Helms Athletic Foundation

The Helms Athletic Foundation was an athletic foundation based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder and Paul Helms. Schroeder selected the Foundation's national champion teams and made All-America team selections in a number of college sports, including football and basketball.^[1] Schroeder continued to select national champions for the Helms Foundation until 1982, its final year of selections. The organization also retroactively selected national champions in college football dating from 1947^[1][2] back to the 1883 season and in college basketball from 1942^[2][3] back to the 1900–01 season. The Helms Foundation also operated a hall of fame for both college sports. Selections prior to 1936 are often disputed as many of them are not derived from actual head-to-head competition and rely on historical documents to interpret champions.

Besides collegiate athletics, the Foundation operated halls of fame for professional football, Major League Baseball, the Pacific Coast League, basketball, fencing, golf, tennis, swimming, auto racing, and track and field.^[4]

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 Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. 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, renamed the LA84 Foundation in 2007.

National champions^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Basketball From 1939, when the NCAA Tournament 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 1900–01 Yale 10–4 1901–02 Minnesota 15–0 1902–03 Yale 15–1 1903–04 Columbia 17–1 1904–05 Columbia 19–1 1905–06 Dartmouth 16–2 1906–07 Chicago 21–2 1907–08 Chicago 23–2 1908–09 Chicago 12–0 1909–10 Columbia 11–1 1910–11 St. John's 14–0 1911–12 Wisconsin 15–0 1912–13 Navy 9–0 1913–14 Wisconsin 15–0 1914–15 Illinois 16–0 1915–16 Wisconsin 20–1 1916–17 Washington State 25–1 1917–18 Syracuse 16–1 1918–19 Minnesota 13–0 1919–20 Penn 21–1 1920–21 Penn 21–2 1921–22 Kansas 16–2 1922–23 Kansas 17–1 1923–24 North Carolina 26–0 1924–25 Princeton 21–2 1925–26 Syracuse 19–1 1926–27 Notre Dame 19–1 1927–28 Pittsburgh 21–0 1928–29 Montana State 36–2 1929–30 Pittsburgh 23–2 1930–31 Northwestern 16–1 1931–32 Purdue 17–1 1932–33 Kentucky 21–3 1933–34 Wyoming 26–4 1934–35 NYU 19–1 1935–36 Notre Dame 22–2–1 1936–37 Stanford 25–2 1937–38 Temple 23–2 1938–39 Long Island 23–0 1939–40 USC 20–3 1940–41 Wisconsin 20–3 1941–42 Stanford 27–4 1942–43 Wyoming 31–2 1943–44 Army 15–0 1944–45 Oklahoma A&M 27–4 1945–46 Oklahoma A&M 31–2 1946–47 Holy Cross 27–3 1947–48 Kentucky 36–3 1948–49 Kentucky 32–2 1949–50 CCNY 24–5 1950–51 Kentucky 32–2 1951–52 Kansas 28–3 1952–53 Indiana 23–3 1953–54 Kentucky 25–0 1954–55 San Francisco 28–1 1955–56 San Francisco 29–0 1956–57 North Carolina 32–0 1957–58 Kentucky 23–6 1958–59 California 25–4 1959–60 Ohio State 25–3 1960–61 Cincinnati 27–3 1961–62 Cincinnati 29–2 1962–63 Loyola (IL) 29–2 1963–64 UCLA 30–0 1964–65 UCLA 28–2 1965–66 Texas Western 28–1 1966–67 UCLA 30–0 1967–68 UCLA 29–1 1968–69 UCLA 29–1 1969–70 UCLA 28–2 1970–71 UCLA 29–1 1971–72 UCLA 30–0 1972–73 UCLA 30–0 1973–74 NC State 30–1 1974–75 UCLA 28–3 1975–76 Indiana 32–0 1976–77 Marquette 25–7 1977–78 Kentucky 30–2 1978–79 Michigan State 26–6 1979–80 Louisville 33–3 1980–81 Indiana 26–9 1981–82 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 Penn 14–0 1896 Princeton 10–0–1 1897 Penn 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 Penn 12–0 1905 Chicago 11–0 1906 Princeton 9–0–1 1907 Yale 9–0–1 1908 Penn 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

1. "A 'championship' is something that is won, most generally on the field of play against direct competition. A 'title' is something that is given or awarded by someone else, in honor of an achievement or as a designation of being considered the best at something. … So while it is generally true that winning a championship also involves a title being associated with it, the converse does not always hold. In many cases, a title can be given without a formal championship or competition being held at all. In other words, being awarded a title does not necessarily confer that a championship was even present, much less attained. In the case of collegiate basketball, there are actually many titles which can be claimed, some which are associated with winning a tournament (NCAA Tournament, NIT tournament, Conference tournament etc.) and some which are not (Associated Press #1, Highest Attendance, top Sagarin Rating). The latter do not constitute a championship. It is into this group that the Helms title falls."^[2]

World Trophy

The World Trophy, originally known as the Helms Award, was an annual sporting award established by the Helms Athletic Foundation in 1939 to honor the foremost amateur athlete of each continent of the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.^[5] Even though the Foundation was established in 1936, the awards date back to 1896, the year of the first Summer Olympics.

Winners:

• World Trophy for Australasia
• World Trophy for Africa
• World Trophy for Asia
• World Trophy for Europe
• World Trophy for North America
• World Trophy for South America

See also

AP Poll Bowl Championship Series Coaches Poll College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS Dickinson System Grantland Rice Award

Harris Interactive College Football Poll Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year Helms Bakery Mythical national championship Premo-Porretta Power Poll

References

1. Jenkins, Dan (September 11, 1967), "This Year The Fight Will Be in the Open", Sports Illustrated (Chicago, IL: Time Inc.) 27 (11): 30–33, retrieved March 16, 2016
2. Scott, Jon (Nov 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved 2015-12-14.
3. "Helms Athletic Foundation Collegiate Basketball Record (preface)". Helms Athletic Foundation. Feb 1, 1943. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
4. "Twenty-One Greats to be Enshrined in PCL Hall of Fame". Pacific Coast League. Retrieved 2007-01-17.
5. "Helms Athletic Foundation" (PDF). Bulletin du Comite International Olympique (No 25): 26–28. 1951.