Akron Goodyear Wingfoots

The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots are one of the oldest basketball teams in the United States. They were founded in 1918, by the workers at the Goodyear Tire Company, in Akron, Ohio. The teams, while giving workers recreation, also helped to promote one of the first canvas/rubber based shoes made specifically for athletics, the wingfoot.

The Wingfoots joined the National Basketball League for the 1932–1933 season, playing against strong teams like Indianapolis Kautskys and Akron Firestone Non Skids (the latter were crowned champions). They moved to the Midwest Basketball Conference in 1936 (Chicago Duffy Florals were the reigning champions), facing teams such as: the Indianapolis Kautskys, Harlem Globetrotters, Sheboygan Red Skins, and the New York Renaissance. They won the league title in 1937, after defeating Fort Wayne, in a best of three games series sweep.

In the late 1930s, Goodyear, Firestone, General Electric, and other companies with similar Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Elite teams, decided to form the National Basketball League (NBL) to showcase their teams (it was actually that the MBC changed its name to the NBL). The Wingfoots won the first NBL title in 1938. During the 1938–1939 season, the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots finished second in the National Basketball League's Eastern Division. The team finished behind the Akron Firestone Non Skids, another team from Akron, each season. However, the Wingfoots did capture the league's first championship, after an impressive playoff run. During the 1939–1940 season, the Wingfoots finished third in the Eastern Division, winning exactly fifty percent of the team's games. During the next season, the squad finished next to last in the National Basketball League. During the 1941–1942 season, the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots experienced a turnaround, finishing third in the National Basketball League. The team, however, lost in the first round of the playoffs. The team began the 1942–1943 season, but a poor performance on the court, and a declining number of men available to play due, to World War II, caused the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots to cease operation before the season's end.

The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots joined the National Industrial Basketball League in 1946, and became an integrated part of the league. They never met any success, as the Bartlesville Phillips 66ers dominated in winning the titles. In 15 seasons, their record was 126 wins and 139 losses.

The team was not a part of the BAA and NBL merger that created the NBA. Instead, they reconstituted those NBL teams left over into the National Industrial Basketball League. The Wingfoots regained national power in the NIBL, which in 1960, was changed to the National Alliance of Basketball Leagues. They joined the NABL in the 1960s, and continued to play there until the late 1970s. They also represented USA basketball at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, which is organized by FIBA World. In 1964, they won their first AAU Tournament, after beating their bitter rivals, the Phillips 66ers, in the final. They won the AAU championship again, in 1967.

Always a stepping stone for new leagues such as the NBA, the American Basketball League (ABL), and the American Basketball Association (ABA), the Wingfoots stopped playing a national schedule in the mid 1970s, and after the NABL was dropped in favor of touring teams, Goodyear Tire stopped sponsoring the team. In the 1980s, team sponsorship was picked up by Tom Ficara and Reach Entertainment, and the team today plays year round all over the world. The Wingfoots are the only AAU Elite team that still plays a full college schedule. Although the team has not yet returned to its previous glory, it has again started playing in the historic AAU National Tournament.

StagioneLeagueNameVP%StandingsPlay offs1937–38NBLAkron Goodyear Wingfoots13572.22ndChampions1938–39NBLAkron Goodyear Wingfoots141450.02nd 1939–40NBLAkron Goodyear Wingfoots141450.03rd 1940–41NBLAkron Goodyear Wingfoots111345.86th 1941–42NBLAkron Goodyear Wingfoots15962.53rdSemifinals