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List of people considered father or mother of a sport

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This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (June 2021)

Those known as the father, mother, or considered a founder of a sport are those who have made important contributions to that sport. In some sports several people are considered the founders, while in others the title of being the "father" or "mother" is debatable.

Subject Father/mother Reason
1:8 radio-controlled off-road buggy Yuichi Kanai (godfather) Kyosho's lead designer and lifelong employee; best known for the Inferno series of cars, credited for redefining the class from being unreliable and fragile to being tough and user friendlier that helped his employer to lead the 1/8 buggy renaissance from the 1990s, becoming one of the most dominant cars of all time.
American football Walter Camp Established the snap, the line of scrimmage, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs
American motocross Edison Dye Introduced motocross to American riders
American road racing Cameron Argetsinger Introduced the first US auto race that was dedicated to road courses at Watkins Glen
American sports car Fred Tone Fred Tone was the engineer who designed the first sports car known as the American Underslung
American soccer Steve Ross (godfather) Created the New York Cosmos soccer team and imported a number of well known international footballers to the team in an attempt to bring interest to soccer in the US
Angling Izaak Walton Author of The Compleat Angler
Argentine football Alexander Watson Hutton Founded Argentina’s first organized football leagues and promoted the sport’s development in schools, establishing the foundation for Argentine football culture.
Argentine professional golf José Jurado Pioneered Argentine golf on the international stage, becoming the first Argentine golfer to compete in major championships abroad, including the British Open, and inspiring future generations in the sport.
Argentine winter sports Otto Meiling Founded Argentina’s first ski club and promoted winter sports development in Patagonia, helping establish Bariloche as a center for skiing and winter tourism.
Association football / Modern football Ebenezer Cobb Morley Founded the Football Association and drafted the first official rules of association football, laying the groundwork for the modern game.
Australian rules football Tom Wills Co-founded Australian rules football and helped create its first set of rules, establishing the foundation for Australia’s unique national sport.
H. C. A. Harrison Refined and promoted the rules of Australian rules football, playing a key role in shaping and popularizing the game as a distinct national sport.
Baseball Henry Chadwick Developed baseball's scoring system, statistics, and box score, helping to standardize the game.
Taekwondo in India Puran Andrew Gurung Pioneered Taekwondo in India by introducing the martial art in the 1970s, establishing its foundational training programs, and promoting it across the country.
Basketball James Naismith Created basketball
Black basketball Edwin Henderson Introduced the sport to the black community of Washington, D.C. in the first decade of the 20th century, and organized many early competitions for African Americans
BMX Scot Breithaupt Founded BMX as a sport by organizing the first races and establishing the foundations for BMX culture, earning him the title "The Godfather of BMX."
Brahma bull riding Earl W. Bascom Introduced Brahma bulls into rodeo events, significantly shaping modern bull riding and influencing the sport’s evolution.
Brazilian football Charles William Miller Brought football to Brazil by introducing the first footballs and rules, organizing matches, and helping establish the country’s first football clubs.
Camel Lights Jim Downing Built a racecar a season before it became the basis of a new lightweight prototype class in 1985
Canadian rodeo O. Raymond Knight Coined the rodeo term "stampede" and was world's first rodeo producer, rodeo stock contractor, and rodeo champion in 1902
Modern chess Wilhelm Steinitz First official world chess champion
Drag racing Wally Parks Founder of the NHRA and organized the first legitimate drag race
Don Garlits Innovator of drag racing safety
Eddie Hill Regarded as the "Four Father" of drag racing for being the first to break the 5-second barrier. AKA "First in the Fours".
Drifting Kunimitsu Takahashi Introduced an aggressive high speed cornering technique that became widely used for illicit purposes, which eventually became a sport
East Coast skateboarding Vinny Raffa (godfather) Helped shape East Coast skateboarding culture by organizing events, building skateparks, and fostering a community that defined the region’s unique skate style.
Florida skateboarding Bruce Walker (godfather) Advanced Florida skateboarding by founding skate teams, organizing competitions, and mentoring prominent skaters, establishing a strong skateboarding culture in the region.
Freestyle BMX Bob Haro Pioneered freestyle BMX by developing specialized bikes, creating innovative tricks, and organizing the first freestyle events, shaping the sport’s evolution and culture.
Freestyle Motocross Mike Metzger (godfather) Revolutionized freestyle motocross by introducing groundbreaking tricks, such as the backflip in competition, and elevating the sport’s popularity worldwide.
Funny Car Dick Landy Advanced Funny Car racing by innovating high-performance drag racing techniques, influencing car design, and setting competitive standards in the sport.
Modern gymnastics Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Developed modern gymnastics by founding the Turnverein movement and creating apparatus and exercises that formed the basis of contemporary gymnastic practices.
Modern Handball Karl Schelenz Developed modern handball by refining the rules and promoting the sport internationally, contributing to its evolution into the game played today.
Ice hockey James Creighton Captained one of the two teams that participated in the first indoor hockey game on 3 March 1875 in Montreal
Import drag racing Frank Choi Hosted one of the first events specifically for import cars in the mid-1990s to keep drivers out of street racing that progressed into a professional category
