Amateur Athletic Union of the United States

Source: The Evening Times (Washington, D.C.), 9 November 1896, p. 3

The Board adopted THE SUN's rules of competition

Source: The Sun (New York), 18 November 1896, p. 4

percentage dispute submitted to the AAU's handball expert

Source: The New Haven Union (New Haven), 8 April 1905, p. 1

new handball rules, prepared and approved by many handball experts, submitted to delegates; final action at Boston 17 Nov

same text 31 Oct 1919

Source: The News Scimitar (Memphis), 13 November 1919, p. 15

'Amateur handball came in for official recognition for the first time on the A.A.U. curriculum of sports yesterday', the introductory occasion being the metropolitan championship at the Annunciation A.C.; 30 singles and 14 doubles entries

singles final 22 Feb at the Annunciation Club: Cyril Regan beat Daniel Shea (Pastime A.C.) in straight games, 21-10, 21-10

Source: The New York Herald (New York), 5 January 1920, p. 20

A.A.U. notice (7 Apr) discouraging athletes from a junior national championship handball tournament by the Detroit A.C. not sanctioned by the A.A.U.; the club ordered to cancel or forfeit the national water polo championship

Dr Carl Haedge of St. Paul became 'the new national singles handball champion' (invitational) by beating William Sackman of New York in the Detroit final on Friday 9 April

Source: New-York Tribune (New York), 8 April 1920, p. 12

A.A.U. national singles and doubles handball championships to be decided on the Los Angeles A.C. courts 22-29 May; announced by F. W. Rubien, chairman of the national A.A.U. championship committee

semi-final: Bill Ranft, national singles champion, lost to George Klawitter of the same club (scores OCR-damaged)

final (29 May): Max Gold, Los Angeles A.C., won the A.A.U. national singles championship over George Klawitter in two straight games, 21-7 and 21-4 (OCR '217 and 51 4')

Source: New-York Tribune (New York), 25 April 1920, p. 19

championships awarded: handball junior singles and doubles, New York A.C.; senior singles and doubles, Detroit Y.M.C.A.

Source: The Birmingham Age-Herald (Birmingham), 16 November 1920, p. 10

senior doubles final 26 Mar: Stanley Spiegel and Wilfred Asselin (Detroit) beat Max Gold and Maynard Laswell (Los Angeles) 21-14, 21-20

Haedge beat Sackman 14-21, 21-16, 21-12 on 25 March 1921; 'Haedge won the championship from Sackman a year ago' (the April 1920 Detroit invitational)

Source: Great Falls Tribune (Great Falls), 27 March 1921, p. 11

first major A.A.U. handball tournament of the season started 23 July on the courts of the Brighton Beach Baths; entries led by Sakman, Curry (Metropolitan doubles holders) and Groden, Butler (national junior champions)

second A.A.U. outdoor tournament of the year to start Sunday 11 September on the seaside courts, finals 25 September; Sakman winner of both singles and doubles in the last tourney there

Source: New-York Tribune (New York), 23 July 1921, p. 8

11 Dec: Byrne beat Sakman 21-17, 21-10, 10-21, 19-21, 21-14 in the final of the Van-Kelton championship tournament, under the auspices of the A.A.U.; several hundred spectators

Source: The New York Herald (New York), 12 December 1921, p. 12

'The Milwaukee Athletic club was awarded the national handball championships'

Source: The Milwaukee Leader (Milwaukee), 20 December 1921, p. 10

first outdoor tournament of the year on the new courts at Brighton Beach, conducted by the Brighton Beach Athletic Association, from Saturday 6 May

A.A.U. sanction obtained for another big tournament on the new courts, starting Saturday 1 July

intercity match 29 July: New York won all six matches (four singles, two doubles) against a Boston team; New York team Sakman, Buxbaum, Schwartz, Meszaros

first A.A.U. invitation handball tournament in the metropolitan district, Manhattan Beach Baths, sixteen players, from Sunday 10 September

