Active on the Cleveland sports scene for 41 years, eh served as athletic director at Cleveland James Ford Rhodes High School from 1933 to 1942 and subsequently as Director of Playgrounds and Community Centers for the Cleveland Board of Education. He was president of the Greater Cleveland Boxing Commission in 1953, National AAU Chairman for Olympic Development in 1964 and president of the Lake Erie AAU. He helped launch the Junior Olympics program in 1946.
Managed and backed softball teams from 1939 to 1964 and was responsible for the running of numerous World Tournaments held in Cleveland. His Sheffield Bronze teams won Jewish Recreation Council or Cleveland major titles for 15 successive years and played in an unprecedented eight consecutive World Tournaments form 1956 through 1962. Also backed bowling teams for 20 years and, at various times, hardball, women’s softball, Little League and basketball teams.
Served the Cleveland school system for forty years (1933-73) as a teacher and football coach, as supervisor of Physical Welfare and as Director of Athletics for the Cleveland Board of Education. Helped develop the Junior Olympics and Life Time Sports programs, both locally and nationally. Held the presidency of state and national associations of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and was secretary of the Cleveland Senate Athletic Council for 22 years.
Pioneer organizer of the 14-inch slow pitch softball leagues, he also started the first Cleveland 12-inch leagues after World War II. Was an outstanding player himself. Served on the board of the Cleveland Baseball Federation and as chairman of the first two World Slow Pitch tournaments staged in Cleveland.
Worked closely with the Cleveland area coaching fraternity for 27 years as president of Olympic Sport Goods, Inc. He was a football and track official for 40 years and for 37 years served as president and secretary of the amateur Cuyahoga Valley Baseball League. After his own retirement he formed an organization for retired coaches and athletic directors which he headed until his death in 1976.
Publisher of The Cleveland Kegler, one of the two oldest weekly bowling publications in the country, he was elevated to both the American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame and the Greater Cleveland Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1971. Started the first charity bowling tournament in the nation. Began the Cleveland Press Charity Bowling Tournament and was co-originator of the Cleveland Plain Dealer “I Beat The Champion” Charity Tournament.
Active in AAU programs for over 50 years, he made his mark most strongly in the sport of boxing where as a trainer and coach he produced a long list of nationally prominent fighters. In 1974 he was inducted into the AAU Boxing Hall of Fame and was named the AAU’s “Man of the Year.” Served as secretary-treasurer of the Ohio Association of Boxing and Ohio Wrestling Commission and the National Wrestling Association.
Spent 43 years as a sportswriter, the last 23 with the Cleveland Press. Retired in 1966 with a reputation as one of the country’s most knowledgeable experts in the fields of track, amateur and professional golf and collegiate football. Covered every major golf tournament during his career, as well as several Olympics.
Helped lay the foundation for Cleveland’s amateur sports program, a program which served as a model for many cities. A founder of the Muny Football Association, he served as its first president from 1946 to 1960. Also served as president of the Muny Basketball Association from 1931 until 1960, chairman of the football and basketball arbitration boards, and secretary of the Cleveland Baseball Federation’s arbitration board.
A devoted friend of handicapped and underprivileged youngsters and of sports and athletes on both amateur and the professional level, he owned the Cleveland Pipers basketball team, an early entry (1950s) in professional basketball here and headed Group 66, an organization devoted to promoting civic improvement, including the support of athletic programs, in Cleveland. Became principal owner of the New York Yankees in 1973.