1.
Women's National Basketball Association
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The Womens National Basketball Association is a professional womens basketball league in the United States. It is currently composed of twelve teams, the league was founded on April 24,1996 as the womens counterpart to the National Basketball Association, and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from June to September with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July, many WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and play in the same arena. The four aforementioned franchises, along with the Atlanta Dream and the Los Angeles Sparks, are all independently owned. The creation of the WNBA was officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors on April 24,1996, and announced at a conference with Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie. The new WNBA had to compete with the recently-formed American Basketball League, while not the first major womens professional basketball league in the United States, the WNBA is the only league to receive full backing of the NBA. The WNBA logo, Logo Woman, paralleled the NBA logo and was selected out of 50 different designs. On the heels of a gold medal run by the 1996 USA Basketball Womens National Team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. The first WNBA game featured the New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles, the game was televised nationally in the United States on the NBC television network. Penny Toler scored the leagues first point, the WNBA centered its marketing campaign, dubbed We Got Next, around stars Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes. In the leagues first season, Leslies Los Angeles Sparks underperformed, the WNBAs true star in 1997 was WNBA MVP Cynthia Cooper, Swoopes teammate on the Houston Comets. The Comets defeated Lobos New York Liberty in the first WNBA Championship game, the initial We Got Next advertisement ran before each WNBA season until it was replaced with the We Got Game campaign. Two teams were added in 1998 and two more in 1999, bringing the number of teams in the league up to twelve and we expect to keep growing the league. In 1999, the chief competition, the American Basketball League. When a lockout resulted in an abbreviated NBA season, the WNBA saw faltering TV viewership, on May 23,2000, the Houston Comets became the first WNBA team to be invited to the White House Rose Garden. Before this invitation, only mens sports teams had traveled to the White House, at the end of the 2000 season, the Houston Comets won their fourth championship, capturing every title since the leagues inception. Led by the Big Three of Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, and four-time Finals MVP Cynthia Cooper, under head coach Van Chancellor, the team posted a 98–24 record through their first four seasons. After 2000, Cooper retired from the league and the Comets dynasty came to an end, the top contender in the 2001 season was the Los Angeles Sparks
2.
Val Ackerman
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Val Ackerman is the current commissioner of the Big East Conference. She is best known for being the first president of the Womens National Basketball Association and she is an attorney, sports executive, and former basketball player. Ackerman was born in 1959 in Lakewood Township, New Jersey and her grandfather was director of athletics for the state of New Jersey, and her father was director of athletics at Ackermans own high school. Ackerman graduated in 1977 from Hopewell Valley Central High School in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, in addition to basketball and field hockey, Ackerman also ran on her schools track team. She was inducted into the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1997, Ackerman graduated from the University of Virginia in 1981, where she was among the schools first female students to receive an athletic scholarship. She was an all four years, captain three years, and twice named Academic All-American for the womens basketball team, she was the schools first basketball player to score 1,000 points. She earned her B. A. in Political and Social Thought, va. s Distinguished Alumna Award from the Universitys Womens Center. In 2003, she was named a member of the Atlantic Coast Conferences 50th Anniversary Womens Basketball Team, Ackerman played professional basketball in France for one season. In that capacity, she acted as a liaison between the NBA and USA Basketball regarding the 1992 Olympics,1994 World Championships and 1996 Olympics. From 1995-1996, she was a force behind the creation of the USA Basketball Womens National Team program that culminated with a 60-0 record. On August 7,1996, Ackerman was named president of the WNBA, over the course of her historic eight-year term, Ackerman would become the first woman ever to successfully launch and operate a womens team sports league. On February 1,2005 she stepped down, and Donna Orender was named as her successor, in April 2005, Ackerman was named to Sports Business Journals list of the 20 Most Influential Women in Sports Business. In May 2005, she became the first female president of USA Basketball for the 2005-2008 term, succeeding Tom Jernstedt from the NCAA, who served from 2000-2004. During her term, she oversaw a restructuring of the USA Basketball Board of Directors and she is also a member of FIBAs Competition Commission. She is a past member of the National Board of Directors of Girls Incorporated, the Board of Directors of the Virginia Athletics Foundation, and the National Board of Trustees for the March of Dimes. Also in 2006, she was named a recipient of the NCAAs Silver Anniversary Award, in 2008, she received the IOCs Women of Distinction diploma, and the John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2010, she was named an inductee of the Womens Basketball Hall of Fames Class of 2011, in 2011, she was named a Champion in Sports Business by Sports Business Journal. The Womens Sports Foundation named Ackerman one of its 40 for 40 honorees as part of its celebration of the 40th anniversary of Title IX in 2012
3.
