History

Earlier Years

A conference, held in 1899, by the American Physical Education Association (APEA, later to become the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance), Alice Foster, Oberlin College, read a paper on women’s basket ball. At that time, women’s basket ball was being played under several different rule formats. Foster’s paper identified this problem and suggested a meeting to consolidate the rules. Later during the conference, Foster chaired a committee that included: Senda Berenson, Smith College; Ethel Perrin, Boston Normal School of Gymnastics; and Elizabeth Wright, Radcliffe College. The Committee investigated the various rules being used for women’s basket ball and produced the first official women’s basket ball rules book in 1901. (Basket ball was two words in the late 1800s). The Women’s Basket Ball Rules Committee represented the American Association for the Advancement of Physical Education (AAAPE), only one of six sport organizations in the United States at that time.