Source: The Evening World (New York), 3 May 1922, p. 23

announced: Metropolitan Association A.A.U. handball singles one wall championship under the auspices of the Van Kelton Handball Club, beginning 22 Oct; Jack Byrnes was the previous year's winner

12 Nov: Byrnes (24, West Side Y.M.C.A.) won the 1922 Metropolitan Association A.A.U. handball championship, 21-12, 21-14, 21-12 over Robert Powers; the article does not say 'one wall' (identification with the October tournament is inferred from venue and dates)

Source: The Evening World (New York), 17 October 1922, p. 20

16 Nov: committee ordered the final of the Metropolitan four-wall championship (Dan Shea, Pastime A.C., v. William Sakman, Trinity Club; started in spring, Sakman injured his arm) replayed within thirty days

10 Dec: Sakman beat Shea three games to one (21-13, 11-21, 21-13, 21-1?) on the Pastime A.C. courts to retain the metropolitan outdoor four wall championship

Source: New-York Tribune (New York), 17 November 1922, p. 14

AP release of 12 Nov: amendments to be acted on at the A.A.U. national convention of 19, 20 and 21 November included numerous minor changes in boxing, wrestling, gymnastic, handball and volley ball rules

convention awarded the 1923 senior national handball singles and doubles to St. Paul and the junior singles and doubles to Pittsburgh

Source: The Birmingham Age-Herald (Birmingham), 13 November 1922, p. 6

the A.A.U. handball rules then in force were to be revised and added to by the National A.A.U. handball committee; more than fifty new courts built in the metropolitan district in 1922

Source: New-York Tribune (New York), 24 December 1922, p. 12

'The new rules for handball describe a standard court as four walls approximately 24 by 48 feet in size, with ceilings 25 feet at the front wall'; championships may be held on other courts for the time being

Source: The Laramie Republican (Laramie), 24 April 1923, p. 4

Detroit convention (closed 20 Nov 1923) awarded the national senior handball singles and doubles to Los Angeles and the junior handball singles and doubles and 'Irish four ball' championships to Pittsburgh

list of 1924 national championships: handball (four wall) senior at Los Angeles; (four wall) junior at Pittsburgh; (one wall) at New York; (hard ball) at Brooklyn

Source: The Seattle Star (Seattle), 20 November 1923, p. 13

Spalding's 1928 guide prints the A.A.U. singles champions as Laswell (Los Angeles) 1924, 1925 and 1926 and George Nelson (Baltimore Y.M.C.A.) 1927, with doubles winners McMillan and Donovan (San Francisco) 1924 and 1926 and Dworman and Kammann (Detroit) 1925 and 1927

The USHA champions page gives the same names and adds the host cities: 1924 Los Angeles, 1925 Cleveland, 1926 St. Paul, 1927 Detroit

Source: Spalding's Official Handball Guide (American Sports Publishing Company, 1928)

The one-wall rules printed in Spalding's 1928 guide carry the line 'Adopted at Annual Meeting, November 20, 1927' and give the court as 20 ft wide, 34 ft long with a 16 ft wall and the short line 14 ft from the wall

The A.A.U. one-wall text printed in O'Connell's 1931 book gives the same court but the short line 15 ft from the wall; the 1923 text and the Calcutta reprints give 'at least 13 feet', so the distance rose from 13 or more (1923) to 14 (1927) to 15 (1931)

Source: Spalding's Official Handball Guide (American Sports Publishing Company, 1928)

Rule 1 of the A.A.U. four-wall rules in the 1928 guide: standard courts are 22 ft wide, 46 ft long and 22 ft high (short line 23 ft from the back wall, front line of the serving space 18 ft from the front wall); the 1923 text said 'approximately 24 feet by 48 feet' with ceilings at least 25 ft at the front wall, so the standard shrank between the two printings (the date of the change is not stated in either)

Source: Spalding's Official Handball Guide (American Sports Publishing Company, 1928)

