown or the quarterback is no longer in the pocket , and the Jack had to stay within the box designated by the outside shoulders of the offensive line , the line of scrimmage, and five yards back from the line of scrimmage.) The ball

9280-433: The line of scrimmage, while defensive linemen were hindered by restrictions that prevented them from using certain techniques to penetrate the offensive line. Quarterbacks and placekickers were exempt from the one-platoon system, allowing two key scoring positions to be more specialized. The AFL also adopted the USFL's concept of playing in the late spring and summer, since this is when most hockey and basketball arenas have

9396-486: The main street of the town. All proceeds of the event go to youth basketball programs in the area. Today basketball is played by more than 300 million people worldwide, making it one of the most popular team sports. In North America, basketball has produced some of the most-admired athletes of the 20th century. ESPN and the Associated Press both conducted polls to name the greatest North American athlete of

9512-426: The man with the ball was not uncommon." In contrast to modern basketball, the original rules did not include what is known today as the dribble . Since the ball could only be moved up the court by a pass early players tossed the ball over their heads as they ran up court. Also following each "goal", a jump ball was taken in the middle of the court. Both practices are obsolete in the rules of modern basketball . In

9628-552: The new 40-member fraternity as "Chapter Counselor." Naismith was deeply involved with the members, serving as Chapter Counselor for 16 years, from 1923 until his death in 1939. During those 16 years as Chapter Counselor, he married SigEp's housemother, Mrs. Florence Kincaid. Members who were interviewed during that era remembered Naismith: "He was deeply religious", "He listened more than he spoke", "He thought sports were nothing but an avenue to keep young people involved so they could do their studies and relate to their community", and "It

9744-424: The new Arena Football League prior to 2024. Fan Controlled Football launched in 2021 following an interactive format inspired by video games, with "power-ups" and fans voting on plays. It generally targeted a higher caliber of player than the typical indoor league, with outdoor football veterans such as Johnny Manziel , Robert Turbin , Quinton Flowers , Quinn Porter , Shawn Oakman and Josh Gordon playing in

9860-410: The offense and ensure high-scoring games: To further an offensive passing advantage over the defense, Foster also imposed strict restrictions on the defensive formation, mandating that all defenses were required to play a 3-2-Monster formation with three defensive linemen, two linebackers, two cornerbacks, and one safety. Linebackers were not permitted to blitz and were required to stay in boxes behind

9976-425: The offensive team had the lead and did not advance the ball past the line of scrimmage. This prevented the "victory formation" (the offensive team merely kneeling down), or running other plays that are designed solely to exhaust the remaining time rather than to advance the ball downfield. This rule was eliminated in the interest of player safety. In the first overtime , each team gets one possession to score. Whoever

10092-468: The option of attempting a four-point conversion (akin to the three-point conversion seen in the UFL and its predecessors) from the opponent's ten-yard line, alongside the existing extra point and two-point conversion options. The rule was carried over as part of a pre-launch merger with Champions Indoor Football . Teams may go for two points from the 2.5-yard line, three from the 5-yard line, or four from

10208-498: The padded walls that surround the field are "live"; the end zone walls were not live until the 2006 season. Come 2025 gunners must line up on their own 20-yard line on kickoffs, with one receiving player fielding from the end zone. The scoring is the same as in the NFL with the addition of a drop kick field goal worth four points during normal play or two points as a post-touchdown conversion . Blocked extra points and turnovers on two-point conversion attempts may be returned by

10324-564: The patent covered virtually every aspect of the game (from the 50-yard field to the eight-man format), a 1998 lawsuit ( Arena Football League v. Professional Indoor Football League ) established that the patent specifically covered the rebound net feature, meaning that competitors could not use this aspect of the rules. However, under provisions of U.S. patent law , Foster's patent expired on March 27, 2007, enabling competitors to use rebound nets (at least as originally envisioned, without other innovations that he may have patented). The AFL signed

10440-553: The patent expired like the National Arena League have used rebound nets, while other leagues such as the Indoor Football League and American Indoor Football opt to not use them. The first demonstration of football on a small field was actually played outdoors at the original open-air Madison Square Garden . Using nine-man sides , Pennsylvania defeated Rutgers 10–0 at the annual meeting of

