How Seattle Basketball Began at the YMCA in 1893

Seattle basketball’s early story begins with a YMCA lesson, not a modern arena. Cassandra Tate reported for HistoryLink on February 12, 2001, in an account of how the game arrived in the city. Read the original report for her full historical account.

An introduction before the public exhibition

Tate places basketball’s introduction at the Seattle YMCA in February 1893. Physical education director Thomas S. Lippy installed two half-bushel baskets in the gym and taught members how to play. The sport had recently emerged at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The early version looked different from the familiar five-player game. Nine or more players could take the floor for each team, and they used a soccer ball. A successful shot also required someone to recover the ball from the basket, interruptions that help explain the low scores Tate describes.

Tate separates that February introduction from the first public viewing she records: a March 22, 1893 exhibition included in a larger gymnastics program. The YMCA building stood on Front Street, identified in her essay as today’s First Avenue. Drawing on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, she reports a 4–1 result after two ten-minute halves.

Junior players and an outdoor-court plan

By May, the YMCA was planning an outdoor court on Third Avenue between Virginia and Lenora. That was a proposed expansion, not confirmation that the court opened. Tate cites the YMCA’s June 1893 Bugle Call for enthusiasm among junior classes and players waiting for the outdoor space while games continued indoors.

A game taking organized shape

Tate’s account follows the sport beyond those introductory months. By 1895, she writes, hoops and nets had replaced the baskets and five-person teams had become standard. Newspaper attention, leagues and tournaments grew, followed by strong Seattle YMCA teams under Lippy’s successor, A. G. Douthitt.

The essay offers a focused view of YMCA-led beginnings, not a complete history of every Seattle player, institution or community. Its newspaper and association records also illustrate the materials discussed in our Seattle basketball history research guide.

Cover image: illustrative basketball photography from Pexels; it does not depict the reported person or event.

Source note: Historical details are drawn from Cassandra Tate’s HistoryLink report, published February 12, 2001.