Women's-Girls BB 67 years ago, sometimes the rules were odd

[DobbsRover2]

So delving back into the old archives of NY sports for another sport, I ran across a page from 1948 in the Long Island City Star Journal that actually featured three games by female squads. A HS match between Newton and Elmhurst ended in a high scoring 50-48 result, though it did include two OTs. A college match had Queens routing St. Johns's by a lower scoring affair of 30-18.

But it was the third article about a pair of public HS games that is the odd one. The scores in the games were 14-13 and 13-11, and all of the limited scoring for each of the four teams was done by two or three players. The article notes that the guards were not allowed to score according to the league rules.

The pair of no-guards games were played close to where Christ the King plays, and though Tina Charles may have been just fine with the rule 60 years later, I think Sue Bird would have been a little miffed even as she dished out all the assists.

 

[OldAlum]

When I played as a young girl, too many years ago, they kept changing the rules! First we played six on a side, 3 guards and three forwards. You were only allowed to dribble three times. Nobody could cross midcourt! Next it was two guards and two forwards and two "rovers". Only the rovers were allowed to cross midcourt. Everyone wanted to be a rover!
I think I was a teen before we played "boy's rules"

 

[Adesmar123]

Were there many transfers then?

 

[Sonny44]

Go back another 40 or so. After each basket there was a jump ball. Shutouts were not uncommon.

 

[NSP Hoops]

When I played as a young girl, too many years ago, they kept changing the rules! First we played six on a side, 3 guards and three forwards. You were only allowed to dribble three times. Nobody could cross midcourt! Next it was two guards and two forwards and two "rovers". Only the rovers were allowed to cross midcourt. Everyone wanted to be a rover!
I think I was a teen before we played "boy's rules"

Betcha there weren't many torn ACL's either.

 

[OldAlum]

I think the idea was that we weren't to do something unladylike. Like run. Or sweat.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I think a lot of women's basketball rules were local back then. One of my earliest sports memories was watching my aunt play basketball when she was a senior in high school in the early 50's. I don't remember much about the games but I remember it was full court and the players wore shorts. In the early 60's I dated a girl that played HS basketball - same thing - shorts and full court.

 

[AllAmerRedHeads]

Anyone have any family members still with us that played the 3 zone court?

 

[BroadwayVa]

When I played as a young girl, too many years ago, they kept changing the rules! First we played six on a side, 3 guards and three forwards. You were only allowed to dribble three times. Nobody could cross midcourt! Next it was two guards and two forwards and two "rovers". Only the rovers were allowed to cross midcourt. Everyone wanted to be a rover!
I think I was a teen before we played "boy's rules"

In the 1970's I was waiting for my daughter at Tolland HS, she was playing in a intramural game. Knowing I coached CYO and Little League one of the teachers asked if I would Ref the game. It took about 2 minutes before I knew I was Ref-ing a game I knew nothing about. The only thing I recognized was the ball , the basket and the court. I did notice, and remarked about it, that the same girls I see floating, almost gliding, down the hallway--in BB they had 2 left feet. But that has changed dramatically. Prior to that I would have said THAT game went out with hooped skirts--very slowly it changed. And now I prefer the "women's " game.

 

[DobbsRover2]

I think a lot of women's basketball rules were local back then. One of my earliest sports memories was watching my aunt play basketball when she was a senior in high school in the early 50's. I don't remember much about the games but I remember it was full court and the players wore shorts. In the early 60's I dated a girl that played HS basketball - same thing - shorts and full court.

Definitely right about rules being "local", or even league by league back then I guess. In the Newtown-Elmhurst game 67 years ago all the players could score, though it may well have have some three-dribbles and you-are-not-allowed-to-sweat rules in there. In the case of the box scores for the the low-scoring Queens PAL games though, most of the players had a 0 next to their name and I believe the writer wanted to explain that they were not necessarily poor players, just that they were unlucky to be assigned to be guards. And truly, a good cure for being a selfish player would have been to make them a guard.

 

[OldAlum]

Not sure what you mean about three zone. I played under various 6 on a side rules as a pre-teen. I did get to play guard a lot because I didn't pout when given the assignment - so the coach also gave me some forward time as a reward! I believe Indiana girls basketball was very popular in the 6 player format (don't know about the rest of the rules) and they kept it long after other states went to "boys rules".

 

[AllAmerRedHeads]

The court was actually divided into 3 zones way way back.

 

[OldAlum]

The court was actually divided into 3 zones way way back.

How did that work?

 

[DobbsRover2]

There is a wonderful article on the evolution of BB rules on hoopstactics,com that also has a short section on women's basketball that describes the 3-zone for women as a mistaken misinterpretation of Naismith's rules by early college team organizers, and that it basically divided the court into one-third zones with an end around each goal and a middle zone. Two players for each team were stationary in each zone, meaning they had to stay there. Later some rovers came in who could move through all three zones, and finally in 1971 (just unbelievable) women were allowed to play full court games. Men were not allowed to watch the early women's games back in the 1890s because it was "socially unacceptable," so that part has hardly changed for the majority of American males.

Interesting also that the term "center" comes from the name for the players in the central middle zone of the the 3-zone. So the centers definitely were not camped out under the basket back then.

The article cites many changes in the rules though mainly applied through men's games, including that there was once no out of bounds and that whoever got to the ball bounding far off the side first was awarded the ball, leading to a mad scramble even in bleachers that turned BB into a quasi rugby style game. And of course the jump ball after each basket led to physical play resembling rugby throw-ins. And again, not much change there.

 

[AllAmerRedHeads]

a few years ago i tracked down one of the All American Red Heads that played in the early years.
as we talked, she told me how she played the 3zone game in junior high school.

She then talked of her high school days and playing half court game for non other than the Hall of Famer, Bertha Teague down in Ada, OK at Byng High School.

She then went on to play the full court game for the Red Heads.

I don't think many women had that opportunity.