Sports History
Scope and Description
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Almost all sports have their roots in
Europe.
The history of sports in America is
about how sports came here from other
countries as well as how these sports
grew and developed.
American sports historians study the
organization and administration of
athletic programs from community
recreation to school and collegiate
levels to professional leagues.
Ancient History
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Prehistoric to Fourth Century B.C
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History of sports begins with the funeral games of
ancient times.
Greek games
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The early Greeks practiced track and field; wrestling;
boxing; chariot racing, the precursor to horse racing and
modern auto racing and pankration, the first version of
today's ultimate fighting.
Roman spectator sports
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Roman citizens entertained with their prison captives in
life-threatening gladiatorial combats and mock naval
battles in the flooded Coliseum.
Ancient History
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Periods when sports were outlawed or
otherwise rejected by the masses are also a
part of sports history.
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During the fifth through ninth centuries sports fell
into disfavor with the rise of Christianity.
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Christians disfavored sports because athletes often
participated in the nude and glorified the “sinful” body.
Later Middle Ages and the
Renaissance
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After sports near demise during the middle
ages, military brought it back into societies
good graces.
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The Knights in the chivalric period used sports to
prepare for war.
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They learned fencing, boxing, archery, swimming,
horsemanship, gymnastics, and other sports in their
quest to become good soldiers.
Colonial America: 1607-1776
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Animal sports of cockfighting, bear baiting, gander
pulling, and rat killing became common activities of
colonial America.
In the south horseracing, hunting, fishing, and
boxing became popular.
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Boxing was practiced on southern plantations where
landowners pitted slaves against each other in the ring.
In 1875 14 of 15 jockeys in the Kentucky Derby were
black.
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Once money, recognition, and status became associated
with winning black boxers and jockeys were replaced with
white fighters and riders.
Beginning of Organized Sports in
America.
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The history of organized sport in the U.S. begins with
the New York Knickerbockers in the 1840s.
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Knickerbockers were a social club composed of
professional men that had to be voted in by members.
This club formed the fist known baseball club.
When competition and winning became more important to
the Knickerbockers than social status, membership rules
changed to allow low working class ballplayers free
membership.
The importance of producing winners is obvious from the
earliest accounts of sporting practices.
Collegiate Sports
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History of collegiate sports in America can be
traced from Native Americans, who engaged in
perhaps the first team sport on the continent,
lacrosse.
The earliest sporting practices in Colleges in
the U.S. were most influenced by British
sporting practices.
Sports were first played as class competitions
and were much like today's intramural sports
programs in Colleges.
Collegiate Sports
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In 1852 intercollegiate sports began with a
rowing contest between Harvard and Yale.
From the 1870s through the end of the
century, men’s collegiate sports continued to
expand on college campuses but their was no
administrative control.
As a result, in 1906 the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) was founded.
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The NCAA played a role in bringing fledgling
athletics into the physical education fold
through its recommendation for coaches to be
regular educators in the institution.
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This had an important effect on the field of
physical education.
Amos Alonzo Stagg became the first coachphysical educator when he was hired for both
positions in 1892 by the University of Chicago.
The Rise of Women and SPort
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The emergence and growth of women's sports was
quite different from that of males due to society
being less accepting of women athletes.
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In the mid-nineteenth century, sports outside the
collegiate world for upper-class women consisted of
proper activities, such as croquet, archery, and tennis.
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Women’s sports were acceptable to society only if
they were considered social affairs, promoted health,
were noncompetitive, and were not strenuous to
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From the mid- 1860s, college women were
instructed by physical educators in such
sports as bowling, boating, ice skating,
archery, swimming, and horseback riding.
By the 1890s college women were playing
class competitions in tennis, baseball, golf,
track and field, field hockey, volleyball, and
basketball
Basketball became the first intense game that
women played, and it quickly became popular
and controversial.
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The two women most prominent in the growth and
development of women’s basketball were Senda
Bernson of Smith college and Clara G. Baer of
Sophie Newcomb College.
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These women were generally responsible for the rules of
the game and did much to promote acceptance of the game.
