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SPORTS / How many people play basketball in the Region of Murcia?

Some 19,200 men and 8,000 women have played basketball in the last month in the region. The number of people who play it at least once a year amounts to 75,900

More than 219,000 Murcians have access to a basketball, even if it is shared with family or friends

The number of people with a basketball sports license in the Region of Murcia rose, in 2021, to 4,091: 3,177 of them belonging to men and 914 to women

At least 27,200 people play basketball every month in the Region of Murcia, 19,200 of them men and 8,000 women. The figure has been published in this Kelbet estimate, for which data from the 2015 and 2020 Sports Habits surveys and the 2022 Sports Statistics Yearbook of the Ministry of Culture and Sports have been used. This estimate also shows that 75,900 people play basketball sporadically, at least once a year, in the region.

The number of Murcians who have a basketball, even shared with family or friends, is at least 219,000 people. This is the number of people who could easily access a ball, not the number of units sold, as these sporting goods are often shared.

The people who play basketball the most are in the age range between 25 and 54 years, although it must be taken into account that this range is wider than the youngest (15 to 24 years). In addition, the official data does not include the habits of people under 15 years of age, excluding those young players in children’s categories that abound in many territories.

Basketball is, after football, the second team sport with more federated athletes. In the Region of Murcia there were, in 2021, 4,091 basketball sports licences, of which 3,177 belonged to male players and 914 to female players.

At the state level, each month some 826,300 people play basketball in Spain, of which 583,400 are men and 242,900 women. However, the page that authored the estimate calculates that more than 2.3 million people play basketball sporadically, at least once a year. More than seven million people have access to a basketball, even if it is shared.

As for federated sport, in 2021 there were 272,451 basketball licenses in Spain, 173,968 corresponding to men and 98,483 to women. Catalonia is the community with the most federated athletes, followed by the Community of Madrid and the Valencian Community.

How did basketball come about?

James Naismith was a physical education teacher who found it difficult to teach outside during the harsh winters of Massachusetts. He had the idea of ​​inventing what at that time was a small game so that his university students could compete in sports in a covered and closed space.

The year was 1891, and Naismith did not want to settle for adapting other predominant games at the time, based on force and contact. Quite the contrary, he tried to create a physical activity in which dexterity predominated over strength and contact was less so that the students would not injure themselves.

Numerous sources suggest that Naismith was inspired by the traditional Canadian game ‘Duck on a rock’, a game of aim consisting of knocking down one stone by throwing another. Apparently this game also included a chase, as a catch, if the player throwing the stone missed.

However, despite the fact that this game is always mentioned, it is easy to find similarities between basketball and other Latin American sports from pre-Hispanic times.

Of course, a lot has happened since 1891 and the subsequent years during which basketball quickly became popular. The first baskets of peaches that served as baskets soon evolved and the first rules, more typical of being at home than of an official discipline, soon became a ‘regulation’.

Basketball had a great expansion in the North American university environment thanks to youth associations and before the 20th century games were already being played in Europe and Asia.

Today, of course, basketball enjoys excellent health as a physical activity and as a show. A sport that will surely continue to make the players sweat and give fans emotions.

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