The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a

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-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership of Helms Bakery. Bill Schroeder founded the organization with Helms and served as its managing director. The men were united in a love of amateur athletic competition. The organization became well known for presenting awards and trophies for local, national, and international competition, naming the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

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. 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 The LA84 Foundation (known until June 2007 as the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles) is a private, nonprofit institution created by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee to manage Southern California's endowment from the 1984 Oly ...

History

Founding

Schroeder brought to the partnership a large personal collection of sports memorabilia. He sought a corporate sponsor to finance a hall of fame to house his collection and to present awards to local athletes. The idea was taken seriously by Paul Helms, who was himself invested in athletics both personally and professionally. The bakery with which he made his fortune was a sponsor of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, 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. 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.

Helms Hall

The organization dedicated Helms Hall in 1948. 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. Schroeder selected the organization's national champion teams and made All-America team selections in a number of college sports, including

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. 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

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, the Pacific Coast League, basketball,

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golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, and soaring.

Later years

After Paul Helms' death in 1957, his family continued supporting the organization until 1969, when the bakeries went out of business. Schroeder found a new benefactor in United Savings & Loan, and the organization's name became United Savings–Helms Athletic Foundation. United merged with Citizens Savings & Loan in 1973, when the organization became the Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation. It was again renamed in 1982 when First Interstate Bank assumed sponsorship, and it became the First Interstate Bank Athletic Foundation. When the Helms Foundation dissolved, its historical holdings were absorbed into the collection of the Amateur Athletic Foundation, renamed the

in 2007.

National championship selections

Basketball

The champions from 1900–01 through 1918–19 were selected retroactively in 1957. Those from 1919–20 through 1941–42 were selected retroactively in 1943. The Helms Foundation began releasing Schroeder's national championship selections for college basketball in 1943, when in February 1943 it published his retroactive picks for the national champion for each year from the 1919–20 through 1941–42 seasons. Later in 1943, Schroeder picked a national basketball champion for the 1942–43 season, and he continued to select national basketball champions for the Helms Foundation annually through the 1981–82 season, its final year of selections. In 1957, the Helms Foundation also released Schroeder's retroactive picks for the college basketball champions for the 1900–1901 through 1918–19 seasons. The retroactive Helms national championships from 1900–01 through 1941–42 were the opinions of one person about teams that played during an era when, due to factors outside their control (e.g., minimal schedules, lack of intersectional play, differing rule interpretations, minimal statistics), it is difficult to know or assess the relative strength of the teams. The National Invitation Tournament began play in

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

and the NCAA tournament in 1939; until at the least the mid-1950s, the NIT was widely considered the more prestigious of the two.Anonymous, "How the NCAA Overtook Its Rival, the NIT," ''Sport History Weekly'', March 24, 2019 Accessed May 4, 2021
/ref> When Schroeder made his first set of retroactive championship picks in February 1943, he chose the NIT winner as the national champion for 1938 and 1939; for 1940, he chose

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

(which won neither tournament that year); and for 1941 and 1942 he chose the NCAA Tournament winners as the national champion. After he began making annual picks in 1943, he selected the NCAA Tournament winner in every year except 1944 (when he picked undefeated

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, which won neither tournament) and 1954 (when he picked undefeated

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, which won neither tournament). Thus, through the final Helms selection in 1982, NCAA Tournament winners

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

(1939),

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

(1940),

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(1944), and La Salle (1954) were the only NCAA champions that were not also Helms champions. Some schools claim a Helms selection as a national championship.

Football

The NCAA recognizes the Helms Athletic Foundation as a "major selector" of college football national championships in their official records book. The champions for 1883 through 1941 were published in August 1942. * Teams listed in ''italics'' indicate retroactively applied championships.

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Helms Athletic Foundation selected players, coaches and administrators from 1950 through at least the 1970s to its pro football hall of fame. Contrary to other halls of fame, some members were selected during their active playing/coaching careers.

World Trophy

The Helms World Trophy, originally known as the Helms Award and also referred to as the Helms Trophy, 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. Although the Foundation was established in 1936, the awards date back to the 1896, the year of the first Summer Olympics. 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

). Winners can only win the award once.