Long Island
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Long Island is an island located just off the northeast coast of the United States and a region within the U. S. state of New York. Stretching east-northeast from New York Harbor into the Atlantic Ocean, the island comprises four counties, Kings and Queens to the west, then Nassau, more generally, Long Island may also refer collectively both to the main Island as well as its nearby, surrounding outer barrier islands. North of the island is the Long Island Sound, across from which lie the states of Connecticut, across the Sound, to the northwest, lies Westchester County on mainland New York. To the west, Long Island is separated from the Bronx and the island of Manhattan by the East River. To the extreme southwest, it is separated from the New York City borough of Staten Island and the U. S. state of New Jersey by Upper New York Bay, the Narrows, to the east lie Block Island and numerous smaller islands. Its population density is 5,595.1 inhabitants per square mile, Long Island is culturally and ethnically diverse. Some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the Western Hemisphere are located on Long Island, nine bridges and 13 tunnels connect Brooklyn and Queens to the three other boroughs of New York City. Ferries connect Suffolk County northward across Long Island Sound to the state of Connecticut, the Long Island Rail Road is the busiest commuter railroad in North America and operates 24/7. At the time of European contact, the Lenape people inhabited the western end of Long Island, giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to record an encounter with the Lenapes, after entering what is now New York Bay in 1524. In 1609, the English navigator Henry Hudson explored the harbor, adriaen Block followed in 1615 and is credited as the first European to determine that both Manhattan and Long Island are islands. Native American land deeds recorded by the Dutch from 1636 state that the Indians referred to Long Island as Sewanhaka, sewan was one of the terms for wampum, and is also translated as loose or scattered, which may refer either to the wampum or to Long Island. The name t Lange Eylandt alias Matouwacs appears in Dutch maps from the 1650s, later, the English referred to the land as Nassau Island, after the Dutch Prince William of Nassau, Prince of Orange. It is unclear when the name Nassau Island was discontinued, the very first settlements on Long Island were by settlers from England and its colonies in present-day New England. Lion Gardiner settled nearby Gardiners Island, the first settlement on the geographic Long Island itself was on October 21,1640, when Southold was established by the Rev. John Youngs and settlers from New Haven, Connecticut. Peter Hallock, one of the settlers, drew the long straw and was granted the honor to step ashore first and he is considered the first New World settler on Long Island. Southampton was settled in the same year, Hempstead followed in 1644, East Hampton in 1648, Huntington in 1653, and Brookhaven in 1655. While the eastern region of Long Island was first settled by the English, until 1664, the jurisdiction of Long Island was split, roughly at the present border between Nassau County and Suffolk County. The Dutch founded six towns in present-day Brooklyn beginning in 1645 and these included, Brooklyn, Gravesend, Flatlands, Flatbush, New Utrecht, and Bushwick
4.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
5.
