The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britain and Ireland (until 1923). Its role changed to support regional athletic clubs within England alone. This role was effectively taken over by
England Athletics
England Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in England. It was set up as a limited company in 2005, taking over the role of the Amateur Athletic Association of England. England Athletics is part of UK Athletics, the national ...
in 2005 and the Amateur Athletic Association of England was absorbed into that organisation. It is now concerned with the development of young athletes and has taken on the role of safeguarding the history of the sport and still awards trophies to elite athletes.
History
![Amateur Athletic Association Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Amateur_Athletic_Association_Logo.jpg)
Three men from
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
Clement Jackson
Clement Nugent Jackson (2 April 1846 – 1924) was a British athlete, academic and athletics administrator.
Early life
He was born in Simla, India, the second son of Lt-Gen George Jackson of the Bengal Staff Corps, and Phillis Sophia Strode.
...
,
Montague Shearman
Sir Montague Shearman (7 April 1857 – 6 January 1930) was an English judge and athlete. He is best remembered as co-founder of the Amateur Athletics Association in 1880.
Biography
Early life and career
Shearman was the second son of M ...
and
Bernhard Wise
Bernhard Ringrose Wise (10 February 1858 – 19 September 1916), commonly referred to as B. R. Wise, was an Australian politician. He was a social reformer, seen by some as a traitor to his class, but who was not fully accepted by the labor Mov ...
, were responsible for the founding of the Amateur Athletic Association which succeeded the
Amateur Athletic Club
History
The Amateur Athletic Club or AAC was the predecessor of the Amateur Athletic Association (later renamed the Amateur Athletic Association of England) and from 1866 to 1879 was the de facto governing body for amateur athletics in the Unit ...
("AAC") in 1880. The Amateur Athletic Club had had a narrow definition of 'amateur' and had drafted into its original constitution what has been termed a 'mechanics clause' that effectively prevented anyone engaged in manual labour from joining on the assumption that those who engaged in such physical work might have a competitive edge. This caused debate and unease from the beginning and by 1879, the Northern Athletics Association, whose membership was wider than that of its southern counterparts, threatened to boycott the AAC's annual championships. This caused the AAC to collapse and in 1880 the Amateur Athletic Association was formed, with rules that ensured any genuine amateur could join irrespective of their occupation or social class. The AAA's original motto was in
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
and read 'ΤΑΧΥΤΛΣ ΠΟΔΩΝ ΑΚΜΑΙ ΤΊΣΧΥΟΣ' which translates to 'Fast Feet and Strength'. The first
AAA Championships
The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...
were held on the 3 July 1880 at
Lillie Bridge
The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground on the Fulham side of West Brompton, London. It opened in 1866, coinciding with the opening of West Brompton station. It was named after the local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) and ...
. Dame
Marea Hartman
Dame Gladys Marea Hartman (22 June 1920 – 29 August 1994) was a British athletics sports administrator. She was one of the longest-serving and most influential sports administrators in 20th century British athletics.
Marea Hartman is credite ...
was the first woman president of the AAA when she was appointed in 1991. The AAA of England was formed in 1991 following the merger of the previous AAA and the
Women's Amateur Athletic Association
The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics (sport), athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletic ...
(formed in 1922). The WAAA held the
first WAAA Championships in
1923
Events
January–February
* January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory).
* January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...
. It is now headquartered in
Wincham
200px, Map of civil parish of Wincham in the former borough of Vale Royal
Wincham is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is about three miles nort ...
in
Cheshire West and Chester
Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 str ...
, towards the east of
Northwich
{{Infobox UK place
, static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg
, static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church
, official_name = Northwich
, country ...
.
The AAA Championships (widely regarded as the de facto British national championships) were held annually from 3 July 1880 up to 2006 (with breaks for the two world wars). Trials events for the British teams for the Olympics,
World Championships in Athletics
The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...
,
European Athletics Championships
The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe.
Editions
First held, for men ...
and
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
were often included as part of the competitions. The
AAA Indoor Championships
The AAA Indoor Championships was an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost indoor domestic athletics event during its lifetime.
The event was first held in 1935, fol ...
served a similar role from its creation in 1935. The creation in 1999 of a new national governing body for athletics,
UK Athletics
UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...
, signaled the waning influence of the AAA and its championships, with the new body running its own
British Athletics Championships
The British Athletics Championships is the premier national championship in track and field held in the United Kingdom, and are organised by British Athletics. The event has doubled as the main trials meet for international team selection for maj ...
and trials events indoors and outdoors from 2007 onwards.
Archives
Archives of the Amateur Athletic Association of England are held at the Cadbury Research Library,
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
. Archives of the Women's Amateur Athletic Association are also held at the Cadbury Research Library,
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
.
See also
*
England Athletics
England Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in England. It was set up as a limited company in 2005, taking over the role of the Amateur Athletic Association of England. England Athletics is part of UK Athletics, the national ...
- the parent organisation since 2005
*
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...
, American equivalent
*
Irish Amateur Athletic Association
The Irish Amateur Athletic Association or IAAA was a governing body for athletic sports in Ireland between 1885 and 1923.
The IAAA was formed as the Irish offshoot of the English Amateur Athletic Association in 1885. This was partially in reactio ...
Irish offshoot, later to merge into the
Athletics Association of Ireland
Athletics Ireland, officially the ''Athletic Association of Ireland'' or AAI, is the governing body for athletics in Ireland, with athletics defined as including track and field athletics, road running, race walking, cross country running, mount ...
References
External links
Official websiteAAA and WAAA Championships complete medallists from 1880*
United States 1879 to 1888: National Association of Amateur Athletes of America
{{Authority control
Amateur sport in the United Kingdom
Athletics in England
National governing bodies for athletics
Organisations based in Cheshire
1880 establishments in England
Sport in Cheshire
Sports organizations established in 1880