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The beginning of intercollegiate sports for women
began in 1896 when University of California played
Stanford and University of Washington played
Ellensburg Normal School.
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Educators were the leading opponents of
intercollegiate sports and fought the notion of women
copying the highly competitive programs.
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Women’s sports were born and raised through
the matriarchal hands of women physical
educators whose objective was to promote
recreational sports for all girls while
prohibiting highly competitive sport for any.
Women formed their first intercollegiate
association in 1971, the Association for
Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW)
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However 10 years later it was dismantled due to
Women’s membership in the NCAA.
Professional Sports
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The earliest signs of professional sports in the
U.S. was the baseball players of the midnineteenth century who charged gate receipts
to spectators and then dividing the money
among themselves.
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Baseball and boxing were the front runners in
organized professional sports in the U.S.
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Boxing matches between slaves became
popular in the colonial period as entertainment
for white landowners.
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White fighters soon took over when money was
to be made.
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African Americans were denied access to the
heavyweight division until Jack Johnson got a
match with Champ Tommy Burns and won easily to
become the first Black Champion in 1908.
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Baseball became the first professional team
sport.
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The first recognized baseball team was the
Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869.
Because of the Jim Crow laws, black and white
players were not able to play on the same team.
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As a result, African American formed their own
league in the 1880s.
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Negro leagues were very popular by the 1920s.
By the 1930s baseball had the National and
American Leagues.
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Since baseball was racist like most of society,
the National and American Leagues were made
up of only white players from 1897 until 1947.
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In 1947 Jackie Robinson was brought into the
Dodgers’ organization.
This brought on a major change of integration
throughout both leagues.
Once pro baseball was integrated, the only major
changes in the sport was the creation of its
divisions and the playoff wildcard.
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Football was the next sport to move into the
professional arena.
The first all-professional teams were Canton
and Massillion of Ohio in 1902.
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These early pro teams were backed by
independently wealthy men but had no
organization and corruption was commonplace.
In 1920 the American Professional Football
Association (APFA) was formed by “Papa
Bear” George Halas.
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The APFA adopted two principles in an effort
to appease college dissatisfaction with football
going pro.
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The first was they agreed to keep their hands off
players until their colleges eligibility expired.
The second was and agreement that teams would
not steal other team’s players so fans could
recognize the players each week.
The first principle was upheld until 1983 when the
USFL broke the unwritten rule by drafting Hershel
Walker from the University of Georgia.
The second principle was violated with great
frequency, as a result in 1922 the APFA changed
its title to the NFL and the league rules were
enforced more strictly.
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Pro basketball for white males began in the
1890s, the same decade in which the sport was
invented by James Naismith at Springfield
College.
There was little organization until the National
Basketball League was formed in 1898.
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After 5 years this league folded and another was
not organized until 1925. This league was also
short-lived.
In 1949 stability was finally achieved with the
merging of the NBL, which was formed again in
1937, with the Basketball Association of America
to become the NBA.
Prejudice and
Discrimination
 As America grew to be a nation of different cultures prejudice and
discrimination was inanimate.
African Americans have been discriminated against in sporting arenas since the
colonial period.
- First recognized as outstanding boxers and horse
racers
- Due to Jim Crow laws their success was kept from the
dominant society
 Women too, were discriminated against in the sport world
- Before the twentieth century a women’s place was thought to be
in the home.
- Even after women were allowed to play in sporting events strict
rules were set out to so call “keep our femininity”.
Prejudice and Discrimination Cont.
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Lower-class white Americans also felt the hurt from prejudice
- They could not partake in many sporting events
because of their 12 hr a day, six days a week work
schedule
Some religious groups were unable to make time for sports
having rules against sports on Sundays
Breaking the color Barrier
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In 1947 Jackie Robinson was brought into the National
League playing for the Dodgers.
Baseball was no longer seen as having only white teams or
only black teams
- Robinson had opened the doors to other African
Americans, Cubans, Hispanics, Chicanos, and
other nonwhite groups
There is evidence that sporting opportunities are greater for all
groups today than any other time in United States history.