For the Love of the Game, How Agriculture Helped Birth the Game of Basketball

As March Madness continues this weekend, it’s a toast to the birth of basketball, which has farming roots.

It may not seem like basketball has a strong connection to agriculture, but from the basketballs used in the NBA, to the sport itself, agriculture has direct ties to a sport that takes over television from mid to late March.

James Naismith, who grew up on a farm in Ontario, Canada, invented the game of basketball at a YMCA in Massachusetts. Naismith actually struggled in school, but stories about him say he excelled with farm work and loved being outside. According to the Naismith Basketball Foundation, James learned many lessons in honestly initiative, independence and ruggedness by doing his assigned chores around the farm. And if a problem arose, he was expected to take care of it himself.

While Naismith didn’t always excel in academics, he was a leader in his class and a promising athlete.

Fast forward several years, as a great athlete in high school and college, once he graduated, he taught physical education. That role ultimately leading him to YMCA.

In 1891, Naismith was a physical education instruction at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass. Tasked with coming up with a new indoor sport. The main objectives were to “make it fair for all players, and free of rough play.” From that task, along with tapping into his favorite childhood game called “Duck on a Rock,” James invented basketball. 

He nailed a peach basket to a wall and had the players try to toss a ball into it.  Eventually, he figured out to cut the bottom out of the basket to speed up the game.

Farmer Ingenuity of the Breakaway Rim 

 The agricultural ties don’t stop with just the birth of the sport. In 1975, Illinois farmer Arthur Ehrat created the breakaway basket rim.  Ehrat, who managed Farmers Elevator Co., had already invented two field spreaders. According to FarmWeekNow, his nephew, who was an assistant coach at St. Louis University, asked his uncle for ideas on a rim that wouldn't break when players dunked the basketball.

Ehrat tried various springs that would allow the rim to snap back into place, but car valve springs weren't strong enough. So, he he tried a spring from a John Deere cultivator he had on hand, and it did the trick. The prototype was dubbed “The Rebounder.”

In 1982, after years of legal work, that invention finally received a patent, and he licensed the invention to 18 manufacturers.

FarmWeekNow.com shares the full story invention of the breakaway rim, an invention that literally changed the game of basketball.

Read More: Meet the Illinois Farmer Who Helped Change the Game of Basketball with the Breakaway Rim

Cowhide to Basketball

Today, agriculture is still at the root of the game. The NBA game ball, which is exclusively sourced from the Horween Leather Company, is made of leather from cowhides.

The company receives shipments of 3,000 cowhides per week, which then go through a rigorous three-week process to become basketballs.

As March Madness continues, don't forget to check AgWeb's Bracket Busters to see who's in the lead.