Queens College, City University of New York
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Queens College is one of the four-year colleges in the City University of New York system. Queens College is consistently ranked among the institutions in the nation for the quality of its faculty and academic programs, the achievement of its students. In 2013 Queens College was ranked #2 nationally by the Washington Monthly for giving students the best bang for their bucks, the building was located on Flushing-Jamaica Road. Jamaica Academy became public in 1844, in 1909, the New York Parental School, a home for troubled boys, opened on the land surrounding the future site of Queens College and incorporated Jamaica Academy on its campus. Buildings such as Jefferson Hall were used as dormitories and classrooms. In 1934, the New York Parental School was investigated amid rumors of abuse, the school was shut down and students were transferred to local public schools. A few months later, the grounds were turned over to the city, the city planned to house 500 mental patients from Randalls Island Hospital, who were temporarily displaced by the construction of the Triborough Bridge. Meanwhile, County Judge Charles S. Colden appointed and chaired a committee to assess the feasibility of opening a college in Queens. In September 1935, the committee recommended the establishment of such a college, mayor La Guardia backed the recommendation and pushed for the free colleges creation. In March 1937, the Board of Education designated the site of the former Parental School to be the location of Queens College. Paul Klapper, former dean of the School of Education at City College of New York, was appointed the new colleges president, the college opened in October 1937—later than anticipated due to a painters strike—with 21 members on its teaching staff and 400 students in its inaugural freshmen class. The college campus grew as buildings were constructed and enrollment increased, the program was intended to offer college education to more New York City residents, in particular those of color. In 1973 enrollment at Queens reached a high of 31,413 students. By 1976 new concerns overtook the college as New York City faced a financial crisis. CUNYs policy of free tuition was revoked, the overall CUNY budget was cut by $135 million, some faculty members resigned in protest. All hiring and building on campus was halted, by 1984 student enrollment had declined to 15,000. By that time, former Queens College president Dr. Joseph S. Murphy was CUNY Chancellor, in the 1990s, the college attracted high-profile researchers to its faculty, including the virologist Luc Montagnier. The college campus continued improving its facilities, under a $1 billion CUNY-wide improvement program, Queens Colleges Powdermaker Hall was given a $57 million renovation, begun in 2000
6.
Adelphi University
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Adelphi University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County, New York, United States. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County and it is the oldest institution of higher education in suburban Long Island. For the tenth year, Adelphi University has been named a Best Buy in higher education by the Fiske Guide to Colleges, the university was also named a 2010 Best College in the Northeastern Region by The Princeton Review. The institution was awarded the 2010 Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, U. S. News & World Report ranked Adelphi University #153 among national universities. Adelphi University began with the Adelphi Academy, founded in Brooklyn, New York, the academy was a private preparatory school located at 412 Adelphi Street, in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, but later moved to Clinton Hill. One of the teachers at the Adelphi Academy was Harlan Fiske Stone, in 1893, Dr. Charles Herbert Levermore was appointed as the head of Adelphi Academy. The college received its charter through the efforts of Timothy Woodruff, former Lieutenant Governor of New York, Adelphi was one of the first coeducational institutions to receive a charter from the State of New York. At the time of its foundation, the college numbered only 57 students and 16 instructors, the Adelphi Academy continued to exist as a separate but nonetheless connected entity to the college. The new college was located in a building behind the Adelphi Academy, on the corner of St. Jamess Place and Clifton Place, the building that originally housed Adelphi is now used by Pratt Institute for their School of Architecture. In 1912, Adelphi became a womens college, in 1922, the school raised over one million dollars to expand the overcrowded facilities in Brooklyn. In 1925, Adelphi College severed its ties with the Adelphi Academy, in 1929, the college moved from its founding location in Brooklyn to the current location of its main campus in Garden City, New York. The original academy continues to function as a P–12 school in Brooklyn, the original three buildings of the Garden City campus, Levermore Hall, Blodgett Hall and Woodruff Hall, were designed by McKim, Mead and White. In 1938, the Dance Program was founded by the world-famous dancer Ruth St. Denis, in 1943, the School of Nursing was established in response to the need for nurses due to American involvement in World War II. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt presided over the opening of two federally funded residence halls on campus, in a speech entitled The Challenge of Nursing for Young Women Today. In 1946, after World War II ended, Adelphi reverted to a coeducational college, New sports teams were created following the readmission of men to the school. In 1952, the first program for clinical psychology was established at the school, in 1963, the New York State Board of Regents granted the college university status, and the name was changed to Adelphi University. In 1964, the School of Business was founded, in 1966, the Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies was founded. In 1973, the University established ABLE for the education of adults, now known as University College, it was one of the earliest programs created for nontraditional students
7.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
8.