The 1928 guide (Spalding's Athletic Library 'Red Cover' no. 114R, 25 cents, American Sports Publishing Company, New York; copyright 1928) is edited by the cartoonist Robert L. Ripley and says on its title page that it combines the former publication 'How to Play American Handball' by James I. Brokaw; contents: national champions (p. 5), a beginner's article by the 1920s champion A. J. Schinner, how to play the hard-ball game by Mike Eagan, 'Pioneers of Play', the first national amateur tournament (1897), a history essay by Ripley, court construction, and three rule sets (A.A.U. four-wall p. 31, one-wall p. 34, Irish p. 37)

Source: Spalding's Official Handball Guide (American Sports Publishing Company, 1928)

O'Connell's 1931 book reports that the players at the March 1929 national championship, held at the New York Athletic Club, voted that every player must honestly try to give his opponent a clear, unobstructed play even at some small cost to his own position, and that standing still after hitting the ball to block the opponent's view is not legitimate in four-wall

The USHA champions page lists the 1929 A.A.U. four-wall nationals as held in New York (Al Banuet singles)

Source: Charles J. O'Connell, How to Play Handball (American Sports Publishing Company, 1931), pp. 58-59

According to the USHA champions page the 1930-1939 host cities were St. Louis (1930), Minneapolis (1931), New York (1932), Chicago (1933), New York (1934), Washington (1935), Los Angeles (1936), Chicago (1937), Memphis (1938) and San Francisco (1939); the tournament has no fixed home and its sites follow the strongest local clubs

Source: US Handball Association, "National Champions" (seen 28 October 2026)

Rule 1 of the A.A.U. Hard Ball Rules in O'Connell's 1931 book: standard hard-ball courts have four walls, about 65 ft by 25 ft, front wall 30 ft high, back wall 12 ft, side walls even with the front wall or tapering to the back wall's height; championships may use smaller courts not under 50 x 22 ft

Source: Charles J. O'Connell, How to Play Handball (American Sports Publishing Company, 1931)

O'Connell sets out the case of each camp: four-wall partisans say around-the-wall and back-corner play needs more science; one-wall partisans say their game is faster, needs better condition and demands more control; he adds that a good one-wall player converts to four-wall more easily than the reverse, and that two named New York champions (Groden and Sakmann) who won titles in both games found four-wall the more scientific and enjoyable and one-wall the faster

Source: Charles J. O'Connell, How to Play Handball (American Sports Publishing Company, 1931)

The USHA champions page lists Platak as A.A.U. four-wall singles champion in each of 1935 (Washington), 1936 (Los Angeles), 1937 (Chicago), 1938 (Memphis), 1939 (San Francisco), 1940 (Detroit) and 1941 (Chicago); Jack Clements wins 1942, Platak returns in 1943 and 1945

Source: US Handball Association, "National Champions" (seen 28 October 2026)

The Converse Handball Handbook (1946) says the glass-enclosed court, created by the president of the Town Club of Chicago, was used for the National A.A.U. Handball Championship play that opened April 21, 1945; the booklet's title for the piece is 'Through the Looking Glass'

The USHA magazine for June 1972 says its president, Bob Kendler, invented the glass court at his Chicago Town Club in 1945, showing that handball 'need not be sold, merely seen', and that hundreds of courts now have glass back and side galleries

The USHA champions page lists the 1945 A.A.U. four-wall nationals in Chicago (Joe Platak singles)

Source: eBay listing 236990513620: seller photographs of a Converse handball handbook (1946) (seen 30 October 2026)

The cover note of the June 1972 USHA magazine says the International Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage, a one-time outstanding player, was most instrumental in mediating a lasting agreement when Kendler broke with the A.A.U. in 1951 to form the players' fraternity

The USHA champions page lists the first USHA four-wall nationals of 1951 in Chicago and the first three-wall nationals in Detroit; the same page shows the last A.A.U. four-wall nationals in 1950

