LA84 Foundation
Encyclopedia
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
. Under an agreement made in 1979, 40 percent of any surplus was to stay in Southern California, with the other 60 percent going to the United States Olympic Committee
United States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic Committee is a non-profit organization that serves as the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States and coordinates the relationship between the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency and various...
. The total surplus was $232.5 million. Southern California's share was approximately $93 million.
The LA84 Foundation's mission http://www.la84foundation.org/who/who_frmst.htm is to promote and expand youth sports opportunities in Southern California and to increase knowledge of sport and its impact on people's lives. Since inception, the Foundation has invested more than $197 million in Southern California by awarding grants to youth sports organizations, initiating sports and coaching education programs, and operating the world's premier sports library http://www.la84foundation.org/who/who_frmst.htm.
Grants http://www.la84foundation.org/1gm/over_frmst.htm are awarded to organizations that provide on-going, structured youth sports programs combining the essential elements of teaching, learning and competition. The Foundation makes grants in the eight southernmost counties of California (Imperial
Imperial County, California
Imperial County is a county located in the Imperial Valley, in the far southeast of the U.S. state of California, bordering both Arizona and Mexico. It is part of the El Centro Metropolitan Area, which encompasses all of Imperial County. The population as of 2000 was 142,361. The county seat is the...
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
, Orange
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, Riverside
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
, San Bernardino
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...
, San Diego
San Diego County, California
San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific coast. As of 2010 the county had a population of 423,895. The county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is Santa Maria.-History:...
and Ventura
Ventura County, California
Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...
). Youth organizations in the Los Angeles area receive priority. The LA84 Foundation has made grants to more than 1,000 Southern California organizations since 1985.
The LA84 Foundation has initiated programs http://www.la84foundation.org/2ysp/over_frmst.htm to meet the youth sports needs of Southern California and to create models that can be applied elsewhere. These include the LA84 Foundation Coaching Education Program http://www.la84foundation.org/3ce/over_frmst.htm as well as large-scale sports programs such as Summer Swim and Run 4 Fun, which serve nearly 20,000 children and teenagers each year.
The Foundation's headquarters is the historic Eugene W. Britt House
Eugene W. Britt House
Eugene W. Britt House is a three-story, red-brick Georgian Revival style Colonial Revival mansion built in 1910 in the West Adams district of Los Angeles, California. In 1984, it was converted into a sports museum housing the collection of the Helms Athletic Foundation...
, a Registered Historic Place
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
located at 2141 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles' Jefferson Park
Jefferson Park, Los Angeles, California
-Geography and transportation:Jefferson Park's boundaries are, roughly, Western Avenue on the east, Adams on the north, Crenshaw Boulevard on the west, and Exposition Boulevard/Rodeo Road on the south. It is bordered by Arlington Heights on the north, Mid-City on the northwest, Leimert Park/King...
neighborhood. It was formerly a sports museum that featured the Helms Athletic Foundation
Helms Athletic Foundation
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...
's collection of sports books, film, photographs and memorabilia. First Interstate Bank and the Peter and Ginny Ueberroth Foundation donated the Helms Collection, house and grounds to the LA84 Foundation in the summer of 1985.
The Paul Ziffren Sports Resource Center houses the world's premier sports library http://www.la84foundation.org/4sl/over_frmst.htm. The library maintains an extensive collection of books, periodicals, photograph and moving footage, with a special emphasis on the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
. The traditional library has been supplemented by the development of an extensive electronic collection of 45,000 PDFs including scholarly publications, popular magazine and primary historical documents available at no cost on the LA84 Foundation website.
The LA84 Foundation also hosts conferences and sponsors research on a variety of sport topics. The LA84 Foundations practical knowledge, acquired through years of direct involvement in youth sports, combined with its wide range of education services enables the Foundation to serve as a leading forum for the exchange of ideas and exploration of issues in sport.
In June 2007, the Foundation adopted the name LA84 Foundation to establish a unique identity and honor the spirit of the 1984 Olympic Games, which created the Foundation's endowment.
The swimming
Swimming at the 1932 Summer Olympics
At the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, eleven swimming events were contested, six for men and five for women. The competitions were held from Saturday August 6, 1932 to Saturday August 13, 1932. There was a total of 128 participants from 20 countries competing.-Medal table:-Men's...
venue used for the 1932 Summer 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...
has been renamed in honor of the foundation and for one of the promoters of the 1984 games, John C. Argue.