Queens
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Queens is the easternmost and largest in area of the five boroughs of New York City. Coterminous with Queens County since 1899, the borough of Queens is the second-largest in population, with a census-estimated 2,339,150 residents in 2015, approximately 48% of them foreign-born. Queens County also is the second-most populous county in the U. S. state of New York, behind the borough of Brooklyn. Queens is the fourth-most densely populated county among New York Citys boroughs, if each of New York Citys boroughs were an independent city, Queens also would be the nations fourth most populous city, after Los Angeles, Chicago, and Brooklyn. Queens is the most ethnically diverse area in the world. Queens was established in 1683 as one of the original 12 counties of New York and it was named after the Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It became a borough of New York City in 1898, and from 1683 until 1899, Queens has the most diversified economy of the five boroughs of New York City It is home to JFK International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. These airports are among the busiest in the world, causing the airspace above Queens to be the most congested in the country, attractions in Queens include Flushing Meadows Park, Citi Field, the US Open tennis tournament, Kaufman Astoria Studios, Silvercup Studios, and Aqueduct Racetrack. European colonization brought Dutch and English settlers, as a part of the New Netherland colony, First settlements occurred in 1635 followed by early colonizations at Maspeth in 1642, and Vlissingen in 1643. Other early settlements included Newtown and Jamaica, however, these towns were mostly inhabited by English settlers from New England via eastern Long Island subject to Dutch law. After the capture of the colony by the English and its renaming as New York in 1664, the Flushing Remonstrance signed by colonists in 1657 is considered a precursor to the United States Constitutions provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights. The signers protested the Dutch colonial authorities persecution of Quakers in what is today the borough of Queens, originally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising Nassau County. It was a county of New York State, one of twelve created on November 1,1683. The county was named after Catherine of Braganza, since she was queen of England at the time, the county was founded alongside Kings County, and Richmond County. On October 7,1691, all counties in the Colony of New York were redefined, Queens gained North Brother Island, South Brother Island, and Huletts Island. On December 3,1768, Queens gained other islands in Long Island Sound that were not already assigned to a county, Queens played a minor role in the American Revolution, as compared to Brooklyn, where the Battle of Long Island was largely fought. Queens, like the rest of Long Island, remained under British occupation after the Battle of Long Island in 1776 and was occupied throughout most of the rest of the Revolutionary War. Under the Quartering Act, British soldiers used, as barracks, even though many local people were against unannounced quartering, sentiment throughout the county remained in favor of the British crown
9.
Elmont, New York
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Elmont is an unincorporated census-designated place located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. It is a bedroom community located on Long Island. The population was 33,198 at the 2010 census, Elmont is famous for Belmont Park which hosts the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the prestigious Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing. In 1650, Christopher and Thomas Foster purchased a plot of land. The Fosters land was controlled by Dutch settlers from the Holy Roman Empire, the Fosters were intended to raise cattle, and sheep on their newly settled land, the Hempstead Plains of Long Island. They named this place Fosters Meadow—a name which would remain for the next 200 years of the villages history, by the mid-17th century, ethnic descendents of Sephardi Jews were settling on the Hempstead Plains for Agriculture. Control of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam shifted to England in 1664 and this marked the first gradual cultural shift in Fosters Meadow with the establishment of a community of predominantly English Protestant farmers, and their families. In 1683, Long Island was divided into three counties, Kings, Queens, and Suffolk County, under this new structure, Fosters Meadow was originally part of Queens County. During 1790 George Washington passed through the town while touring to the East on Long Island. The current boundaries of Elmont were decided upon in 1898, at point, Nassau County was erected, leading to conflict over land. It was during the century, that Fosters Meadow experienced its second cultural shift. There was an influx of Roman Catholic, and Ashkenazi Jewish agricultural farmers from Brooklyn and these ethnic groups were largely of German, and Italian descent practicing both Roman Catholicism, and Judaism. Indeed, the Catholic population in Fosters Meadow grew to an extent, the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, was built during the Wittelsbach Dynasty in 1852. The Roman Catholic Church was re-dedicated Saint Boniface Roman Catholic Parish, the Parish was providing a focal point for the gradual development of a Catholic population base. Rev. Peter Hartraub was essentially the founding pastor, and appointed the first resident pastor of Fosters Meadow in 1858, rev. Peter Hartraub built a new rectory, and in 1887 a new school with four classrooms on the first floor, and an auditorium on the second. The Dominican Sisters were invited to teach in the Catholic School, the community underwent its next political reshuffling in 1882, being subdivided into districts with unique names and boundaries, it was at this time that Fosters Meadow was renamed Elmont. They found what they were looking for on the border of Queens County, Belmont Racetrack, was arguably the most significant milestone in the development of modern-day Elmont. Originally known as Fosters Meadow, the 650 acres of land included a turreted Tudor-Gothic mansion owned by William de Forest Manice, with the opening of Belmont Park in 1905, Elmont reached a turning point in its history
10.
