# The A.A.U. takes the amateur game; the professionals keep the 'world' title (1896-1919)

In: [Learn](https://handball.theperfectship.com/learn.md) > [History](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history.md) > [Eras](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras.md) > The A.A.U. takes the amateur game; the professionals keep the 'world' title (1896-1919)

Era, United States. 1896-1919. American four-wall.

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From November 1896 the A.A.U. ran an annual amateur championship (first at Jersey City, 7-8 Jan 1897, won by Mike Egan) under rules it first adopted from the Sun and then revised ('Revised Handball Rules ... for the Government of the National Championship in Singles', printed 1903). The professionals went on playing for money and for a press-conferred 'championship of the world' (Carney, Fitzgerald, Egan, Drew, Twohill), Spalding published the rules in cheap books (Deshong 1893/1903, Egan 1914), the Y.M.C.A. built four-wall courts across the country and had rules of its own by 1909, and in November 1919 the A.A.U. put 'an entirely new set of handball rules' to its convention. Two games, amateur and professional, one code in several hands.

## The take

The A.A.U. did not make handball; it took the amateur half of a game whose professional half went on without it for another decade. The documents of this era are Spalding's, not the Union's, and the one A.A.U. text we have (1903) is a championship code for singles, not a game's rules.

## Moments in order

- **17 November 1896 to 4 December 1896** (Documented): The A.A.U. Board creates an amateur handball championship on the Jersey City club's application and adopts the Sun's rules of competition; the Jersey City club is credited with bringing handball into the A.A.U.
  Source: [The Sun (New York), 18 November 1896, p. 4](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030272/1896-11-18/ed-1/?sp=4). Also: [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 5 December 1896, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1896-12-05/ed-1/?sp=3); [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 20 October 1896, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1896-10-20/ed-1/?sp=3)
- **7 January 1897 to 8 January 1897** (Documented): First A.A.U. national amateur handball championship, Jersey City; Michael J. Egan wins. The second (1898) is split between Jersey City and Brooklyn; Egan retains the title.
  Source: [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 9 January 1897, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1897-01-09/ed-1/?sp=3). Also: [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 1 April 1898, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1898-04-01/ed-1/?sp=3)
- **1897-1901** (Documented): The professional 'world' title changes hands in the press: Carney (Chicago) beats Fitzgerald (Tralee) at Casey's court in July 1897; Fitzgerald and Keegan beat Carney and Ward in Chicago in 1900; Egan turns professional and challenges Fitzgerald for $1,000 in 1901. Irish and American courts are compared (open back v solid back wall).
  Source: [Worcester Morning Daily Spy (Worcester), 5 July 1897, p. 5](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn93058748/1897-07-05/ed-1/?sp=5). Also: [Kansas City Journal (Kansas City), 15 November 1897, p. 5](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn86063615/1897-11-15/ed-1/?sp=5); [New-York Tribune (New York), 16 January 1900, p. 6](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1900-01-16/ed-1/?sp=6); [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 10 July 1899, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1899-07-10/ed-1/?sp=3); [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 25 November 1901, p. 4](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1901-11-25/ed-1/?sp=4); [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 26 March 1900, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1900-03-26/ed-1/?sp=3)
- **13 March 1898** (Documented): The Houston Daily Post prints a 23-rule handball code, the pre-reform code (in the state printed by Spalding 1886, [Hand Ball (1886)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/spalding-fourwall-1886.md), not the Sun 1889 text; JAMES1873-TX report, [H-94](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-94.md)) with ace-line service and the foot allowed: the old code travels west after New York has moved on ([H-91](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-91.md)).
  Source: [The Houston Daily Post (Houston), 13 March 1898, p. 15](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn86071197/1898-03-13/ed-1/?sp=15)
  Read the rulebook: [Hand Ball](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/spalding-fourwall-1886.md)
