Netball as the number of women participating in sports increased. Basketball was invented in 1891 by James Naismith in the United States. The game was initially played indoors between two teams of nine players, using an association football that was thrown into closed-end peach baskets. Naismith's game spread quickly across the United States and variations of the rules soon emerged. Physical education instructor Senda Berenson developed modified rules for women in 1892; these eventually gave rise to women's basketball. Around this time separate intercollegiate rules were developed for men and women. The various basketball rules converged into a universal set in
The Massachusetts Game from a set of rules drawn up in 1858 by the Massachusetts Association of Base Ball Players at Dedham. Although it was recognizably a type of baseball, some features of the Massachusetts Game are very different from modern baseball: Two "modern" features of the Massachusetts Game were not present in New York-style rules drawn up the same year by National Association of Base Ball Players. The Massachusetts Game was more wide-open than modern "New York" baseball, with more scoring and, its proponents claimed, more excitement. First base was only 30 feet away from the striker. There was a constant supply