Field hockey
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Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. The earliest origins of the date back to the Middle Ages in England, Scotland, France. The game can be played on a field or a turf field as well as an indoor board surface. Each team plays with eleven players, including the goalie, players use sticks made out of wood, carbon fibre, fibre glass or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities to hit a round, hard, plastic ball. The length of the stick depends on the players individual height, only one end of the stick is allowed to be used. Goalies often have a different kind of stick, however they can use an ordinary field hockey stick. The specific goal-keeping sticks have another curve at the end of the stick, the uniform consists of shin guards, shoes, shorts, a mouth guard and a jersey. Today, the game is played globally, with particular popularity throughout Western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Field Hockey is the national game of India and Pakistan. The term field hockey is used primarily in Canada and the United States where ice hockey is more popular, in Sweden the term landhockey is used. To some degree also in Norway and it is a section of Norways Bandy Association. Until recently they called it hockey, when it was changed to landhockey, during play, goal keepers are the only players who are allowed to touch the ball with any part of their body, while field players play the ball with the flat side of their stick. Goal keepers also cannot play the ball with the back of their stick, whoever scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout, there are many variations to overtime play that depend on the league and tournament play. In college play, an overtime period consists of a 10-minute golden goal period with seven players for each team. If a tie remains, the game enters a one-on-one competition where each team chooses 5 players to dribble from the 25 yard line down to the circle against the opposing goalie. The player has 8 seconds to score on the goalie keeping it in bounds, the play ends after a goal is scored, the ball goes out of bounds, a foul is committed or time expires. If the tie still persists extra rounds thereafter until one team has scored, the FIH is also responsible for organising the Hockey Rules Board and developing the rules for the game. A popular variant of field hockey is indoor field hockey, which differs in a number of respects while embodying the principles of hockey
11.
Volleyball
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Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to points by grounding a ball on the other teams court under organized rules. It has been a part of the program of the Summer Olympic Games since 1964. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court, the team may touch the ball up to 3 times but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, the ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push the ball with any part of the body. A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking as well as passing, setting, the game took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball. Another indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten miles away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, only four years before. Mintonette was designed to be a sport, less rough than basketball, for older members of the YMCA. The first rules, written down by William G Morgan, called for a net 6 ft 6 in high, a 25 ft ×50 ft court, and any number of players. A match was composed of nine innings with three serves for each team in each inning, and no limit to the number of contacts for each team before sending the ball to the opponents court. In case of an error, a second try was allowed. Hitting the ball into the net was considered a foul —except in the case of the first-try serve, Volleyball rules were slightly modified by the International YMCA Training School and the game spread around the country to various YMCAs. The first official ball used in volleyball is disputed, some say that Spalding created the first official ball in 1896. In 1917, the game was changed from 21 to 15 points, in 1919, about 16,000 volleyballs were distributed by the American Expeditionary Forces to their troops and allies, which sparked the growth of volleyball in new countries. The first country outside the United States to adopt volleyball was Canada in 1900, an international federation, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, was founded in 1947, and the first World Championships were held in 1949 for men and 1952 for women. The sport is now popular in Brazil, in Europe, in Russia, and in countries including China. Beach volleyball, a variation of the played on sand. Volleyball is also a sport at the Paralympics managed by the World Organization Volleyball for Disabled, nudists were early adopters of the game with regular organized play in clubs as early as the late 1920s
12.
