The struggle to establish basketball in Scotland

Abstract

This article documents the spread and uptake of basketball, specifically the infancy and the difficulty of establishing the sport in Scotland during the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth century. It discusses factors that help explain why basketball struggled to develop in Scotland and was sparsely played until World War II. It utilises accounts from former Scottish basketball personnel, local newspapers alongside documents from the Archives and Special Collections at Springfield College. The article proposes a seven-fold framework that rests upon two overarching arguments: that basketball relied on being voluntarily accepted and adopted in a new host country; and the assimilation of basketball into a different culture was difficult because of the existing social landscape and sporting environment. It concludes that modern sports such as association football, golf and rugby developed earlier in Scotland and by the arrival of basketball, held dominant positions. Furthermore, the Young Men's Christian Association played a key role in developing basketball worldwide were committed to football. Lastly, the contemporary gender ideologies led to men being off put from playing basketball due to the ‘girls’ game’ reputation. This coincided with and was replaced by the rise of netball, which quickly established improved foundations within training colleges for women.