The USHA's December 1971 tribute says O'Connell had 'never been able to get the needed assistance from within the AAU ranks to give the game its rightful position' and that this was why 'our Association was formed'

Source: Handball (USHA), June 1972, PDF p. 3

The cover of the A.A.U.'s 1960 rule book describes Jacobs, the 1960 national A.A.U. four-wall singles champion, as the first player to hold the 'Triple Crown' when in 1956 he won the national A.A.U., U.S.H.A. and Y.M.C.A. four-wall championships; the 1962 edition repeats the claim

The USHA champions page lists Jacobs as 1956 USHA four-wall singles champion (St. Louis)

Source: eBay listing 286432748460: seller photographs of an A.A.U. handball rules booklet (1960) (seen 30 October 2026)

The committee page of the 1968 unified-rules booklet lists Charles J. O'Connell as Chairman of the A.A.U. National Handball Committee 1956-1965 and Robert Quinn as chairman 1966-1968, with the Metropolitan A.A.U. handball chairman alongside; the 1960 A.A.U. book carries a 'Message from National Chairman Charles J. O'Connell'

The USHA tribute of December 1971 says O'Connell served as national A.A.U. chairman for many years

Source: eBay listing 800810243429: seller photographs of "Handball Official Unified Playing Rules" (A.A.U., J.W.B., Y.M.C.A., 1968) (seen 30 October 2026)

The A.A.U.'s 1962 rule book (section 'International Handball', p. 45) says the first international handball match in over twenty years was held in Ireland in 1957; the New York Athletic Club sent Tom Ginty, Harry Hyde and his brother Bob; each match was two games out of three, the first under Irish rules with the Irish softball (kicking allowed) and the second under A.A.U. rules with the '555' ball, on Irish courts of 30 x 60 ft; the N.Y.A.C. men won four of the seven matches, one being rained out; the page also shows a Wexford player described as eleven-time All-Ireland champion

Source: eBay listing 178429923015: seller photographs of an A.A.U. handball rules booklet (1962) (seen 30 October 2026), p. 45

The introduction of the 1968 unified-rules booklet says that 'in 1958' the Y.M.C.A., A.A.U., J.W.B. and U.S.H.A. adopted Official Standard Four-wall Handball Rules

The USHA's December 1971 tribute lists, under 1958, 'Chairman Unified Handball Rules Committee selected by YMCA, AAU, USHA, JWB'; the A.A.U. 1960 contents list 'United Four-Wall Rules Adopted by A.A.U.-Y.M.C.A.-U.S.H.A. and J.W.B.' on p. 5 and a Champion Glove booklet's committee page names the four bodies' members under O'Connell as chairman, serving 'for the year of 1960'

Source: eBay listing 800810243429: seller photographs of "Handball Official Unified Playing Rules" (A.A.U., J.W.B., Y.M.C.A., 1968) (seen 30 October 2026)

The A.A.U. 1962 rule book says the three-wall (jai-alai type) court was officially opened on November 29, 1959, at Forrest Park Playground in Queens, New York, with an exhibition by four champions (the Obert brothers and Vic Hershkowitz); the first of the new three-way courts in Brooklyn was at Lincoln Terrace; a brochure was obtainable from the A.A.U.

The USHA's December 1971 tribute credits O'Connell, under 1959, with having originated three-wall 'Ja-Alai Fronton courts' in New York City parks

Source: eBay listing 178429923015: seller photographs of an A.A.U. handball rules booklet (1962) (seen 30 October 2026), p. 62

The committee page of a Champion Glove 'Official Unified Handball Rules' booklet lists, for the USHA, its executive secretary and its rules chairman; for the Y.M.C.A., its handball committee chairman and a committee member; for the A.A.U., two national handball committee members and 'Chas. J. O'Connell, Chairman of Unified Handball Rules Committee', and says the committee 'has agreed to serve for the year of 1960' and invites suggestions for future rules