Softball
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Softball is a variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. It was invented in 1887 in Chicago as an indoor game and it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground, softball, kitten ball, and because it was also played by women, ladies baseball. The name softball was given to the game in 1926 because the used to be soft. A tournament held in 1933 at the Chicago Worlds Fair spurred interest in the game, the Amateur Softball Association of America governs the game in the United States and sponsors annual sectional and World Series championships. Womens fastpitch softball became a Summer Olympic sport in 1996, but it were dropped from the 2012 Games, there are three types of softball. In fastpitch softball, the pitch is fast, there are nine players on the field at one time, modified softball restricts the windmill windup of the pitcher, although the pitcher is allowed to throw as hard as possible with the restricted back swing. Softball rules vary somewhat from those of baseball, despite the name, the ball used in softball is not very soft. It is about 12 in in circumference, which is 3 in larger than a baseball, Softball recreational leagues for children often use an 11-inch ball. In fast pitch softball the entire infield is sand, whereas the infield in baseball is grass except at the bases which are sand, the earliest known softball game was played in Chicago, Illinois on Thanksgiving Day,1887. It took place at the Farragut Boat Club at a gathering to hear the outcome of the Yale University, when the score was announced and bets were settled, a Yale alumnus threw a boxing glove at a Harvard supporter. The other person grabbed a took a swing at it, george Hancock called out Play ball. And the game began, with the boxing glove tightened into a ball and this first contest ended with a score of 41–40. The ball, being soft, was fielded barehanded, george Hancock is credited as the games inventor for his development of ball and an undersized bat in the next week. The Farragut Club soon set rules for the game, which spread quickly to outsiders, envisioned as a way for baseball players to maintain their skills during the winter, the sport was called Indoor Baseball. Under the name of Indoor-Outdoor, the game moved outside in the year. In 1895 Lewis Rober, Sr. of Minneapolis organized outdoor games as exercise for firefighters, Rober may not have been familiar with the Farragut Club rules. Fire Station No.19 in Minneapolis, Robers post from 1896 to 1906, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in part for its association with the sports development, the first softball league outside the United States was organized in Toronto in 1897. The name softball dates back to 1926, the name was coined by Walter Hakanson of the YMCA at a meeting of the National Recreation Congress
13.
Tennis
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Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent or between two teams of two players each. Each player uses a racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return, the player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society, the sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis and it had close connections both to various field games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport of real tennis. The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s, two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. Tennis is played by millions of players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. Historians believe that the ancient origin lay in 12th century northern France. Louis X of France was a player of jeu de paume, which evolved into real tennis. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, in due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe. Because of the accounts of his death, Louis X is historys first tennis player known by name. Another of the enthusiasts of the game was King Charles V of France. It wasnt until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called tennis, from the French term tenez, an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent. It was popular in England and France, although the game was played indoors where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, during the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis declined, new racket sports emerged in England. This in turn led to the codification of rules for many sports, including lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls. In 1872, along with two doctors, they founded the worlds first tennis club in Leamington Spa. Evans, turfgrass agronomist, Sports historians all agree that deserves much of the credit for the development of modern tennis, according to Honor Godfrey, museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield popularized this game enormously
14.
