It’s April! The weather is getting warmer and you are planning all the games you are going to play outside. Did you ever wonder who invented your favorite sport? How did they do it? Read on to find out!

Cartwright was a member of the New York Knickerbockers s, who played a brand of stick-and-ball game called the town game. He came up with a way to advance this stick-and-ball game into something more. Cartwright and a group of friends from his club drew up rules converting this playground game into more elaborate and interesting sport to be played. We know it today as the sport of baseball!

Did you know? Although it is not disputed that Alexander Cartwright played a huge role in the invention of baseball there is controversy over who really came up with the idea first, Alexander Cartwright or Abner Doubleday? Since there is little evidence and what evidence they do have favors Alexander Cartwright it is up to you to make your own decision!

 Like all inventors who came up with a great invention James Naismith was presented with a problem. He was a physical education instructor who was asked to invent a game that would not take up much room and at the same time could be played indoors. He had an idea! He remembered a game he played as a child in Canada called Duck on a Rock. This was his inspiration to coming up with the game of basketball. In 1891 he developed the first thirteen rules. In 1959, James Naismith was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame (called the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.)

Did you know? The original rules did not include what is known today as the dribble. They initially only allowed the ball to be moved up the court via a pass. James Naismith was also the inventor the first to introduce the use of a helmet in American football.

Walter Camp was a sports writer and football coach best known as the “Father of American Football”. Camp played football at Yale and helped advance the rules of the game away from Rugby and Soccer rules into the rules of American Football as we know them today. Walter attended Yale University and starred as a rugby runner and kicker there. Among the rule changes he invented were reduction of players on each side from 15 to 11, creation of the scrimmage in which one team holds undisputed possession of the ball, the system in which a team must gain a specified number of yards within a specified number of downs to retain possession, and the point system of scoring. Camp also contributed to writing many books and articles on the sport of football to gain its popularity.

Did you know? In 1880, the first Football Thanksgiving game played in New York City drew only 5,000 fans.

Similar to the same challenge as James Naismith, William Morgan was a physical education director at a YMCA who wanted to come up with a new game. He was motivated by Naismith's game of basketball designed for younger students. He created a game called Mintonette as a pastime to be played preferably indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball. When a spectator made a comment that the game involved a lot of “volleying”, the name Volleyball came about.

Did you know? The Morgan Trophy Award is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female collegiate volleyball player in the United States.

 They say necessity is the mother of invention. In 1887, George Hancock invented softball as a form of indoor baseball on a cold winter day inside the warm Farragut Boat Club. Someone found a boxing glove and threw it and someone else hit it with a stick. George Hancock shouted “Let's play ball” and tied the boxing glove into the shape of a ball. The men chalked a diamond shape onto the floor and broke a broom handle to serve as a bat. This is known as the first softball game, on Thanksgiving Day. In the spring, Hancock took his game outdoors and played it on fields not large enough for baseball. It was called indoor-outdoor. He added 19 special rules to adapt the outdoor game to the indoor game. The rules were officially added by the Mid Winter Indoor Baseball League of Chicago in 1889.

Did you know? Softball is the most popular participant sport in the United States. Softball was an Olympic sport for women from 1996 until the Olympic Committee removed baseball and softball from their list of Olympic sports in 2005.