ATTENTION: BASKETBALL COACH |

 

BASKETBALL GOLDEN JUBILEE

NAISMITH MEMORIAL COMMITTEE
Springfield, Mass.

 

MAYOR ROGER L. PUTNAM -

Chairman

Dear Coach:

A short time ago we addressed a letter to your athletic director, informing him
of the Golden Jubilee of Basketball campaign which is now well under way. There
is a possibility that you may not have seen the communication, so I am writing
you now to give you the picture and to ask your wholehearted cooperation.

In this the fiftieth year of basketball's existence, the leading figures of the
sports world have arranged to commemorate the name of Dr. James Naismith -- the
father of basketball -- by erecting in his honor at Springfield, Mass., the site
of the first game, a suitable memorial in the form of a Temple of Basketball,
containing a Museum and Hall of Fame.

In order to accomplish this purpose, high school and college teams everywhere have
been asked to designate one of their best regularly scheduled home games as a
Golden Ball Game, the receipts of which are to go to the Naismith Memorial Fund.

Already, in answer to our original inquiry, hundreds of institutions all over the
country have agreed gladly to cooperate. In return for their agreement to play
a Golden Ball Game we have assured them not only of our gratitude, but also the
invaluable publicity which will be afforded them nationally through channels
already prepared by us.

Not only will the teams and players receive the benefits of this national publicity
campaign, but they will also have the distinction of having their names and that

of their team, together with a photograph and record of the Golden Ball Game, pre-
served in perpetuity in the archives of the Hall of Fame. Future and present
generations will have access to the Naismith Memorial and to its records at all
times.

If your home schedule is not yet arranged, don't let it hold up your commitment
for playing a Golden Ball Game. The date of the game is not so important as the
fact that you will play one. Any game on your home schedule is satisfactory to us,
but the better the game the more successful it will be from every standpoint.
Enclosed is a card which you should fill out at once in order to enter your team.

Basketball has done a lot for the youth of the country, but never have its millions
of adherents paid fitting homage to its founder, Dr. Naismith. This Memorial will
not only immortalize him as a great sports figure and benefactor, but will help
basketball immeasurably by crystallizing the ideals and traditions of the sport in

a permanent edifice and preserving the records of all great players past and present.

Sincerely yours,