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
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Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22,1907 as Pablo Beach, the city is part of group of communities collectively referred to as the Jacksonville Beaches. These communities include Mayport, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, when the city of Jacksonville consolidated with Duval County in 1968, Jacksonville Beach, together with Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Baldwin, voted to retain their own municipal governments. As a result, citizens of Jacksonville Beach are also eligible to vote in election for the City of Jacksonville. As of the 2010 census, Jacksonville Beach had a population of 21,362. The area around present-day Jacksonville Beach was first settled by Spanish settlers, Spanish missions were established from Mayport to St. Augustine. Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain by treaty in 1763, only to have Spain regain it again, American river pilots and fishermen came to Hazard, present-day Mayport, and established a port. In the late 19th century, developers began to see the potential in Duval Countys oceanfront as a resort, in 1883 a group of investors formed the Jacksonville and Atlantic Railroad with the intention of developing a resort community that would be connected to Jacksonville by rail. The first settlers were William Edward Scull, an engineer and surveyor. They lived in a tent two blocks east of Pablo Historical Park, a second tent was the general store and post office. On August 22,1884, Mrs. Scull was appointed postmaster, mail was dispatched by horse and buggy up the beach to Mayport, and from there to Jacksonville by steamer. The Sculls built the first house in 1884 on their tent site, the settlement was named Ruby for their first daughter. On May 13,1886, the town was renamed Pablo Beach after the San Pablo River. In 1885, the San Pablo Diego Beach Land Co. sold town lots ranging from $50 to $100 each along with 5 to 10 acres lots from $10 to $20 per acre within 3 miles of the new seaside resort Pablo Beach. In September 1892, work on the road to Pablo Beach was begun. The first resort hotel called the Murray Hall Hotel was established in mid 1886, by 1900 the railway company began to have financial difficulties and Henry Flagler took over as part of his Florida East Coast Railway. In late 1900 the railway was changed to standard gauge and was extended to Mayport, the Spanish–American War broke out in 1898. The 3rd Nebraska arrived July 22,1898, for training and they were led by three-time presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan
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Schechter Day School Network
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The network provides guidance and resources for its member schools in the United States and Canada. The first Conservative day school, Beth El Day School in Rockaway Park, Queens, in 1966, Solomon Schechter School of Westchester opened in White Plains, New York. The Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, the first Schechter school on the West Coast of the United States was Akiba Academy in Los Angeles, brought into existence in 1968 by a loose coalition of rabbis and leaders of several congregations. As additional day schools opened in Los Angeles, it merged with its host congregation and is known as Sinai Akiba Academy. Also well known are the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston, the Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan, by 1968, a high school in Brooklyn, New York was opened. Today there are approximately 50 Solomon Schechter Day Schools, including high schools. Despite the dropping numbers of Conservative Jews worldwide, some of the Solomon Schechter Schools have continued to increase their number of students. One such school is the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex, the school is also one of the largest, consisting of two campuses, an Upper and Lower School, both located in West Orange, New Jersey. Solomon Schechter School of Westchester opened a new school campus in Hartsdale, New York. The school now also has two campuses, both in Westchester, with more than 900 students in grades K-12, from 1993 to 2012 the network lost a third of its schools, as total enrollment dropped from 17,500 to 11,300 over the two decades. On July 1,2016 The Schechter Day School Network became part of Prizmah, torah Umesorah-National Society for Hebrew Day Schools Official website
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2013 Maccabiah Games
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The 19th Maccabiah were the 19th incarnation of the Maccabiah Games, which took place July 18 to 30,2013. The games brought together 7500 athletes, making it the third largest international sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games, the Maccabiah held competitions in 42 disciplines in 34 sports. A number of new sports were introduced or brought back including Archery, Equestrian and Handball, the opening ceremonies for the 19th Maccabiah took place for the second time at the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. The games officially opened by Shimon Peres, US President Barack Obama greeted the Maccabiah through a prerecorded video. Prime Minister David Cameron also greeted the Maccabiah and team GB, during the parade of nations, giant helium balloons with the country the delegation