SIR GEORGE WILLIAMS (1821 - 1905)
Founder of the first YMCA
George Williams was born in Somerset, England on 11 October 1821. In 1836 he moved to London to work as an apprentice to a Draper, and by 1841 was working was a Draper’s assistant in Hitchcock & Rogers. He stayed in the accommodation provided by the firm in the same building, and became one of the 150,000 young men like him that crowded the city of London
On 6th June 1844, George Williams, together with ten Christian young men, established the YMCA. “Our object is the improvement of the spiritual condition of the young men engaged in houses of business, by the formation of Bible classes, family and social prayer meetings, mutual improvement societies, or any other spiritual agency.”
Williams was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1894, and after his death was commemorated with a stained-glass window in the nave of Westminster Abbey. Sir George Williams is buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral
George Williams was born in Somerset, England on 11 October 1821. In 1836 he moved to London to work as an apprentice to a Draper, and by 1841 was working was a Draper’s assistant in Hitchcock & Rogers. He stayed in the accommodation provided by the firm in the same building, and became one of the 150,000 young men like him that crowded the city of London
On 6th June 1844, George Williams, together with ten Christian young men, established the YMCA. “Our object is the improvement of the spiritual condition of the young men engaged in houses of business, by the formation of Bible classes, family and social prayer meetings, mutual improvement societies, or any other spiritual agency.”
Williams was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1894, and after his death was commemorated with a stained-glass window in the nave of Westminster Abbey. Sir George Williams is buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral
Henry Dunant (1828 - 1910)
Founder of YMCA Geneva
Henri Dunant, who was born in Geneva on 8 May 1828, came from a devout and charitable Calvinist family. Motivated by his strong sense of faith and desire to help others, as a young man, Dunant began organising prayer groups and bible studies from his home. He went on to co-found the YMCA of Geneva in 1852.
Driving Force behind the international YMCA Movement Henry Dunant then played a pivotal role in the growth of the international YMCA Movement.
He became a fervent spokesperson for the YMCA, promoting it all over the world, and visiting emerging YMCAs across Europe and North Africa. He was also in regular correspondence with YMCAs around the world, updating them on YMCA work in each country; by1852 he was corresponding with YMCAs in nearly 30 different towns.
In 1855 when leaders of YMCA Paris suggested holding an international meeting with other francophone YMCAs, Dunant expressed his disapproval and his wish to have a more inclusive international gathering with YMCA representatives from England, Scotland and Holland for example. His enthusiasm and passion to have a truly international movement led to the first ever International YMCA Conference held in Paris in 1855.
Recognised Humanitarian and Winner of Nobel Peace Prize
Henry Dunant would later go on to found the International Committee of the Red Cross, and win the first ever Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.
John R. Mott (1865 – 1955)
Leader of the World YMCA Movement
John R. Mott was born in New York on 25 May 1865. In 1885 he became a student at Cornell University, where as President of the student YMCA, he increased membership threefold, and raised money for a University YMCA building. He graduated in 1888 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history, and immediately began a service of 27 years as Secretary of the Intercollegiate YMCA of the USA and Canada. From 1915 to 1928 he served as General Secretary of the International YMCA Committee (that would later become the World Alliance of YMCAs) and as President of the World Alliance from 1926 to 1937.
Pioneer of the Student Christian Movement
As a student, Mott also participated in the first ever international interdenominational student Christian conference. After graduating, Mott organised the World's Student Christian Federation in 1895 and as its General Secretary went on to organise national student movements in India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Europe and the North East.
Winner of Distinguished Service Medal and Nobel Peace Prize
During World War I, when the YMCA offered its services to President Wilson, Mott became General Secretary of the National War Work Council, receiving the Distinguished Service Medal for his work.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for his work in establishing and strengthening international Protestant Christian student organisations that worked to promote peace.
John R. Mott was born in New York on 25 May 1865. In 1885 he became a student at Cornell University, where as President of the student YMCA, he increased membership threefold, and raised money for a University YMCA building. He graduated in 1888 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history, and immediately began a service of 27 years as Secretary of the Intercollegiate YMCA of the USA and Canada. From 1915 to 1928 he served as General Secretary of the International YMCA Committee (that would later become the World Alliance of YMCAs) and as President of the World Alliance from 1926 to 1937.
Pioneer of the Student Christian Movement
As a student, Mott also participated in the first ever international interdenominational student Christian conference. After graduating, Mott organised the World's Student Christian Federation in 1895 and as its General Secretary went on to organise national student movements in India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Europe and the North East.
Winner of Distinguished Service Medal and Nobel Peace Prize
During World War I, when the YMCA offered its services to President Wilson, Mott became General Secretary of the National War Work Council, receiving the Distinguished Service Medal for his work.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for his work in establishing and strengthening international Protestant Christian student organisations that worked to promote peace.
JAMES NAISMITH
Great Leaders of YMCA
Basketball : a YMCA Invention
James Naismith, Inventor of the basketball
James Naismith was a Canadian farm boy from Almonte, Ontario, a small town just a few kilometers from Canada's capital city, Ottawa. He was born on November
6,1861. His father and mother died when he was eight and thereafter he made his home with an uncle. He wondered about his future and decided that "the only real satisfaction that I would derive from life was to help my fellow beings." In 1883 he left Almonte for McGill University where he earned a degree in theology. While studying at McGill Naismith was influenced by D.A. Budge, General Secretary of the YMCA of Montreal, to pursue a career in the YMCA and to study at the YMCA International Training School in Massachusetts (later to be named Springfield College).