Winners

* World Trophy for Australasia *World Trophy for Africa **1965: Seraphino Antao, Kenyan sprinter *World Trophy for Asia **1930: Simeon Toribio, Filipino high jumper **1953: K. D. Singh, Indian hockey player ** 1959: Milkha Singh, Indian sprinter *World Trophy for Europe **1969: Jean-Claude Killy, French skier *World Trophy for North America *World Trophy for South America

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite book , date=August 1, 1942 , title=National Football Champions , url= , location= Los Angeles, California , publisher=Helms Athletic Foundation , quote=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. {{cite press release , title=Helms Athletic Foundation — Collegiate Basketball Record — Part II , publisher=Helms Athletic Foundation , location=Los Angeles , date=February 1943 , access-date=December 22, 2023 , url=https://archive.org/details/helms-athletic-foundation-collegiate-basketball-record-part-ii-1943 {{cite news , date=February 25, 1943 , title=Wildcats of 1933 , url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113144556/helms-basketball-picks-1943/ , work=Lexington Herald–Leader , publication-place=Lexington, Kentucky , access-date=November 15, 2022 {{cite news , agency=Associated Press , date=January 6, 1957 , title=Famed sportsman, Paul Helms, dies , url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90422131/obituary-for-paul-h-helms-aged-67/ , work=The Birmingham News , publication-place=, place=Birmingham, Alabama , access-date=November 15, 2022 {{cite news , last=Thomas , first=Pete , date=December 24, 1987 , title=Bill Schroeder, 83, Dies; Began Helms Museum , url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113148333/obituary-for-bill-schroeder/ , work=The Los Angeles Times , publication-place=Los Angeles , access-date=November 15, 2022 {{cite news , last=McBride , first=C. E. , date=January 13, 1951 , title=Two Men's Love of Athletics Led to the Helms Foundation , url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113149214/two-mens-love-of-athletics-led-to-the/ , work=The Kansas City Star , place=Los Angeles , publication-place=Kansas City , access-date=November 17, 2022 , quote=Bill Schroeder had an idea for promoting sports competitions and presenting awards and Paul Helms had wealth to make the program possible. {{cite news , last=McConnell , first=Jim , date=August 19, 2008 , title=Helms bread rose from Olympic ties , url=https://www.presstelegram.com/2008/08/19/helms-bread-rose-from-olympic-ties/ , work=Long Beach Press Telegram , publication-place=Long Beach, California , access-date=November 17, 2022 {{cite news , date=June 8, 1962 , title=Slants on Sports: Helms Foundation Basketball , url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113302864/helms-foundation-basketball-review/ , work=Wisconsin State Journal , publication-place=Madison, Wisconsin , access-date=November 19, 2022 , quote=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. {{cite book , url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2020/FBS.pdf , title=2020 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records , section=National Champion Major Selections (1896 to Present) , pages=112–114 , publisher=The National Collegiate Athletic Association , date=July 2020 , location=Indianapolis , access-date=January 12, 2021 , archive-date=November 1, 2020 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101032438/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2020/FBS.pdf , url-status=live {{cite magazine , last=Sayre , first=Joel , editor-last=Luce , editor-first=Henry R. , editor-link=Henry Luce , date=November 19, 1956 , volume=5 , number=21 , title=The Olympics' Best Friend: Mr. Helms and his Happy Hobby , url=https://archive.org/details/Sports-Illustrated-1956-11-19/ , magazine=

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

, pages=109–115 , access-date=September 16, 2024 , quote=A California baker with an Olympian's heart devotes time and money to honoring—and enshrining—athletes of all nations, races and creeds. {{citation , last = Jenkins, first = Dan , title = This Year The Fight Will Be in the Open , magazine = Sports Illustrated , date = September 11, 1967 , pages = 28–34 , volume = 27 , issue = 11 , publisher = Time Inc. , location=Chicago, IL , url=https://www.si.com/vault/1967/09/11/614180/this-year-the-fight-will-be-in-the-open , quote=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., access-date=March 16, 2016 {{cite magazine , last=Jares , first=Joe , date=September 7, 1970 , title=A Baker's Dream Needs Dough , url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1970/09/07/a-bakers-dream-needs-dough , magazine=

, pages=18–21 , access-date=November 22, 2022 , quote=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. {{cite press release , date=March 15, 1973 , title=They Were Number One — College Football's National Championship Teams — * As Chosen By Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation , url= , location=Los Angeles , publisher=Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation , page= , isbn= , quote=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.

External links

Helms Football Annual

Helms Basketball Annual

Helms Track & Field Annual

Helms Bakery reopens as Helms Bakery District
College football awards organizations College football championships History of college basketball in the United States Sports foundations based in the United States 1936 establishments in California