represented accommodated each delegation. Coincidentally, the ceremony took place on Nelson Mandelas birthday. The South African delegation carried with them a banner reading, Celebrating our legacy – Mandela Day. U. S. Olympian Aly Raisman lit the Maccabiah cauldron, the opening ceremonies were celebrated with a number of popular musicians such as Rami Kleinstein and Harel Skaat. Additionally, the Grammy-winning, Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari and the The X Factor finalist Carly Rose Sonenclar also performed at the ceremony, marcel Felder of Uruguay won a gold medal in mens tennis. Israeli Laetitia Beck won both a gold medal and a team gold medal at the Games, shooting 69 in each of the three rounds, finishing 9-under,15 strokes ahead of her next competitor. Israeli sprinter Donald Sanford broke the Israeli record and won the medal in the 400 meter race with a time of 45.65. Israeli Alex Averbuch returned from retirement and won the medal in the pole vault. Israeli swimmer Amit Ivry won a medal in the Womens 100m freestyle. Israels Alex Tripolski won the medal in the 10 meter air pistol with a score of 571. Benjamin Feinman, from Davie, Florida, a recent high school graduate and this was the first no-hitter in the history of the Maccabiah Games. Team USA, which also had Israeli-American Dean Kremer pitching for it, went on to take the medal in baseball. Participating Teams Debuting countries The 2013 Maccabiah Games programme featured 34 sports encompassing 42 disciplines, official Maccabiah 2013 Opening Ceremony Info Unofficial Summaries of each of the Games
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Women's Professional Basketball League
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The Womens Professional Basketball League was a professional womens basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981, the league was the first professional womens basketball league in the United States. The league began with a player draft held in Manhattans Essex House in July 1978, molly Bolin, who grew up in Moravia, Iowa, became the first player signed by any team in the WBL when she was signed by the Iowa Cornets. The Does had a crowd of 7,824 at the game, the league was able to arrange an all-star game in 1979, which was played at the Felt Forum in New York Citys Madison Square Garden in front of 2,731 fans. The East beat the Midwest by a score of 112–99, althea Gwyn of the New York Stars led the East with 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Chicago Hustle players Debra Waddy Rossow with 26 points and Rita Easterling with 19 points led the Midwest. Easterling, who also grabbed 18 rebounds, was named the games most valuable player. Behind 36 points by Paula Mayo, the Houston Angels defeated the Iowa Cornets on May 2,1979, to take the leagues first championship, Stars coach Dean Meminger called the game the culmination of a year of hard work. In what proved to be a harbinger of things to come, however, referees and team coach Terry Kunze tried to cajole the players back onto the court to play their game, but were unsuccessful. The team, which had been averaging 1,000 to 1,500 in attendance per game were suspended from the WPBL by commissioner Sherwin Fisher, the Nebraska Wranglers won the leagues 1980–81 title, defeating the Dallas Diamonds three games to two. In the fifth and final game, Rosie Walker led the victors with 39 points, while the Wranglers defense held Nancy Lieberman of Dallas to 12 points, by the fall of 1981, the league was showing what The New York Times described as feeble flickers of life. That November, commissioner Dave Almstead announced the league had disbanded, Almstead, who had succeeded Fisher as league commissioner in May 1981, announced the leagues shutdown after trying unsuccessfully to contact the surviving eight teams investors and team owners. Some of the players were able to play again in the 1984 Womens American Basketball Association. She was one of the women that decided not to play in a Fillies game due to contractual violations by the owners and she was a 1980 WBL All-Star and described as the Dr. J of her time because of her crafty athletic moves. She later became the highest ranking Afro-Puerto Rican in the Los Angeles Police Department, semifinals Houston 2–0 New York Iowa 2–1 Chicago Finals Houston 3–1 Iowa Philadelphia and Washington disbanded after 10 games
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1985 Maccabiah Games
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The 1985 12th Maccabiah Games brought over 4,000 athletes to Israel from 37 nations to compete in 28 sports. Twenty years after his first appearance in the Maccabiah, Olympic Champion Mark Spitz returned to Israel to carry the Opening Ceremony’s Torch into Ramat Gan Stadium. He was accompanied by Shirli Shapiro, Anok Spitzer, and Shlomit Romano, seven mens and 14 womens records were broken in swimming, with the U. S. team winning all but three of the gold medals in this category. Twelve new mens records and 7 new womens records were broken in track, the U. S. won 109 gold medals,90 silver medals, and 74 bronze medals, slightly fewer than half of the medals won by all other countries combined. Mark Berger, who had won a medal at the Olympics the year prior. A Junior Maccabiah was held for the first time, the number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that community contributed. Summaries of each of the Games
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