Helms Athletic Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Helms Athletic Foundation was an athletic
foundation
based in Los Angeles
, founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder and Paul Helms
. It put together a panel of experts to select National Champion teams and make All-America team
selections in a number of college sports including football
and basketball
. The panel met annually to vote on a National Champion until 1982 and retroactively ranked football teams dating back to 1883 and basketball back to 1901. The Helms Foundation also operated a Hall of Fame for both college sports.
Besides collegiate athletics, the Foundation operated halls of fame
for professional football, Major League Baseball
, the Pacific Coast League
, basketball
, golf
, tennis
, swimming
, auto Rracing and track and field
.
After Paul Helms' death in 1957, United Savings and Loan became the Helms Foundation's benefactor and when United merged with Citizen Savings Bank in 1973, the Athletic Foundation became known as the Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation. It was again renamed in 1982 when First Interstate Bank assumed sponsorship for the foundation's final year. Paul Helms started Helms Bakery
in Southern California, which was the official bread (Helms Olympic bread) of the 1932 Olympics
. Helms Hall was located on 8760 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles CA, 90034. The Helms Olympics neon sign still can be seen on top of the building.
When the Helms Foundation dissolved, its historical holdings were absorbed into the collection of the Amateur Athletic Foundation.
started, the Helms and NCAA Division I champions were the same, except for 1939, 1940, 1944, and 1954 when Oregon, Indiana, Utah, and La Salle respectively won the tournament. Some schools claim a Helms nomination as a national championship.
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
foundation
Foundation (charity)
A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that will typically either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes....
based in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder and Paul Helms
Paul Helms
Paul Joy Helms was an American executive in the baking industry and sports philanthropist. He founded the Helms Bakery in 1926 and the Helms Athletic Foundation with Bill Schroeder in 1936....
. It put together a panel of experts to select National Champion teams and make All-America team
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
selections in a number of college sports including football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. The panel met annually to vote on a National Champion until 1982 and retroactively ranked football teams dating back to 1883 and basketball back to 1901. The Helms Foundation also operated a Hall of Fame for both college sports.
Besides collegiate athletics, the Foundation operated halls of fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
for professional football, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, auto Rracing and track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
.
After Paul Helms' death in 1957, United Savings and Loan became the Helms Foundation's benefactor and when United merged with Citizen Savings Bank in 1973, the Athletic Foundation became known as the Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation. It was again renamed in 1982 when First Interstate Bank assumed sponsorship for the foundation's final year. Paul Helms started Helms Bakery
Helms Bakery
The Helms Bakery in Culver City, California was a notable industrial bakery of Southern California that operated from 1931 to 1969.In 1926, Paul Helms of New York took an early retirement for health reasons and moved his family to Southern California and its mild climate...
in Southern California, which was the official bread (Helms Olympic bread) of the 1932 Olympics
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...
. Helms Hall was located on 8760 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles CA, 90034. The Helms Olympics neon sign still can be seen on top of the building.
When the Helms Foundation dissolved, its historical holdings were absorbed into the collection of the Amateur Athletic Foundation.
Basketball
From 1939, when the NCAA TournamentNCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
started, the Helms and NCAA Division I champions were the same, except for 1939, 1940, 1944, and 1954 when Oregon, Indiana, Utah, and La Salle respectively won the tournament. Some schools claim a Helms nomination as a national championship.
