Donkey basketball

thumb|Photograph of a donkey basketball player.

'''Donkey basketball''' is a variation of the standard basketball game, played on a standard basketball court, but in which the players ride donkeys.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 25, 2015 |title='Donkey Basketball' Alive and Well in Rural America |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/donkey-basketball-alive-and-well-in-rural-america |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=Fox News |agency=Associated Press |language=en-US}}</ref> A donkey basketball game is usually staged as a one-time fundraising event, typically in public schools.<ref>{{cite news |title=Donkey basketball game to raise money for Hominy High School |url=https://www.newson6.com/story/67d03594f5d0d5570260830a/donkey-basketball-game-to-raise-money-for-hominy-high-school |date=March 11, 2025 |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=KOTV News |language=en}}</ref> Commercial farms<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Johnson |date=December 17, 2024 |title=Donkey ball lives on after 90 years of tossing small-town celebrities |url=https://www.agweek.com/livestock/donkey-ball-lives-on-after-90-years-of-tossing-small-town-celebrities |access-date=2026-04-17 |magazine=Agriculture Week |language=en}}</ref> provide donkeys and equipment, splitting the proceeds with the hiring party. Donkey basketball has been practiced in the United States since the 1930s.<ref name="New York Times"/>

Donkey basketball has been targeted by animal rights activists, who claim the sport is cruel to animals.<ref name="WMHS">{{cite news |url=http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/86474532.html |title=PETA Calls for Valley School to Cancel Donkey Basketball Game |last=Pulley |first=Mary |date=2010-03-04 |website=WHSV News |access-date=2010-03-06 |archive-date=2010-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318052246/http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/86474532.html |url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref name="Modern Farmer">{{cite news |url=http://modernfarmer.com/2014/12/dark-side-donkey-basketball/ |work=Modern Farmer |title=The Dark Side of Donkey Basketball |last=Roth |first=Anna |date=2014-12-09 |access-date=2015-09-23}}</ref> Critics cite problems caused by inexperienced participants handling the donkeys, such as the beating and kicking of donkeys by the riders and donkey owners, and the intentional starvation of donkeys a few days prior to a basketball game to prevent them from urinating or defecating on the basketball courts.<ref name="WMHS"/><ref name="Modern Farmer"/> Promoters claim the events are "supervised" and the animals are "treated humanely."<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Katie |title=Donkey Ball Holds On Despite Criticism |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/sports/othersports/18donkey.html |access-date=2011-09-16 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 17, 2009 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

A related game, called Donkey Baseball, was popular in the 1930s, with all players, except the batter, pitcher and catcher, straddled on donkeys. The batter would mount a donkey when running bases too.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=John |title=Baseball played astride donkeys once entertained crowds around the D.C. area |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/donkey-baseball-washington-dc/2021/08/14/609b85d6-fc6d-11eb-9c0e-97e29906a970_story.html |access-date=2023-04-05 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 14, 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> A fielder could dismount a donkey to pick up a ball, but must continue to hold the reins, and must remount before throwing. If he did not, the opposing team would be awarded the base.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://bossierpress.com/history-donkey-baseball-was-the-sports-fad-of-the-1930s/ |title=History: Donkey Baseball was the sports fad of the 1930s |newspaper=Bossier Press-Tribune}}{{dead link|date=April 2026}}</ref> The game was created in 1934 by Ray L. Doan, and was the subject of a 1935 short film.<ref>{{cite web |title=Donkey Baseball — 1935 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcNWfcdEJ6E |website=YouTube}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Equestrian sports Category:Forms of basketball