The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship.[2] Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor,[3] funding the foundation via his ownership of Helms Bakery.[4] Bill Schroeder founded the organization with Helms and served as its managing director.[5][6] The men were united in a love of amateur athletic competition.[7]
The organization became well known for presenting awards and trophies for local, national, and international competition, naming the Southern California Player of the Month and Year, national championships in college basketball and college football, Rose Bowl Player of the Game, Coach of the Year, Pacific Coast football player of the year, and other such awards for athletic achievement. Schroeder described himself in 1967 as a "committee of one" in selecting the championship teams.[8] The organization dedicated Helms Hall in 1948, which housed a museum for sporting artifacts as well as the Helms Hall of Fame.
Following the death of Paul Helms in 1957 and the eventual closure of Helms Bakery in 1969, Schroeder sought new benefactors. The organization continued under a series of new sponsors as the United Savings–Helms Athletic Foundation, Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation, and First Interstate Bank Athletic Foundation. Schroeder died in 1987. Under the direction of Peter Ueberroth the Helms Athletic Foundation collection, library, and archives were absorbed into the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, later renamed the LA84 Foundation.
Schroeder brought to the partnership a large personal collection of sports memorabilia.[6][1] He sought a corporate sponsor to finance a hall of fame to house his collection and to present awards to local athletes.[6][7]
The idea was taken seriously by Paul Helms, who was himself invested in athletics both personally and professionally.[7][2] The bakery with which he made his fortune was a sponsor of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics,[2] and "Helms Olympic Bread" continued to be associated with the competition. The organization was originally known as the Helms Olympic Athletic Foundation.
In 1936, with Helms' backing, Schroeder set to work from a rented office in downtown Los Angeles.[7] As the organization's only employee, he issued frequent announcements of the selections he made for the Helms Athletic Foundation's various and numerous awards.[9]
The organization dedicated Helms Hall in 1948.[9][1] The purpose-built building adjacent to Helms Bakery near Culver City housed a museum for the sports artifacts originally collected by Schroeder, as well as the Helms Hall of Fame.[7]
Schroeder selected the organization's national champion teams and made All-America team selections in a number of college sports, including football and basketball.[8] The Helms Foundation also operated a hall of fame for both college basketball and college football. Besides collegiate athletics, the organization operated halls of fame for professional football, Major League Baseball, the Pacific Coast League, basketball, fencing, golf, tennis, swimming, auto racing, track and field,[10] and soaring.[11]
After Paul Helms' death in 1957, his family continued supporting the organization until 1969, when the bakeries went out of business.[12][5] Schroeder found a new benefactor in United Savings & Loan,[12] and the organization's name became United Savings–Helms Athletic Foundation.[13][14] United merged with Citizens Savings & Loan in 1973, when the organization became the Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation.[12] It was again renamed in 1982 when First Interstate Bank assumed sponsorship, and it became the First Interstate Bank Athletic Foundation.[15][16]
When the Helms Foundation dissolved, its historical holdings were absorbed into the collection of the Amateur Athletic Foundation, renamed the LA84 Foundation in 2007.
Helms Athletic Foundation selected players, coaches and administrators from 1950 through 1960 to its pro football hall of fame.[58][59][60][61] Contrary to other halls of fame, some members were selected during their active playing/coaching careers.
Dan Reeves wasn't inducted to the hall, but he received a "special award" for his "contribution to professional football in Los Angeles" during the 1950 inaugural class ceremony.[62]
The Helms World Trophy,[65] originally known as the Helms Award[66] and also referred to as the Helms Trophy,[67] was an annual sporting award established by the Helms Athletic Foundation from 1939 to honor the foremost amateur athlete of each continent of the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.[68]
Although the Foundation was established in 1936, the awards date back to the 1896, the year of the first Summer Olympics.[69][70]
After the initial committee selection, amateur athletes were nominated by their own countries for consideration by the foundation. Winners were presented with a silver plaque and had their names added to the World Trophy that was located at the Helms Foundation, and subsequently the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles (now known as the LA84 Foundation). Winners can only win the award once.[71]
A California baker with an Olympian's heart devotes time and money to honoring—and enshrining—athletes of all nations, races and creeds.
Sparked by a sports fanatic and sponsored by a Los Angeles baker, the Helms Hall achieved world renown, but it soon may be only history too, for it can find no new backers and eviction day is coming.
Bill Schroeder had an idea for promoting sports competitions and presenting awards and Paul Helms had wealth to make the program possible.
The director of Helms since its beginning, Bill Schroeder, did the work, and he now heads the committee that selects No. 1 after the bowl games. "A committee of one—me," he says.
