The history of women basketball began only a short while after Dr. James Naismith created the original game and his original rules in 1891. The roots of women basketball lead us back to Senda Berenson, born on March 19th in Vilna, Lithuania. In 1892, she worked as Director of the Gymnasium and Instructor of Physical Culture at Smith College. Trained at the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics, Berenson was hired at Smith in January 1892, one month after the game of basketball had been invented by James Naismith at the International YMCA Training School in nearby Springfield, Mass. At Smith, Berenson instituted an effective program of Swedish gymnastics for her female students. In addition, she organized athletic contests in sports, such as volleyball, fencing, field hockey and basketball, all intended to build character in her female students. Her philosophy was to offer “the most for the most”, which meant that she wanted to include women of all skill levels in her program and did not believe in devoting an extraordinary amount of time to a smaller group of higher skilled students.

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