William Curtis

Third president of the AAU. He was the foremost early advocate of amateurism and was remembered as the “Father of American Amateur Athletics. He was an outstanding all-around athlete and a former seminarian. He was one of the founders of the New York Athletic Club and served as its treasurer and president. Curtis began emulating the British amateur codes in the 1870’s which only allowed those men to compete who had never competed for pay with professionals for a price or taught athletics as a living. He even was known to criticize the AAU on occasion, arguing that the organization had a responsibility not merely to monitor codes of amateurism for the benefit of a few gifted athletes but to encourage athletics for everyone. (Ref: Sports in America from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century)

Third president of the AAU. He was the foremost early advocate of amateurism and was remembered as the “Father of American Amateur Athletics. He was an outstanding all-around athlete and a former seminarian. He was one of the founders of the New York Athletic Club and served as its treasurer and president. Curtis began emulating the British amateur codes in the 1870’s which only allowed those men to compete who had never competed for pay with professionals for a price or taught athletics as a living. He even was known to criticize the AAU on occasion, arguing that the organization had a responsibility not merely to monitor codes of amateurism for the benefit of a few gifted athletes but to encourage athletics for everyone. (Ref: Sports in America from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century)