The selections cover from 1900 to the present, but they have been made annually only since 1943. The 1920–1942 selections were made early in 1943, and the 1900–1920 data was not compiled until 1957, and then only after exhaustive study.
An exhaustive survey completed by the Helms Athletic foundation of Los Angeles awarded the college team crown to the Cowboys of Wyoming [...] won 30 of 32 games this season to succeed Stanford as national champion. [...] won the NCAA championship and then topped it off by defeating St. John's, New York national invitation tournament kings, for the mythical championship of the nation.
Army was rated as the nation's No. 1 team despite the fact that Utah's Cinderella Kids won mythical national honors in postseason tournament play which was ruled out for the Cadets.
The annual basketball selections of the Helms Athletic Foundation were announced Thursday and the Oklahoma Aggies, undisputed national champions, made an almost-clean sweep of the laurels. [...] Aggies—Ranked No. 1 team of nation. [...] The designation of the Aggies as the country's foremost team did not automatically follow winning the NCAA crown, for last year the Helms foundation picked Army, which does not enter post-season playoffs. The Aggies are the first Oklahoma outfit to be named No. 1 by Helms.
...and the Aggies have been ranked the No. 1 team in the nation, although that is just a formality.
with its nomination of Holy Cross as the No. 1 quintet in the nation the past season, is perhaps as good as any for an 'official' rating on college cage outfits. Here is the Helms final rating of the top 10, including three teams which participated in the invitation tourney and six in the NCAA
The foundation recognized Kentucky as national champion. This was the third time the Helms Foundation has recognized Kentucky as the best in the nation. The Wildcats were honored first in 1933 and again in 1946.
the Helms Athletic Foundation announced that the Wildcats had been named the collegiate championship team of the year [...] The school will receive the team trophy [...] Kentucky was named 1949 National college champion.
Selection of CCNY as the nation's top team was not difficult after the Beavers made an unprecedented sweep of the NIT and NCAA tournaments.
[The Helms Athletic Foundation] also selected the Kentucky Wildcats as the nation's No. 1 quintet. Kentucky previously had won the No. 1 spot in 1933, 1948, and 1949.
The Helms Athletic Foundation has confirmed the results of the NCAA tournament by declaring Indiana University's basketball team its national champion for the 1952–53 season. Although Indiana also won the NCAA title in 1940, the Helms Foundation that year handed its national championship to Southern California because of what it called a more impressive record for the entire season.
Although La Salle won the NCAA title, and Holy Cross the National Invitational crown, Helms Athletic foundation has elected to hand the national championship honors for the 1954 season to the University of Kentucky's undefeated in 25 games Wildcats.
In a release prepared for Thursday, a Helms spokesman said that with West Virginia (26–2), Cincinnati (24–3), Kansas State (22–5), San Francisco (24–2), and Temple (27–3) failing in tourney play, there wasn't much else to do but hand national collegiate basketball team honors to the University of Kentucky, which emerged victoriously in the NCAA event, downing Seattle 84–72 in the finals.
The Helms Athletic Foundation has announced the Miners as the national champion, confirming the NCAA title which the Miners won with their skills and talents and abilities at College Park, Md. last month.
UCLA's senior forward Marques Johnson was named Player of the Year on the team and Marquette was selected as college basketball's top team.
Worthy was the scoring leader for North Carolina's National Championship team
This concise Football Record, presenting annual National Football Champions since 1883, and their records; [...] is the result of more than a year of industrious research.
The Helms Athletic Foundation has prepared a publication which includes a list of the annual American football championships since 1883. The publication also carries Deke Houlgate's annual selections of the best eleven in the country since 1926.
As the result of its 1973 appraisal, the Athletic Foundation took the privilege of granting co-championship recognition to Stanford with Alabama in 1926; Notre Dame with the U.S. Military in 1946; Michigan with Notre Dame in 1947; and Ohio State with UCLA in 1954.
the Helms board selected Oklahoma as mythical national champion
Four members of the five-man Helms panel voted UT the nation's top team
The United Savings–Helms Athletic Foundation college football national championship trophy will be presented to Nebraska in the near future.
The Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation, formerly known as the Helms Athletic Foundation, has named Oklahoma and Ohio State national co-champions for the 1975 season.
The Helms Hall board, consisting of seven Los Angeles area sports editors, selected 25 of the "greatest professional footballers of all time" as the first to be honored.
Also captained South Australia in Australian Rules state matches six times, and his CV included rave reviews as a baseballer, golfer and player of tennis, billiards and lacrosse, winning the World Trophy (formerly the Helms Award).