| Year | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | Yale | 10-4 |
| 1902 | Minnesota | 11-0 |
| 1903 | Yale | 15-1 |
| 1904 | Columbia | 17-1 |
| 1905 | Columbia | 19-1 |
| 1906 | Dartmouth | 16-2 |
| 1907 | Chicago | 22-2 |
| 1908 | Chicago | 21-2 |
| 1909 | Chicago | 12-0 |
| 1910 | Columbia | 11-1 |
| 1911 | St John's-NY | 14-0 |
| 1912 | Wisconsin | 15-0 |
| 1913 | Navy | 9-0 |
| 1914 | Wisconsin | 15-0 |
| 1915 | Illinois | 16-0 |
| 1916 | Wisconsin | 20-1 |
| 1917 | Washington St | 25-1 |
| 1918 | Syracuse | 16-1 |
| 1919 | Minnesota | 13-0 |
| 1920 | Penn | 22-1 |
| 1921 | Penn | 21-2 |
| 1922 | Kansas | 16-2 |
| 1923 | Kansas | 17-1 |
| 1924 | North Carolina | 26-0 |
| 1925 | Princeton | 21-2 |
| 1926 | Syracuse | 19-1 |
| 1927 | Notre Dame | 19-1 |
| 1928 | Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball program of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pitt men's basketball team competes in the Big East Conference and plays their home games in... |
21-0 |
| 1929 | Montana St | 36-2 |
| 1930 | Pittsburgh | 23-2 |
| 1931 | Northwestern Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball The Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team representing Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference. Men's basketball was first introduced at Northwestern in 1901... |
16-1 |
| 1932 | Purdue Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball The Purdue Boilermakers basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the Big Ten Conference. Purdue basketball holds the record for most Big Ten Championships with 22, along with being the only program in the conference to boast winning records... |
17-1 |
| 1933 | Kentucky | 21-3 |
| 1934 | Wyoming | 26-3 |
| 1935 | NYU | 19-1 |
| 1936 | Notre Dame | 22-2-1 |
| 1937 | Stanford | 25-2 |
| 1938 | Temple | 23-2 |
| 1939 | LIU-Brooklyn | 24-0 |
| 1940 | USC | 20-3 |
| 1941 | Wisconsin | 20-3 |
| 1942 | Stanford | 27-4 |
| 1943 | Wyoming | 31-2 |
| 1944 | Army | 15-0 |
| 1945 | Oklahoma A&M | 27-4 |
| 1946 | Oklahoma A&M | 31-2 |
| 1947 | Holy Cross | 27-3 |
| 1948 | Kentucky | 36-3 |
| 1949 | Kentucky | 32-2 |
| 1950 | CCNY | 24-5 |
| 1951 | Kentucky | 32-2 |
| 1952 | Kansas | 28-3 |
| 1953 | Indiana | 23-3 |
| 1954 | Kentucky | 25-0 |
| 1955 | San Francisco | 28-1 |
| 1956 | San Francisco | 29-0 |
| 1957 | North Carolina | 32-0 |
| 1958 | Kentucky | 23-6 |
| 1959 | California | 25-4 |
| 1960 | Ohio State | 25-3 |
| 1961 | Cincinnati | 27-3 |
| 1962 | Cincinnati | 29-2 |
| 1963 | Loyola-IL | 29-2 |
| 1964 | UCLA | 30-0 |
| 1965 | UCLA | 28-2 |
| 1966 | Texas Western | 28-1 |
| 1967 | UCLA | 30-0 |
| 1968 | UCLA | 29-1 |
| 1969 | UCLA | 29-1 |
| 1970 | UCLA | 28-2 |
| 1971 | UCLA | 29-1 |
| 1972 | UCLA | 30-0 |
| 1973 | UCLA | 30-0 |
| 1974 | NC State | 30-1 |
| 1975 | UCLA | 28-3 |
| 1976 | Indiana | 32-0 |
| 1977 | Marquette | 25-7 |
| 1978 | Kentucky | 30-2 |
| 1979 | Michigan State | 26-6 |
| 1980 | Louisville | 33-3 |
| 1981 | Indiana | 26-9 |
| 1982 | North Carolina | 32-2 |
| Source | ||
Football
| Year | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1883 | Yale | 8-0 |
| 1884 | Yale | 8-0-1 |
| 1885 | Princeton | 9-0 |
| 1886 | Yale | 9-0-1 |
| 1887 | Yale | 9-0 |
| 1888 | Yale | 13-0 |
| 1889 | Princeton | 10-0 |
| 1890 | Harvard | 11-0 |
| 1891 | Yale | 13-0 |
| 1892 | Yale | 13-0 |
| 1893 | Princeton | 11-0 |
| 1894 | Yale | 16-0 |
| 1895 | Pennsylvania | 14-0 |
| 1896 | Princeton | 10-0-1 |
| 1897 | Pennsylvania | 15-0 |
| 1898 | Harvard | 11-0 |
| 1899 | Harvard | 10-0-1 |
| 1900 | Yale | 12-0 |
| 1901 | Michigan | 11-0 |
| 1902 | Michigan | 11-0 |
| 1903 | Princeton | 11-0 |
| 1904 | Pennsylvania | 12-0 |
| 1905 | Chicago | 11-0 |
| 1906 | Princeton | 9-0-1 |
| 1907 | Yale | 9-0-1 |
| 1908 | Pennsylvania | 11-0-1 |
| 1909 | Yale | 10-0 |
| 1910 | Harvard | 8-0-1 |
| 1911 | Princeton | 8-0-2 |
