Sports in New England Sports in New England Two popular American sports were invented in New England. Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1895. Also, the first organized ice hockey game in the United States is widely believed to have been played in Concord, New Hampshire in 1883. The region is famous for its passion for baseball and the Boston Red Sox, as well as for the intense rivalry between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees. On November 1, 1924, the Boston Bruins of the National
William Yoast Morgan the state legislature. Morgan's mother Wilhelmina (Yoast) Morgan (1843-1910) was active in civic organizations and politics, serving as mayor of Cottonwood Falls in 1885. Morgan himself was educated in Cottonwood Falls and then at the state university in Lawrence, majoring in journalism. Morgan married Colie Adair (1872-1958) in November 1890; they had one daughter, Claudia (d. 1958) After working at the "Lawrence Journal" for two years, Morgan purchased and edited the "Republican" in Strong City. He sold that paper after four years and purchased the "Emporia Daily Gazette"; he operated that until selling it to William Allen White in 1895.