Basketball was first played in Portland, Oregon by the YMCA during a gymnastic exhibition on March 17, 1895. It was annonced after the game that teams would be formed by the West Portland and East Portland YMCA branches to play competitively.[1] That year the Albany and Salem branch YMCA also formed a basketball team.[1] Women's basketball was introduced to Portland at the Multnomah Athletic Club on December 21, 1895 in front of 400 spectators.[2] Boy On January 1, 1898 the first basketball game was played in Clatskanie, Oregon in front of "several hundred" spectators according to The Oregonian.[3]