The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 franchises. Hundreds of administrators, coaches, trainers and counselors participate, involving gyms and programs in local and regional tournaments throughout the United States and in a National Tournament of Champions each year. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but can also represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional and state tournaments, such as the Chicago Golden Gloves, and the New York Golden Gloves, and the Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves.
Flag football is a variant of gridiron football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a down. In flag football, contact is limited between players. The sport has a strong amateur following with several national and international competitions each year sponsored by various associations but is most popularly played in America where it was invented. The international governing body for the sport is the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) with the International Woman's Flag Football Association (IWFFA) governing the women's game.
1984 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
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 more than 900,000 members nationwide, including more than 100,000 volunteers. The philosophy of the AAU is "Sports for All, Forever."
USA Baseball is the national governing body for baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization is responsible for the selection of the United States national team for various international competition, including the senior professional team, the collegiate national team, the various youth national teams, and the women's national team.
USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking. The USATF was known between 1979 and 1992 as The Athletics Congress (TAC) after its spin-off from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which governed the sport in the US through most of the 20th century until the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 dissolved its responsibility. Based in Indianapolis, USATF is a non-profit organization with a membership of more than 130,000. The organization has three key leadership positions: CEO Max Siegel, Board of Directors Chair Steve Miller, and elected president Vin Lananna. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can be USATF members, but permanent residents can only participate in masters events in the country, and they cannot win USATF medals, prize money, or score points for a team, per World Athletics regulations.
USA Hockey is a national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United States and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Before June 1991, the organization was known as the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS).
The American Poolplayers Association (APA) is a governing body for amateur pool competition in the United States. The APA conducts pool leagues and tournaments in the disciplines of eight-ball and nine-ball with a unified ruleset. The organization was founded in 1981 by professional pool players Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart, with roots dating back to the National Pool League (NPL), founded in 1979. The APA bills itself as the largest pool league in the world with a membership of more than 250,000 players in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Singapore. The organization franchises its local league operations worldwide; some of these league operators are former professional pool players, including Ewa Laurance and Jeanette Lee. The APA is headquartered in Lake St. Louis, Missouri.
Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two players (singles) or four players (doubles) use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a 34-inch-high (0.86 m) net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played indoors and outdoors. It was invented in 1965 as a children's backyard game in the United States, on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. In 2022, pickleball was named the official state sport of Washington.
Sports in the United States are an important part of the nation's culture. Historically, the most popular sport has been baseball. However, in more recent decades, American football has been the most popular spectator sport based on broadcast viewership audience. Basketball has grown into the mainstream American sports scene since the 1980s, with ice hockey and soccer doing the same around the turn of the 21st century. These sports comprise the "Big Five".
Volleyball is a popular sport in the United States with both male and female participants of all ages. Almost all high schools and colleges in the United States have female volleyball teams, and most regions of the country have developmental programs for girls of all ages as well. While many areas of the country are forming male teams and development programs, there are still fewer opportunities for young male athletes to play volleyball in the United States than for young female athletes. Men's volleyball is a fast-growing sport among high schools, with 36 states having male volleyball programs. Most men's seasons are in the spring while women's seasons take place primarily in the fall; however, there are a few men's teams such as in Wisconsin, Virginia, and New York who play in the fall as well.
The American Bicycle Association (ABA) was a US-based BMX racing governing body in Gilbert, Arizona. In 2011, the ABA merged with the former National Bicycle League and became the present-day USA BMX: The American Bicycle Association. The ABA was founded by Merl Mennenga and Gene Roden in 1977. Reportedly one of the world's largest BMX associations, it has tracks in the United States and in Canada.
The Royal Spanish Tennis Federation, officially known as Real Federación Española de Tenis (RFET) in Spanish is the national governing body of tennis in Spain. Established in 1907, the federation oversees the development, regulation, and promotion of tennis at both the amateur and professional levels throughout the country. The Royal Spanish Tennis Federation is a member of the regional association Tennis Europe and is recognized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Spanish government as the authoritative body for tennis in Spain. The organization is also responsible for the Spanish Davis Cup team and the Spanish Fed Cup team. The federation headquarters lies in Barcelona.
The North American continent is the birthplace of several organized sports, such as basketball, charrería/rodeo, gridiron football, ice hockey, jaripeo/bull riding, lacrosse, ollamaliztl, mixed martial arts (MMA), padel, pickleball, racquetball, ultimate, and volleyball. The modern versions of baseball and softball, skateboarding, snowboarding, stock car racing, and surfing also developed in North America.
The All India Pickleball Association (AIPA) is the governing body of Pickleball in India. It functions as a nonprofit organization, providing support to other national and local pickleball organizations, and it organized the Amateur Pickleball Federation, India as its executive body to conduct pickleball tournaments in India. Established by Mr. Sunil Valavalkar in 2008, in 2015 the AIPA became a founding member of the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP), now the International Pickleball Federation where Valavalkar serves as Vice President.
The International Pickleball Federation (IPF) was created to act as the world governing body for the sport of pickleball. Originally the IPF was founded as the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) in 2010 by the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA), now USA Pickleball (USAP). The IPF is a nonprofit organization that focuses its resources on providing support to national and local pickleball organizations.
This glossary provides definitions and context for terminology related to, and jargon specific to, the sport of pickleball. Words or phrases in italics can be found on the list in their respective alphabetic sections.
Pickleball, a paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis, was invented in the United States in 1965, on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Since its introduction the sport has steadily increased in popularity, and in 2021, 2022, and 2023, the sport was named the fastest-growing sport in the United States by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. In 2022, pickleball was named the official state sport of Washington.