10556-407: The players played nine versus nine, handled a soccer ball, not a basketball, and instead of shooting at two hoops, the goals were a pair of peach baskets: "When Mr. Stubbins brot [ sic ] up the peach baskets to the gym I secured them on the inside of the railing of the gallery. This was about 10 feet [3.0 meters] from the floor, one at each end of the gymnasium. I then put the 13 rules on

10672-626: The rebound nets at the ends of the field. Like the AFL, their playing seasons are entirely or primarily outside the traditional fall/early winter season of the outdoor sport so as not to be competing with it directly for fan support. Since the first such league, the Professional Indoor Football League, began play in the 1998, there has often been a pattern of instability. Each off-season has seen teams jumping from league to league. In addition, leagues have annually merged, changed names, and separated. The organization that

10788-439: The same size field and most other aspects of the game. Arena football is distinguished from the other indoor leagues by its use of large rebound nets attached to the side of each goalpost, which keep any missed field goal or overthrown ball in the field of play and allow the ball to remain live; the rebound nets were the only part of the patent that was upheld until it expired. As a result, some non-AFL arena leagues that formed after

10904-432: The same year, Naismith entered McGill University in Montreal . Although described as a slight figure, standing 5 feet 10 + 1 ⁄ 2  inches (1.791 m) and listed at 178 pounds (81 kg) he was a talented and versatile athlete, representing McGill in football , lacrosse , rugby , soccer , and gymnastics . He played centre on the football team, and made himself some padding to protect his ears. It

11020-499: The same: "Over 200 spectators crammed their necks over the gallery railing of the Christian Workers gymnasium while they watched the game of 'basket ball' between the teachers and the students. The most conspicuous figure on the floor was Stagg in the blue Yale uniform who managed to have a hand in every scrimmage." By 1892, basketball had grown so popular on campus that Dennis Horkenbach (editor-in-chief of The Triangle ,

11136-599: The season, leading to several reschedules, but when the Florida Tarpons decided to end their season early by not traveling for anymore away games, the Dragons also backed out of playing in the Tarpons' last home game for May 26. The following week, the Dragons canceled their own home game, again against the Wild, citing injuries to its roster. By June 2, the organization announced they would also cancel their final game of

11252-643: The season. The team was removed from the AAL following the 2018 season. Indoor American football Three leagues have played under official arena football rules: the Arena Football League , which played 32 seasons in two separate runs from 1987 to 2008 and 2010 to 2019; arenafootball2 , the AFL's erstwhile developmental league , which played 10 seasons from 2000 through 2009; and the China Arena Football League , which played two abbreviated seasons in 2016 and 2019 but

11368-402: The sidelines unless he is pushed into or falls over the sideline barrier. This rule was put in place before the 2006 season. Before that time, a sideline with only a small amount of space (typically 6" to 12") existed between the sideline stripe and the barrier which would provide the space for a ball carrier to step out of bounds before hitting the sideline barrier. Each team fields 8 players at

11484-430: The teams made a sustainable profit and the team owners were eager to see the league continue for another year. However, with the AFL owning 50.1% of the af2, it would fold if the AFL folded. At the end of the 2009 season, a gathering of af2 and remaining AFL team owners set out to form their own organization, originally known as Arena Football 1 (AF1). AF1 went on to purchase all assets of the original AFL and af2, except for

11600-518: The worst record in school history. Naismith Valley Park, located at the south end of Naismith Drive in Lawrence is also named in his honor. Naismith Hall, a dormitory, is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of 19th Street with Naismith Drive on the KU campus is also named for him. In 1898, Naismith became the first basketball coach of University of Kansas . He compiled a record of 55–60 and

11716-477: Was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball . After moving to the United States, he wrote the original basketball rule book and founded the University of Kansas basketball program in 1898. Naismith lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at

11832-479: Was a classmate of Amos Alonzo Stagg at the YMCA School, where Stagg coached the football team. They became close friends and Naismith played on the football team and Stagg played on the basketball team. Naismith invited Stagg to play in the first public basketball game on March 12, 1892. The students defeated the faculty 5–1 and Stagg scored the only basket for the faculty. The Springfield Republican reported on

11948-458: Was a member of the Pi Gamma Mu and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternities. Naismith was a Presbyterian minister and was also a Freemason . His first wife died in 1937, and on June 11, 1939, he married his second wife. On November 19 of that year, Naismith suffered a major brain hemorrhage and died nine days later in his home in Lawrence. He was 78 years old. Naismith died eight months after