| 1912 | Harvard | 9-0 |
| 1913 | Harvard | 9-0 |
| 1914 | Army | 9-0 |
| 1915 | Cornell | 9-0 |
| 1916 | Pittsburgh | 8-0 |
| 1917 | Georgia Tech | 9-0 |
| 1918 | Pittsburgh | 4-1 |
| 1919 | Harvard | 9-0-1 |
| 1920 | California | 9-0 |
| 1921 | Cornell | 8-0 |
| 1922 | Cornell | 8-0 |
| 1923 | Illinois | 8-0 |
| 1924 | Notre Dame | 10-0 |
| 1925 | Alabama | 10-0 |
| 1926 | Alabama Stanford |
9-0-1 10-0-1 |
| 1927 | Illinois | 7-0-1 |
| 1928 | Georgia Tech | 10-0 |
| 1929 | Notre Dame | 9-0 |
| 1930 | Notre Dame | 10-0 |
| 1931 | USC | 10-1 |
| 1932 | USC | 10-0 |
| 1933 | Michigan | 7-0-1 |
| 1934 | Minnesota | 8-0 |
| 1935 | Minnesota | 8-0 |
| 1936 | Minnesota | 7-1 |
| 1937 | California | 10-0-1 |
| 1938 | TCU | 11-0 |
| 1939 | Texas A&M | 11-0 |
| 1940 | Stanford | 10-0 |
| 1941 | Minnesota | 8-0 |
| 1942 | Wisconsin | 8-1-1 |
| 1943 | Notre Dame | 9-1 |
| 1944 | Army | 9-0 |
| 1945 | Army | 9-0 |
| 1946 | Army Notre Dame |
9-0-1 8-0-1 |
| 1947 | Notre Dame Michigan |
9-0 10-0 |
| 1948 | Michigan | 9-0 |
| 1949 | Notre Dame | 10-0 |
| 1950 | Oklahoma | 10-1 |
| 1951 | Michigan State | 9-0 |
| 1952 | Michigan State | 9-0 |
| 1953 | Notre Dame | 9-0-1 |
| 1954 | UCLA Ohio State |
9-0 10-0 |
| 1955 | Oklahoma | 11-0 |
| 1956 | Oklahoma | 10-0 |
| 1957 | Auburn | 10-0 |
| 1958 | LSU | 11-0 |
| 1959 | Syracuse | 11-0 |
| 1960 | Washington | 10-1 |
| 1961 | Alabama | 11-0 |
| 1962 | USC | 11-0 |
| 1963 | Texas | 11-0 |
| 1964 | Arkansas | 11-0 |
| 1965 | Michigan State | 10-1 |
| 1966 | Notre Dame Michigan State |
9-0-1 9-0-1 |
| 1967 | USC | 10-1 |
| 1968 | Ohio State | 10-0 |
| 1969 | Texas | 11-0 |
| 1970 | Nebraska | 11-0-1 |
| 1971 | Nebraska | 13-0 |
| 1972 | USC | 12-0 |
| 1973 | Notre Dame | 11-0 |
| 1974 | Oklahoma USC |
11-0 10-1-1 |
| 1975 | Ohio State Oklahoma |
11-1 11-1 |
| 1976 | Pittsburgh | 12-0 |
| 1977 | Notre Dame | 11-1 |
| 1978 | Alabama Oklahoma USC |
11-1 11-1 12-1 |
| 1979 | Alabama | 12-0 |
| 1980 | Georgia | 12-0 |
| 1981 | Clemson | 12-0 |
| 1982 | Penn State SMU |
11-1 11-0-1 |
| Source | ||
See also
- AP PollAP PollThe Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
- Bowl Championship SeriesBowl Championship SeriesThe Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
- Coaches PollCoaches PollThe USA Today Coaches' Poll is the current name for a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and Division I college basketball teams....
- Dickinson SystemDickinson SystemThe Dickinson System was a mathematical point formula that awarded national championships in college football. Devised by University of Illinois economics professor Frank G...
- Grantland Rice AwardGrantland Rice AwardThe Grantland Rice Trophy is an annual award presented in the United States since 1954 to the college football team adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America to be "national champion". Named for the legendary sportswriter, Grantland Rice, the trophy was the first national...
- Harris Interactive College Football PollHarris Interactive College Football PollThe Harris Interactive College Football Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football teams. The rankings are compiled by Harris Interactive, a market research company that specializes in Internet research....
- Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year
- Mythical National ChampionshipMythical National ChampionshipA mythical national championship is a colloquial term used to question the validity of national championship recognition that is not explicitly competitive...
- NCAA Division I-A national football championship
- Helms BakeryHelms BakeryThe Helms Bakery in Culver City, California was a notable industrial bakery of Southern California that operated from 1931 to 1969.In 1926, Paul Helms of New York took an early retirement for health reasons and moved his family to Southern California and its mild climate...