The origin of Basketball is dating back
to the year 1891, when professor James Naismith of Springfield College
developed this game for a college team of American football. This fact is
generally known.
Lesser - known is the fact that the first basketball match on our
territory [the Czech Republic] was played in 1897 on the playground of the
central school in Vysoke Myto, under the supervision of the gym teacher
Jaroslav Karasek.
The first set of rules were published by Joseph Klenka a year later in the
Sokol magazine.
Basketball got more impulses after WW I. A first training camp for coaches
was realized with the help of the US branch of YMCA in 1919 in Zilina.
The Czech Basketball and Volleyball Federation was founded in 1921, and
its first chairman was professor J. A. Smotlacha. More or less at the same
time Slovakian basketball started to develop.
The first ordinary competition was organized in Prague in 1929, regular
nationwide championships were held since 1933. Czechoslovakia was one of
eight constituent members at the foundation of the World Amateur
Basketball Federation FIBA in Genoa in 1932.
At the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936 Basketball was a competitive sport for
the first time.
Since I am very interested in both basketball and volleyball, I always
found it very interesting that both sports had the same federation in our
country for a long time.
In the meantime I can even present a philatelic document to proof this
relationship. Not so long ago I was surprised
when I found an illustrated postcard in a box with various postal
materials. It is a pre-printed form of "IMPRIMÉ" with printed
return address "ČESKOSLOVENSKÝ
VOLLEYBALlOVÝ A BASKETBALLOVÝ SVAZ V PRAZE" ("CZECHOSLOVAK
VOLLEYBALL AND BASKETBALL FEDERATION IN PRAGUE"). The postage of
20 hellers is according to the printed matter rate, and the cancel is a
hand cancel commemorating the death of T. G. MASARYK with date 7. X. 1937.
On the reverse side there is an invitation for a meeting of the board of the
federation, which was to be held on Oct 11th, 1937 at 20.00 in the U
Hercliku - restaurant in Prague II, Cracovia street. It is signed by the
secretary of the board, who was Mr. V. Jerabek at that time.
Indeed I am very glad to have found this card and I included it in my
basketball collection, even if I know that I cannot use it in
an exhibition, since the printed address of the sender surely
doesn't make it a postal item. Nevertheless I am very satisfied with this
post-card.