James Naismith, a member of Roswell Lee Lodge in Massachusetts and Lawrence Lodge 6 in Kansas, held degrees in philosophy, religion and physical education. He was also an ordained Presbyterian minister and Medical Doctor. Coaching track at the Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA in 1891, he was confronted with a class of rowdy boys with too much time on their hands in the winter. In an effort to channel his track team's energy constructively, he invented a new sport the athletes could play inside in the winter. The object was to throw a "soft ball" into a peach basket. The basket was suspended 10 feet above the floor to prevent "rough protecting of the goal" as Brother Naismith had observed in other sports. The sport became very popular and proponents suggested naming it "Naismith Ball." Brother Naismith was too modest to accept that and instead named it after those suspended goals, calling it by its common name today: basketball.