- **by 1903** (Documented): The A.A.U.'s 'Revised Handball Rules' (14 rules, singles only; [Revised Handball Rules of the Amateur Athletic Union of America, For the Government of the National Championship in Singles (1903)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/aau-fourwall-1903.md)) and Deshong's rewritten 'Rules and Explanations' ([Rules and Explanations (1903)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/deshong-fourwall-1903.md)) appear in the same Spalding book, with the 28 GAA rules behind them; Egan's 1914 book reprints all three ([H-06](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-06.md), [H-12](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-12.md), [H-13](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-13.md)).
  Source: [Michael Egan, Handball and How to Play It (1903)](https://www.loc.gov/item/04000015/), p. 41
  Read the rulebooks: [Revised Handball Rules of the Amateur Athletic Union of America, For the Government of the National Championship in Singles](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/aau-fourwall-1903.md); [Rules and Explanations](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/deshong-fourwall-1903.md)
- **by 1909** (Documented): The Y.M.C.A. has hand-ball rules of its own; the 1909 Spalding index entry for them (Y.M.C.A. Hand Ball Rules (index entry) (1909), [H-07](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-07.md)) is very probably the single-wall text of 1900 ([Hand Ball Rules (1900)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/ymca-onewall-1900.md)), not a four-wall code; by 1908 the A.A.U. constitution lists handball among the sports it claims ([H-33](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-33.md), supported).
  Source: [[James E.] Sullivan, Official Sporting Rules (1909)](https://www.loc.gov/item/unk82075824/)
  Read the rulebook: [Hand Ball Rules](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/ymca-onewall-1900.md)
- **1915** (Documented): James Dunne, 'amateur champion of the world' by the Tribune's obituary and founder of the Brooklyn Handball Club, dies; an intercollegiate league, Yale inviting Columbia, is said in February 1916 to be 'now being formed'; a handball tournament is played at the Panama-Pacific Exposition.
  Source: [New-York Tribune (New York), 7 April 1915, p. 9](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1915-04-07/ed-1/?sp=9). Also: [Newark Evening Star and Newark Advertiser (Newark), 10 December 1915, p. 26](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn91064011/1915-12-10/ed-1/?sp=26); [Daily Capital Journal (Salem), 4 October 1915, p. 6](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn99063957/1915-10-04/ed-1/?sp=6)
- **1919** (Documented): National championships at Detroit (February) and the A.A.U. nationals at the Los Angeles A.C. (April): the game is national. In November the A.A.U. legislation committee submits 'an entirely new set of handball rules ... prepared and approved by many of the handball experts of the United States' to the Boston convention ([H-63](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-63.md), [H-83](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-83.md)); they are in force 1 Jan 1920.
  Source: [The Sun (New York), 23 February 1919, p. 19](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030431/1919-02-23/ed-1/?sp=19). Also: [Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 28 April 1919, p. 17](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1919-04-28/ed-1/?sp=17); [The News Scimitar (Memphis), 13 November 1919, p. 15](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn98069867/1919-11-13/ed-1/?sp=15)

## What the sources do not show

- No A.A.U. rules text between 1897 and 1903, and none between 1903 and 1920, has been found; the 1920 text is a fresh draft ([H-15](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-15.md) narrowed, [H-83](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-83.md)), so the 1904-1919 code is a blank.
- The newspaper sweeps for 1900-1923 are imported (H1b); 1910-1912 and 1917-1918 were swept thinly, and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle is unread for the whole era.
- The Y.M.C.A.'s texts of the era are now held (single-wall 1900 and 1913, four-wall 1915: [The Y.M.C.A. and the gym game](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-ymca-and-the-gym-game.md)), but Spalding No. 302 is still unseen ([H-07](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-07.md), [H-27](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-27.md)) and the 1920 A.A.U. draft has not been compared with the 1915 Y.M.C.A. text.
- The A.A.U. championships of 1899-1918: no results are in this record (the ushandball.org list starts at 1919).
- Whether the A.A.U.'s 1919 'experts' were the New York clubs, the Y.M.C.A. or the western athletic clubs is unknown; the adoption vote itself was not found.

