Women Playing Basketball: Top Teams and Breakthroughs

Though discussions around sports often default to talking about men’s teams, we should not take for granted the contributions of women players over the years. Women playing basketball has done plenty to elevate the sport nationally and internationally. Women’s teams have produced iconic players. But where did it all begin?

It’s high time for an examination of this beautiful game and the female players that dominate in it. Where does the history of women’s basketball start and who was the first woman to play basketball? Come with us to retrace the paths and to find out some surprising facts about women’s basketball through the ages. You can use the table below to navigate to points of interest at any time or simply keep reading.

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• What was the first women’s basketball team?
• The History of Women’s Basketball
• The Future of Women’s Sports

First All-Women Basketball Team

There are slightly varying accounts about the first women’s basketball team. If you consider the first women who played basketball that we have a record of, it would have to be the students of Senda Berenson at Smith College in 1892. This was just one year after the sport was introduced among men. However, the first Smiths players took on the sport as a source of physical enrichment, not so much to play in competition, though that would come soon enough! Let’s go back to 1892…

History of Women’s Basketball

As mentioned, the history of women’s basketball truly starts with Senda Berenson, a young teacher at Smith College who read about the invention of basketball and thought it might suit her female students. While it was invented for men as a sport that could be played indoors during the harsher winter weather, it could be considered the very first team sport that women participated in, in the United States.

Early Years: Female Recreation

The beginning of women’s basketball is full of fascinating contradictions. On one hand, Berenson was a believer in equal pay for women and thought physical activity would help women become stronger in the workforce, and thus more able to campaign for equality. However, she was wary of basketball becoming a competitive sport for women and she modified the rules to make the game more acceptable for female players.

For example, women players played on a court divided into three spaces, where three women held each space and could not vary their positions. This made the activity slightly less strenuous and more “ladylike”; women also were not allowed to hold onto the ball for too long or to be aggressive in grabbing it from other players.

The game was made more challenging still by the restrictions posed by women’s fashion at the time. Wearing trousers was not yet an acceptable choice for most women in the 19th century, but eventually a special form of bloomers were created to help female athletes have more freedom of movement in sport. Interestingly, men were not allowed to watch these early games, perhaps for concerns of modesty – but the outfits still drew public ire.

The Struggle Between Femininity and Competition

One of the most difficult things for the first female basketball players was the constant struggle between being an athlete and appearing feminine. Berenson was aware of this perceived contradiction and did what she could to keep her players from becoming overly aggressive or competitive on the court. As the sport gained in popularity and spread across the United States, other attempts were made to keep female players appearing feminine on court.

Several critics called for the sport to be abolished or tried to enforce strict rules around it, for example asking female players to maintain a clean and tidy appearance and decorum on the court. Some events fused more typical feminine social gatherings with games to make basketball more acceptable. A women’s team called the Red Heads was even sent around the US to play men’s teams, in full makeup.

Though female athletes have always had to deal with some degree of social pressure, it gradually became less extreme than in those early days. The sport was not banned and teams continued to crop up around communities and colleges across the States, leading to the first official games. Though intramural games had existed, the first women’s basketball teams to compete officially on a collegiate level were those at Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. This game happened in 1896.

In just four years, women’s basketball had swept the nation with its popularity, with women playing basketball in many cities. Unfortunately, it still faced criticism, with some female athletic organizations trying to prevent the sport’s commercialization, something they had perceived happening in men’s basketball. They tried to reduce competition, travel for games, publicity and even awards for women’s basketball. Because of this, the first professional team did not exist until 1936, 38 years after a professional men’s team was established.

In 1936, men’s basketball was added to the Olympics. It took another 40 years for women’s basketball to have its place. The ‘70s brought an increased interest in the sport as colleges moved to comply with equal funding laws within their sports programs and to feed talent into the Olympics. A professional league was finally established in 1978 though it only lasted for three years. Eventually the WNBA was formed in 1996 and the game has never looked back.

Women’s Basketball Now

Women’s basketball has grown in popularity, with increased viewership and participation year by year. There are currently 12 WNBA teams representing the US and the women’s Final Four is televised every year. On an international scale, the sport is overseen by FIBA, the International Basketball Federation. Women’s basketball also has its own world cup, known as the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.

The sport is played at the university level, at the Olympics and other international competitions, and in professional leagues in many countries. At the Olympics, the United States has dominated, taking home Gold for the last seven years (the first two iterations were won by the former Soviet Union).

The FIBA tournament has existed longer than the women’s basketball category in the Olympics and for twenty of its early years, the Soviet Union also won many titles. This was partially due to the United States’ boycotting of some major events for political reasons. The US swung back into the lead and has won an overwhelming 11 titles up until now.

In the US, the WNBA is also known for its attention to diversity and inclusion on several levels. It has made a future in sports possible for many women and has championed equality in the women’s game. It has also paved the way for BIPOC players and coaches, and celebrated its LGBTQIA members and fans. It has also produced some of the best women’s basketball players of all time, like Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings, Cynthia Cooper, Maya Moore, Lisa Leslie and Sue Bird.

The Future of Women’s Sports

As you can see from the timeline of women’s basketball’s development, women’s sports have typically been decades behind men’s in terms of recognition and financial parity. Many individual teams and leagues have been working to close the gaps. Women’s soccer in the US, for example, hit a huge turning point with its Word Cup wins in 2015 and 2019. The popularity of the team garnered them support and leverage in arguing for equal pay to the men’s team. This has been an example for many, including 2023’s winners, Spain, who continue to fight for better treatment from their governing organization, RFEF.

While basketball has had similar milestones, it unfortunately remains far behind in compensation when compared to men’s basketball, at least in the US. In May 2023, David Berri reported on the pay gap between the WNBA and NBA. Though the WNBA is pulling in a reported $180 to $200 million a year, its players are making about 10% of revenue, as opposed to the NBA’s 50-50 split agreement. Top WNBA players have had to deal with harsher salary caps, resulting in players like Brittney Griner supplementing incomes by playing internationally – like in Russia, where she was arrested in February 2022.

According to Berri, the WNBA’s revenue would be monumentally higher if it had negotiated better TV deals. Hopefully fans and players can continue to put pressure on the league to gain the equal treatment they deserve.