RRI Sports Club – 100 years of Romanian basketball
A short history of Romanian basketball
Florin Orban, 03.11.2020, 13:45
Romanian basketball is one of the most popular sports with the young generation in Romania. Invented as a sport in 1891 in the USA, it took nearly 30 years for basketball to reach Romania. The first demonstrative matches were played in 1920. The balls and the backboards were provided by the US Army which, after its victory in the First World War, left behind all the sports gear which soldiers used for R&R.
According to the webpage of the Romanian Basketball Federation, the first regulation was published on December 4, 1921 in an issue of the “Sports Echo” (Ecoul sportiv) daily newspaper, in an article called “Ball in the basket”. The first standardized basketball court was set up in Bucharest at Mihai Viteazu high school in 1922. The first official match was hosted the very same year, when the Mihai Viteazu team won 11-9 against the students from Dimitrie Cantemir. 1929 saw the first domestic championship, with the participation of 5 teams from Bucharest: the Romanian Tennis Club, PTT, YMCA, Viforul Dacia and the Romanian Rugby Club. In the final, Tennis Club defeated YMCA 38-32. 1931 marked a milestone for Romanian basketball, when the Romanian Basketball and Volleyball Federation was founded, with Constantin Marinescu at its helm. In 1932 the Federation became an affiliate of the International Basketball Federation.
After the Second World War, Romanian basketball gained in popularity. The first notable results in international competitions followed, especially in womens competitions, with Romanias national team coming very close to stepping onto the podium at the European Championships of 1962, 1964 and 1966. Before the 1989 revolution, the womens domestic championship saw university team battling over the trophy. Stiinta Bucharest and Universitatea Cluj, for instance, each won 11 titles. On the other hand, Bucharest rivals Steaua and Dinamo dominated the mens competition, winning 21 and 18 trophies each, respectively. The supremacy of teams from Bucharest would eventually end after 1991.
The first trophy in European inter-club competitions was won by CSU Asesoft Poiesti. In 2005, the team won the FIBA Europe Cup after defeating Lokomotiv Moscow 75-74 in the finals. A number of players also compelled recognition in foreign championships. Alin Savu is the only Romanian player to have been drafted two times into Europes team, in 1967 and 1968. Another player, Ghita Muresan, made history in the NBA, where he enjoyed a seven-year-long career. (Translated by V. Palcu)