## Threads that run through this era

- [Hinder: a word that changed meaning](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/hinder-a-word-that-changed-meaning.md)
- [Professionals and amateurs: the world title and the A.A.U.](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/professionals-and-amateurs-the-world-title-and-the-aau.md)
- [The ball: from 'about two inches' to 1 7/8 in and 61 grams](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-ball.md)
- [The court shrinks: 60 x 30 in Ireland, 65 x 24 to 20 x 40 in America](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-court-shrinks.md)
- [The Irish game abroad and at home](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-irish-game-abroad-and-at-home.md)
- [The serve: one ace line, then two lines, then the short line](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-serve.md)
- [The Y.M.C.A. and the gym game](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-ymca-and-the-gym-game.md)
- [Who writes the rules: court keeper, newspaper, federation, board](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/who-writes-the-rules.md)

## Neighboring eras in the United States

- [Casey's court, the Brooklyn Handball Club and The Sun's rules (1887-1896)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras/us-casey-brooklyn-and-the-suns-rules.md) (earlier, 1887-1896)
- [One-wall rises in New York (1915-1922)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras/us-one-wall-rises-in-new-york.md) (later, 1915-1922)

## Rulebooks cited here

- [Hand Ball](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/spalding-fourwall-1886.md)
- [Revised Handball Rules of the Amateur Athletic Union of America, For the Government of the National Championship in Singles](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/aau-fourwall-1903.md)
- [Rules and Explanations](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/deshong-fourwall-1903.md)
- [Hand Ball Rules](https://handball.theperfectship.com/rulebooks/ymca-onewall-1900.md)

## Sources

- [[James E.] Sullivan, Official Sporting Rules (1909)](https://www.loc.gov/item/unk82075824/)
- [Daily Capital Journal (Salem), 4 October 1915, p. 6](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn99063957/1915-10-04/ed-1/?sp=6)
- [Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 28 April 1919, p. 17](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1919-04-28/ed-1/?sp=17)
- [Kansas City Journal (Kansas City), 15 November 1897, p. 5](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn86063615/1897-11-15/ed-1/?sp=5)
- [Michael Egan, Handball and How to Play It (1903)](https://www.loc.gov/item/04000015/)
- [New-York Tribune (New York), 16 January 1900, p. 6](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1900-01-16/ed-1/?sp=6)
- [New-York Tribune (New York), 7 April 1915, p. 9](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1915-04-07/ed-1/?sp=9)
- [Newark Evening Star and Newark Advertiser (Newark), 10 December 1915, p. 26](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn91064011/1915-12-10/ed-1/?sp=26)
- [The Evening Times (Washington, D.C.), 9 November 1896, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84024441/1896-11-09/ed-1/?sp=3)
- [The Houston Daily Post (Houston), 13 March 1898, p. 15](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn86071197/1898-03-13/ed-1/?sp=15)
- [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 1 April 1898, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1898-04-01/ed-1/?sp=3)
- [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 10 July 1899, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1899-07-10/ed-1/?sp=3)
- [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 20 October 1896, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1896-10-20/ed-1/?sp=3)
- [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 25 November 1901, p. 4](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1901-11-25/ed-1/?sp=4)
- [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 26 March 1900, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1900-03-26/ed-1/?sp=3)
- [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 5 December 1896, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1896-12-05/ed-1/?sp=3)
- [The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 9 January 1897, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87068097/1897-01-09/ed-1/?sp=3)
- [The News Scimitar (Memphis), 13 November 1919, p. 15](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn98069867/1919-11-13/ed-1/?sp=15)
- [The Sun (New York), 18 November 1896, p. 4](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030272/1896-11-18/ed-1/?sp=4)
- [The Sun (New York), 23 February 1919, p. 19](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030431/1919-02-23/ed-1/?sp=19)
- [Worcester Morning Daily Spy (Worcester), 5 July 1897, p. 5](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn93058748/1897-07-05/ed-1/?sp=5)

## Corrections

Found a mistake, or a source we missed? Email perfectshipllc@gmail.com with the subject "History correction: The A.A.U. takes the amateur game; the professionals keep the 'world' title (1896-1919) (/history/eras/us-aau-amateur-championships/)". Please name the page and, if you can, the source.