Italian football James Richardson Spensley Associated with Genoa CFC; contributed to the modern day-variation of the game in Italy
William Garbutt Laid the foundations of skilled coaching in Italian football
Japanese baseball Horace Wilson Credited with introducing baseball in Japan
Hiroshi Hiraoka Credited with establishing the first baseball team
Jogging Jim Fixx Founding father
Kart racing Art Ingels Developed the world's first kart (1956)
Kenyan running Colm O'Connell Founded the first running camp in Kenya
Lacrosse William George Beers Codified the sport from its original Indigenous American formation
Mexican taekwondo Dai-won Moon Credited with introducing the sport to Mexico; founded school that has trained tens of thousands in the sport
Mississippi rodeo Earl W. Bascom
Weldon Bascom 		Produced the first rodeo in Columbia, Mississippi in 1935
Mixed martial arts Edward William Barton-Wright Experimented 1898–1902 with Shinden Fudo Ryu jujutsu, Kodokan judo, British boxing, Swiss schwingen, French savate and a defensive la canne (stick fighting) style that had been developed by Pierre Vigny of Switzerland, which led to the invention of Bartitsu
Model aviation Joseph S. Ott Chicago Tribune, in an obituary, referred him as the father mainly for his designs of thousands of model aircraft spanning from the 1920s up to his death in 1986.
Modern bodybuilding Eugen Sandow Pioneered modern bodybuilding by popularizing muscle display performances, establishing the first bodybuilding competitions, and setting standards for physique assessment.
Harold Zinkin Called so by Arnold Schwarzenegger during a press statement on his passing in 2004; inventor of modern exercise machines
Modern boxing James Figg Laid the foundation for modern boxing by being the first recognized champion and establishing early rules
James J.Corbett Revolutionized the sport with scientific techniques and defensive strategies, introducing a more sophisticated style
Modern figure skating Jackson Haines "Jackson Haines — The Father of Figure Skating", according to Roy Blakey
Modern football in Japan Dettmar Cramer Played a pivotal role in developing modern football in Japan by coaching the national team, enhancing training methods, and promoting professional standards, greatly influencing the sport's growth in the country.
Modern rodeo Earl W. Bascom Inventor of rodeo gear and equipment that made rodeo into a modern international sport
Modern tennis Jack Kramer Creator of the "Open"-era tournaments and the Association of Tennis Professionals
Puroresu Rikidōzan Popularized puroresu (Japanese professional wrestling) by establishing it as a mainstream sport in Japan, blending traditional wrestling with dramatic storytelling, and inspiring future generations of wrestlers.
Para-equestrian dressage Lee Pearson (godfather) Most decorated para-equestrian rider of all time
Organized radio controlled racing Ted Longshaw Regarded as a grandfather of the sport; founded an organization for racing in the United Kingdom (1971); founded governing bodies for organized racing in Europe (1973), the far east (1980) and worldwide (1979)
Roger Curtis Co-founder of Associated Electrics, one of the most significant R/C car brands; contributed to racing
Modern sabre fencing Italo Santelli Transformed modern sabre fencing by introducing innovative techniques and footwork, establishing a dynamic style that became the standard in competitive sabre.
Modern surfing Duke Kahanamoku Popularized modern surfing worldwide by showcasing the sport internationally, refining surfing techniques, and inspiring global interest in Hawaiian surf culture.
Rodeo bareback bronc riding Earl W. Bascom Designed and made the first one-hand rigging in 1924
Rugby union A. G. Guillemard Helped formalize rugby union by serving as the first president of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and contributing to the establishment of standardized rules, shaping the modern game.
William Webb Ellis "Who with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time first took the ball in his arms and ran with it thus originating the distinctive feature of the rugby game".
Scuba diving Jacques Cousteau Developed the aqua-lung jointly with Émile Gagnan; popularized scuba diving as a research diver, writer, and film and television producer and personality
Skateboarding Skip Engblom (godfather) Influenced the evolution of skateboarding by co-founding the Zephyr Skate Team (Z-Boys) and promoting a bold, surf-inspired style that transformed skateboarding culture and competition.
Tony Hawk (godfather) Redefined skateboarding by advancing technical tricks, notably landing the first 900, and elevating the sport’s popularity through competitions, video games, and media, becoming an iconic figure in skateboarding culture.
Rodney Mullen (godfather) Revolutionized skateboarding by inventing fundamental tricks like the kickflip, heelflip, and flatground ollie, shaping the foundation of modern street and freestyle skateboarding.
Snooker Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain Adopted the name and framed the rules in Ooty, India
Snowboarding Jake Burton Carpenter Pioneered modern snowboarding by innovating snowboard design, founding Burton Snowboards, and promoting the sport globally, helping to establish snowboarding as a mainstream winter sport.
Stock car racing Bill France Sr. Founded the sanctioning body for stock car racing
Supercross Mike Goodwin Organized the first supercross race
Telemark skiing Sondre Norheim Invented modern telemark skiing by developing the first flexible ski bindings and popularizing the telemark turn, laying the groundwork for contemporary ski techniques.
Televised golf Frank Chirkinian Personally responsible for much of the production conventions of modern golf broadcasting

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  79. Goldstein, Richard (March 5, 2011). "Frank Chirkinian, the Father of Televised Golf, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2013. Frank is universally regarded as the father of golf television," Jim Nantz, CBS's longtime lead golf announcer, told the PGA Tour Web site this year. "He invented it. He took a sport that no one knew how to televise and made it interesting. He brought the Masters tournament to life.
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