12064-505: Was also a faculty member at the school. In 1939, Naismith suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage. He was interred at Memorial Park Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas . His masterwork "Basketball — its Origins and Development" was published posthumously in 1941. In Lawrence, Naismith has a road named in his honor, Naismith Drive, which runs in front of Allen Fieldhouse and James Naismith Court therein are named in his honor, despite Naismith's having

12180-552: Was an outstanding football player at McGill University in Montreal when he realized he needed to invent an indoor game for the winter due to the weather conditions. He later decided to become a physical education teacher at McGill University for his three postgraduate years and then went to Springfield, Massachusetts, to study at the YMCA International Training School in the 1890s. After completing

12296-497: Was born on November 6, 1861, in Almonte , Canada West, Province of Canada (now part of Mississippi Mills, Ontario , Canada ) to Scottish parents. Despite some sources to the contrary Naismith never had a middle name and never signed his name with an "A" initial. The "A" was added by someone in administration at the University of Kansas. Gifted in farm labour, Naismith spent his days outside playing catch, hide-and-seek, or duck on

12412-580: Was devised by Jim Foster , a former executive of the United States Football League and the National Football League . He devised his game while watching indoor soccer , another game derived from a sport played outdoors. He worked on the game in the early 1980s, but put any plans for full development of it on hold while the United States Football League, an attempt to play traditional American football in

12528-405: Was especially important as the 2007 expiration of Foster's patent on the rebound nets approached). At times over forty teams participated in this league, almost uniformly in cities which also had minor league ice hockey teams and hence suitable arenas. Shortly before the end of 2008, the Arena Football League announced that it would not be playing a 2009 spring season. During the previous few years,

12644-470: Was for personal use, not team use. He won multiple Wicksteed medals for outstanding gymnastics performances. Naismith earned a BA in physical education (1888) and a diploma at the Presbyterian College in Montreal (1890). At the end of his career, in 1938 and 1939, he would receive honorary doctorates from both institutions. From 1888 to 1890, Naismith taught physical education and became

12760-408: Was given 14 days to create an indoor game that would provide an "athletic distraction"; Gulick demanded that it would not take up much room, could help its track athletes to keep in shape and explicitly emphasized to "make it fair for all players and not too rough". Naismith was later employed to teach physical education using two boxes. He told the superintendent he needed the two boxes to be put onto

12876-498: Was he interested in the glory of competitive sports. Instead, he was more interested in his physical-education career; he received an honorary PE master's degree in 1910, patrolled the Mexican border for four months in 1916, traveled to France, and published two books ( A Modern College in 1911 and Essence of a Healthy Life in 1918). He took American citizenship on May 4, 1925. In 1909, Naismith's duties at Kansas were redefined as

12992-434: Was in part to justify salary cuts that were required when a previous commissioner—Lee Hutton, who was ousted in the reorganization —made promises to cover higher salaries but had no revenue to fund such promises (since under ironman, a player would fill the roles of what would have otherwise been two roster spots, justifying their higher price compared to a one-way player in other indoor leagues). The league also instituted

13108-574: Was moved into the Convention Center in 1964 for the contest between Utah and West Virginia . The game drew just over 6,000 fans, though, and the Liberty Bowl moved to Memphis the next year, where it has remained. Unlike modern indoor football, the size of the playing surface and hence the rules were essentially the same as in the standard outdoor game, with rules updated to deal with contingencies for what could happen indoors, such as

13224-429: Was not directly affiliated with the now-defunct AFL. A 2024 reboot of the Arena Football League uses the original league's rulebook with minor variations. Through the late 1990s, the Arena Football League was the only league playing any variant of the sport designed for indoor play. A clarification limiting the scope of its patent allowed for competing indoor football leagues (sometimes known as arena leagues ) to use

13340-438: Was really nice having someone with the caliber of Dr. Naismith, he helped many a SigEp." In 1935, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (founded by Naismith's pupil Phog Allen) collected money so the 74-year-old Naismith could witness the introduction of basketball into the official Olympic sports program of the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin . There, Naismith handed out the medals to three North American teams:

13456-455: Was that free substitution would improve the overall quality of football in the league by giving coaches the freedom to put their best players on the field for every play of the game, and that teams would be able to select from a wider player talent pool when building their rosters. Traditionalists, however, believed the rule changes were the beginning of the removal of the " ironman " (two-way offense and defense) style of play of arena football that

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