Paul Miltich Subject File, 1973‑74. Olympics
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The original documents are located in Box 154, folder “Paul Miltich Subject File, 1973-74. Olympics” of the Gerald R. Ford Vice Presidential Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald R. Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Digitized from Box 154 of the Gerald R. Ford Vice Presidential Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library t!rbt Jlational ((ollcgiatc ~tblttic ~ssocfation Executive Offices Midland Building • Kansas City, Missouri 64105 • (816) 474-4600 President Executive Director Secretary· Treasurer EARL M. RAMER WALTER BYERS SAMUEL E. BARNES University of Tennessee District of Columbia Teachers College Knoxville, Tennessee 37916 Washington, D.C. 20009 December 4, 1972 The Honorable Gerald R. Ford Room H-230 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D. C. 20515 Dear Congressman Ford: The NCAA recently withdrew from the United States Olympic Committee, calling for a restructuring of a new Olympic organization under the mandate of a Federal charter. We thought you might be interested in the enclosed history. The chronology focuses on several of the problems at issue. We are forwarding the report to you so you may have readily available the information contained therein if Congress decides to take an active interest in this matter. Best wishes. Sincerely, ') / Earl M. Ramer EMR:ll Enclosure THE PROBLEM THAT WON'T GO AWAY A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW of The United States Olympic Committee by The National Co~iate Athletic Association's International R•tions Committee A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW It is impractical to record herein the entire his part in games open to amateurs sponsored by the tory of sport in the United States. Dr. A. W. Flath University of Pennsylvania under NAAAA rules, did an excellent job in his doctoral dissertation, charging that the colleges should control their PREFACE backed by extensive research. His work can be re own athletics, but when they planned to hold f erred to as a primary source for the early history. open meets, these should be held under the rules The Council of the National Collegiate Athletic teur sports and our nation. Parts are summarized to give background for the of those who control other than the colleges." Association voted October 25, 1972, to withdraw A surprising amount of information on this present evaluation. (Ibid.) as a member of the United States Olympie com general subject has been written by a multitude of Early History of Amateur Athletics (to 1869) The ICAAAA resigned from the NAAAA and mittee, effective immediately. Its action was based qualified experts in the :field of sports. Only a brief joined the AAU. Ineligible athletes' penalties were upon the unanimous recommendation of the NCAA summary can be useful in this· assessment, but a In the struggle for survival and statehood, remitted, and by the summer of 1889, being International Relations Committee. substantial bibliography is available to confirm the there was little opportunity for sport when our stripped of its power and support, the N AAAA This decision was the result of more than 10 statements contained herein. nation was being settled. In the early 1800s, disbanded. years of intensive effort to obtain a reorganization Through all the information, patterns of action public education was extended from elementary and secondary education to the establishment of On March 19, 1891, a reorganization changed of the U.S. Olympic apparatus because of the and the positions of the various parties clearly the AAU from a union of individual clubs to a NCAA's conviction that the present U.S. Olympic emerge. These should be carefully considered in state universities by federal assistance of grants of land. However, private institutions provided the union of district associations. The AA U claimed organization does not serve the needs of the ath determining the future methods of obtaining the jurisdiction over 28 sports. lete, amateur sports or the national interest. first trace of athletics. Forms of football, basket valid and necessary goals we seek. ball, boat racing and f ootracing appeared on cam During its early years, the AAU claimed juris A similar proposal to withdraw was before the The following fundamental truths serve as the diction over all college sports, but by 1899 it 1965-66 NCAA Council, but at that time the puses, with the first intercollegiate boat race be basis of our goals: tween Yale and Harvard in 1862. had dropped claim to .jurisdiction over football, Council decided to continue to pursue negotiations soccer, basketball and rowing while retaining within the U.S. Olympic framework in seeking aP 1. We believe that participation in sports com The development of amateur athletics took petition to attain and inspire excellence in hu place rapidly following the Civil War with the control over track and :field, lacrosse and basket propriate restructuring and reorganization. Such ball. This list of sports has changed many times negotiations not only have proved fruitless ; the in man skill and performance is highly beneficial organization of many athletic clubs. Purses and to individuals and society. betting soon evolved. The clubs defined "amateurs" through the years, but track and field has re terests of the NCAA and the school-college com mained the flagship of AAU activities. munity have been further subjugated to the point 2. Olympic competition represents a worth and tried to control their contests by establishing that recent USOC legislation, in effect, has been while opportunity in certain sports to create a rules to restrict professionals from their competi Expansion of College Sports (1894) an invitation for the NCAA not to participate peak of achievement, good both for individual tion. The date of April 22, 1879, marked the origin Collegiate sports changed rapidly from inter further in USOC proceedings. and for national incentives. of the National Association of Amateur Athletics class rivalries and challenge games to inter of America and the collapse of the National Ath This pointed USOC rejection of the colleges' in 3. Each citizen should be willing to assist the college competition. Following student control, terests is difficult to understand, but the issue is letic Association following the defection of the alumni came prominently into positions of spon United States in attaining the best possible Olym New York Athletic Club. (Kowgaard, "A History clear and we will not accept membership in the pic showing and performance, within the rules. sorship and control. Abuses developed so faculty USOC as it is now constituted. As an organization, of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United and administrations took interest, resulting in in 4. Organizations and individuals in the United States," unpublished dissertation. Teachers COi the NCAA will not contribute to or support the States should subordinate their jurisdictional am stitutional and conference controls being applied. program of the USOC. Each member of the NCAA lege, Columbia.) A college Rowing Association was bitions and personal self-interests to the overall formed in 1870 and the Intercollegiate Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Confer and the staff members and student-athletes of ence started in 1894; the Intercollegiate Confer each member, of course, are free to determine interest of our national Olympie movement. They of Amateur Athletes of America was formed in should be willing to contribute at all appropriate 1875 by 10 colleges to conduct a track and field ence (Big Ten) in 1895. New emphasis was their own policies and positions in light of the placed on identifying and defining amateurism. record of the United States Olympic organization. levels available, for the overall benefit of the meet. "The beginning of amateur athletic control United States achievement. had been established." (Ibid.) In measuring the wisdom of the NCAA's posi The Revival of the Olympic Games (1896) tion, and in determining their own future policies 5. Persons with policy-making and administra The Establishment of the Amateur To counteract the professionalism and com in these matters, NCAA members, other institu tive responsibilities in amateur sports should ful Athletic Union (1888) mercialism that threatened to dominate athletic tions and organizations, former and current ama fill their obligation to obtain for the United States The New York Athletic Club withdrew its competition, Baron Coubertin was able to organ teur athletes and other concerned individuals gen the best possible organization to produce competi support of the NAAAA in 1886 and joined other ize the revival of the Olympic games for Athens, erally are invited to review this record. tors who will properly represent our country in a Greece, in 1896. manner befitting United States prestige. clubs to form the Amateur Athletic Union of the History is important for purposes of making a United States on January 21, 1888. A struggle ·The first United States Olympic team of 1896 valid assessment, of measuring progress or re 6. None of these aims should be sought by un for control ensued, marked by "the AA U Board was organized largely through the efforts of Pro tardation. It seems appropriate at this time to ethical or unsportsmanlike conduct and all should of Governors passing a resolution that barred f essor William B. Sloane, a Princeton historian; appraise the past, consider current developments be attained in accordance with the fairest moral any amateur athlete from competition in any James E.