The A.A.U.'s own 1960 Official Rules Handball (copyright 1960; cover by Jacobs) lists 'United Four-Wall Rules Adopted by A.A.U.-Y.M.C.A.-U.S.H.A. and J.W.B.' on p. 5, before its A.A.U. one-wall rules

Source: eBay listing 206605328625: seller photographs of the unified handball playing rules (Y.M.C.A., 1960) (seen 30 October 2026)

A February 1972 column recalls that in 1961, at the national tournament and convention in Denver, the USHA 'was locked in a bitter dialogue with the AAU for handball supremacy', and that its nominating committee, after the A.A.U.'s chairman Charles O'Connell's 'vitriolic oratory', looked for a legally-trained national commissioner to replace the then commissioner of six years

Source: Handball (USHA), February 1972, PDF p. 91

The 1962 book (A.A.U., 233 Broadway, New York; $1.00) lists 'Unified Four-Wall Rules Adopted by A.A.U.-Y.M.C.A.-U.S.H.A. and J.W.B.' on p. 6, A.A.U. one-wall rules on p. 21, past national champions to 1962, 'Hard Ball Handball' (p. 44), 'International Handball' (p. 45), three-wall jai-alai type court rules, glass courts, 'Handball in the Public Parks of New York' and a chapter on the origin of single-wall handball; its cover pictures the Obert family of the New York Athletic Club

Source: eBay listing 178429923015: seller photographs of an A.A.U. handball rules booklet (1962) (seen 30 October 2026)

The USHA tribute of December 1971 lists under 1964 O'Connell as 'Chairman First World Handball Championship at New York A.C.'

O'Connor's history says the champions of Ireland and America had not played each other after 1909 until the World Championships were inaugurated in 1964

A letter in the August 1972 USHA magazine (from the Irish-American Handball Association of the Bronx) says the World Championships 'are now held every three years' and that a player won the 1970 World Championship in Ireland; the October 1971 issue says an Irish Handball Council chairman presided over the most recent world championships in Dublin

Source: Handball (USHA), December 1971, PDF p. 17

The USHA tribute of December 1971 lists, under 1965, O'Connell as author of 'Handball Illustrated', published by The Ronald Press

Source: Handball (USHA), December 1971, PDF p. 17

A list of booklets and catalogues offered by firms and associations, in the Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach) of June 4, 1967, includes under 'Handball Rules Booklets' (1) Official Unified Handball Rules and (2) Official AAU One Wall Handball Rules, from the Champion Glove Manufacturing Co., Des Moines, Iowa

Source: Independent Press-Telegram, 4 June 1967

The booklet 'Handball Official Unified Playing Rules' (cover names AAU-JWB-YMCA, with a Champion Glove advertisement) says its 1968 edition is a review by official representatives of the J.W.B., A.A.U. and Y.M.C.A.; its committee page is dated January 19, 1968; and its introduction says the USHA, after taking part in the rules discussion meetings, decided not to participate in publishing this revision

Four-wall Rule 2 of the booklet sets the court at 20 ft wide, 20 ft high and 40 ft long with a back wall 12 ft high (other sizes allowed for championships if approved), the court size later used by the USHA

Source: eBay listing 800810243429: seller photographs of "Handball Official Unified Playing Rules" (A.A.U., J.W.B., Y.M.C.A., 1968) (seen 30 October 2026)

The tribute (written by the USHA although O'Connell had long been in what it calls the A.A.U.'s 'enemy camp') lists: 1909, instrumental in construction of the first one-wall court at Brighton Beach; 1930, author of the first printed book on handball rules; 1957, named to the Helms Hall of Fame; 1958, chairman of the unified rules committee chosen by the Y.M.C.A., A.A.U., USHA and J.W.B.; 1959, originator of three-wall jai-alai fronton courts in New York parks; 1964, chairman of the first world handball championship at the N.Y.A.C.; 1965, author of Handball Illustrated; 1966, honoured with the N.Y.A.C. gallery court; it calls him an octogenarian still active at the club

Source: Handball (USHA), December 1971