Rudi Victor Ball (June 22, 1911 – September 19, 1975) was a Germany

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

player. He is a member of the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Origina ...

Early and personal life

Ball was born in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, Germany and died in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

, South Africa.

Jewish heritage

Ball was Jewish, and was one of two Jewish athletes to represent Germany in the 1936

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

, along with Helene Mayer, and represented Germany at the Summer Games that year. There was much controversy about his inclusion in the 1936 German Olympic Ice Hockey team at the time by the Nazi government. Ball was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.IIHF Hall of Fame
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Career

During his playing career, spanning from 1928 to 1952, he won the German Championship 8 times (1928–1944) and participated for Germany in the 1932 and 1936 Olympic Winter Games and in four World Championships 1930–1938. He played in total 49 official games for Germany, between 1929 and 1938, and scored 19 goals. Ball was voted as the best European ice hockey player in a French Sports Magazine in 1930. He was considered one of the most popular and dreaded European ice hockey players prior to the Second World War. Ball scored over 500 goals during his career. He and his two brothers, Gerhard Ball and

Heinz Ball The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

, represented Germany in many international competitions in their hockey careers. While reasonably short, Ball was considered extremely fast on the ice and was admired as having much skill and ability. Ball was included in the 1932 German ice hockey team, to play at the 1932 Olympic games, held in Lake Placid. The German team won the bronze medal. He played all six matches and scored three goals.

1936 German Olympics

In 1936, because he was Jewish, Ball (the 25-year-old captain) was initially overlooked for selection in the German ice hockey team. His good friend and teammate,

Gustav Jaenecke Gustav "Justav" Jaenecke (22 May 1908 – 30 May 1985) was a German ice hockey player who competed in the 1928 Winter Olympics, in the 1932 Winter Olympics, and in the 1936 Winter Olympics, and tennis Tennis is a racket sport that i ...

, refused to play unless Ball was included. Ball also believed a deal could be struck to save his family in Germany if he returned to play in the games. The German selectors also realized that without Ball and Jaenecke the team would not stand a chance of winning. Another factor was that the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

party could not overlook the fact that Ball was without doubt one of the leading athletes in his sport. With much controversy Ball was included in the German team to play at the 1936 Olympic games. One report of the time proposed that Ball was playing against his will. The deal for Ball's family to leave Germany was also agreed. After Ball was injured, the Germans took 5th place in the Olympic tournament. Ball played four matches and scored two goals. Ball followed his brother,Nordmark, B. 2004. ''Ice Hockey in South Africa (1936–1979)''
Heinz, to South Africa in 1948. He died in

in 1975. Ball was inducted into the

in 2004.

Teams

International Level
Germany – 1932 & 1936 Olympics
Germany – World Championships (1930, 1932 & 1938) Club Level

Berliner SC Berliner Sport-Club, commonly known as Berliner SC, is a German association football club based in Berlin. The team is part of a sports club which also has departments for badminton, hockey, and rugby. History ''Berliner SC'' was created ou ...

(1928–33)
EHC St. Moritz (1933–34)
Diavoli Rossi Neri (1934–36)

(1936–44)
SG Eichkamp Berlin (1946–48)
Tigers IHC (1949–50)
Wolves IHC (1950–51)
Awards

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Bronze (1932)
World Championship Silver (1930)
European Championship Gold (1930)
World Championship Bronze (1932)
European Championship Bronze (1936 & 1938)
8 German Championships (1928–1944)

Spengler Cup The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss t ...

(1928–29, 1934–35 & 1935–36)
South African Championship (1951)

(2004)

References

External links

Rudi Ball Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Rudi 1911 births 1975 deaths Berliner SC players German ice hockey right wingers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to South Africa Ice hockey people from Berlin Ice hockey players at the 1932 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1936 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Jewish ice hockey players Medalists at the 1932 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Olympic ice hockey players of Germany Olympic medalists in ice hockey South African people of German-Jewish descent South African Jews