Basketball in Canada Basketball in Canada Basketball in Canada dates back to the 20th century. The sport is played year-round by men and women and various levels of competition. Several professional basketball leagues have teams based in Canada. James Naismith, a Canadian who moved to the United States, invented basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts in the 1890s. This new sport soon became popular as an indoor sport that needed a minimal equipment, gaining popularity at high schools and colleges in Canada. In Canada, the sport has long lived in the shadow of ice hockey, but in the early 21st Century the sport saw a
The Massachusetts Game Fair Grounds, to see the Unions defeat the Winthrops, 100-71. By 1860, 59 New England teams were reportedly playing the Massachusetts Game, while at least 18 had gone over to New York style. Two "longest game" records are held by Massachusetts rules contests. During the American Civil War, soldiers from Massachusetts often played their brand of baseball when competing among themselves, but sometimes switched to New York rules when playing men from that state. Kirsch tells of the 19th Massachusetts Regiment encamped in Falmouth in early 1863 when a “base ball fever broke out.” Later that year the "Clipper" reported