Naismith attended as a student in 1890 and was asked to join the faculty in 1891 by Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick, the director of the physical education department. During a psychology seminar Dr. Gulick challenged his class to invent a new game. Gulick was desperately looking for an indoor activity that would be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play indoors in the Winter. Such an activity was needed both by the Training School and YMCAs across the country. Naismith believed that one way to meet that challenge was to take factors of known games and recombine them.
At the same time Dr. Gulick assigned Naismith one particular class that was completely uninterested in the routine exercises, marching and mass calisthenics that formed a part of their compulsory daily physical education session. Three instructors have gone down in defeat trying to rouse enthusiasm in this group of young men.
Naismith struggled with the class of young men with no success. He made attempts at modifying football and soccer. "I had pinned my hopes on these two games and when they failed me, there seemed little chance of success," writes Naismith. He tried lacrosse, a game he had learned to play in Almonte, Even though some members of the class were Canadians and knew how to play the game, it didn't succeed. The beginners were injured and the experts were disgusted; another game went into the discard. "With weary footsteps," recounts Naismith, "I mounted the flight of narrow stairs that led to my office directly over the locker room. I slumped down in my chair, my head in my hands and my elbows on the desk. I was a thoroughly disheartened and discouraged young instructor."
The game that grew out of Naismith's discouraged but determined spirit on that day has since gone worldwide, attracting millions of players and spectators young and old. It was invented by a man sitting at his desk thinking it through.
"As I sat there at my desk, I began to study games from the philosophical side. I had been taking one game at a time and had failed to find what I was looking for, this time I would take games as a whole and study them".
Naismith then methodically studied the elements of existing team games and factored out a number of specifics he would mold into a new game. "My first generalization was that all team games used a ball of some kind; therefore, any new game must have a ball." He settled on the existing Association (soccer) football after eliminating smaller balls because they were difficult to handle, could be hidden, and required equipment to use them, thereby making the learning of skills more difficult. He sought a game that could involve many and was easy to learn.
would be compelled to throw the ball in an arc; and force, which made for roughness, would be of no value. A horizontal goal, then, was what I was looking for, and I pictured it in my mind. I would place a box at either end of the floor, and each time the ball entered the box it would count as a goal. There was one thing, however, that I had overlooked. If nine men formed a defense around the goal, it would be impossible for the ball to enter it; but if I placed the goal above the players' heads, this type of defense would be useless."
He settled on a toss-up between two players as a way to start the game after considering several alternatives.
Naismith was ready to try the new game with the class and set down on a scratch pad the first set of 13 rules in less than an hour. A stenographer typed them up. He asked the building superintendent to fetch two boxes about eighteen inches square. "No, I haven't any boxes," replied the superintendent, "but I'll tell you what I do have. I have two old peach baskets down in the store room, if they will do you any good." A few minutes later, baskets tucked under his arm and a few nails and a hammer in hand, Naismith tacked the baskets to the lower rail of the balcony, one at either end of the gym, posted the rules on the gym bulletin board and lay in waiting for his class of "incorrigibles."
Naismith recalls, "The first member of the class to arrive was Frank Mahan. he gazed at me for an instant, and then looked toward the other end of the gym. Perhaps I was nervous, because his exclamation sounded like a death knell as the said "Huh! another new game!"' There were eighteen men in the class and Naismith promised them that if this game proved to be a failure he would not try any more experiments on them. They went over the rules, divided the group into two teams of nine players each and tossed up the first basketball in history. The date was December 21, 1891.
The first basketball team, consisting of nine players and their coach, on the steps of Springfield College Gymnasium in 1891. Back row: John G. Thompson, New Glasgow, N.S.; Eugene S. Libby, Redlands, Cal.; Edwin P. Ruggles, Milton, Mass.; William R. Chase, New Bedford, Mass.; T. Duncan Patton, Montreal, Que. Centre: Frank Mahan, Memphis, Tenn.; James Naismith, Almonte, Ont. Front row: F. G. Macdonald, Pictou, N.S.; Wm. H. Davis, Holyoke, Mass.; Lyman W. Archibald, Truro, N.S.
The game was a success from the first toss-up onward and word spread that Naismith's class was having fun. Within a few days the class attracted a gallery. Teachers from a nearby girls school watched the game and took it away with them to organize the first girls' basketball team. Frank Mahan suggested the game be given a name, and he and Naismith settled on "basketball".
In those earlier days of the game it was reported as "an uproarious game accompanied by much yelling and undignified cheering". In that respect it has changed little through the ages. "When the first game had ended", says Naismith, "I felt that I could now go to Kr. Gulick and tell him that I had accomplished the two seemingly impossible tasks that he had assigned to me; namely, to interest the class in physical exercise and to invent a new game."
Naismith continued to control the development of the game and its rules for five years. he left Springfield for Denver to become the physical education director for the YMCA in that city and to study for his medical doctorate. On his graduation the University of Kansas was seeking an athletic coach and a director for their 650 seat chapel which students attended every morning. He was ideally prepared for the post and was recommended to the University as "..inventor of basketball, medical doctor, Presbyterian minister, teetotaler, all-round athlete, non-smoker, and owner of a vocabulary without cuss words."
Dr. Naismith and his wife attended the Olympic Games in 1936 when basketball became one of the Olympic events. He died in 1939 at age 78