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The Story of the Sellwood Athletic Club

Began in July 1909 by local businessmen, the clubhouse opened January 17, 1910.  Prior to the official opening of the clubhouse, baseball, basketball and boxing were featured sports sponsored by the local members of the Sellwood community.

The 1911 team participated in the 110-pound weight classification in Portland, commonly referred to as the "Eleven" to differentiate from the YMCA team.  Hoover was designated the "star" of the October victory over Wabash.

During the 1912 seaon, the Sellwood club found things rough going as the basketball team fell in dramatic fashion 83-10 to the YMCA Spartans, and the football team seldom found the goal line.

Beginning in 1913, the basketball team took on the moniker of the Sellwood Swastikas and maintained that into the 1930's.  It is unclear if the football team claimed the nickname as well as the team was simply referred to as Sellwood in news reports as there were both Junior and Senior teams in different weight divisions.  During the December 7, 1913 game, the originally scheduled "junior" division game with Arleta of the 130lb category, the heavier Sellwood team played to a 0-0 stalemate with the lighter opponents.  Arleta not only claimed a forfeit over the Junior team, but took away a tie with the heavy team, though many of the same players took part without the 130lb weight restrictions.