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 Club History |
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Hollywood Athletic Club History
The Hollywood Athletic Club opened it's doors on New Year's Eve, 1923 in a lavish celebration. The original Hollywood Athletic Club was the tallest building in Los Angeles when it was built. The architects also built Graumann's Chinese Theatre and the Egyptian Theatre.
In 1924, the Hollywood Athletic Club became a member club of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and competed in many AAU Regional and National Championships in various sports.
The clubhouse boasted a full gymnasium, pool, restaurant, billiards, hotel and many other facilities. Founded by by the stars of the day including: Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. DeMille and Rudolph Valentino.
Other Members included: Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, John Wayne, Dick Powell and Johhny Weismuller who trained in the pool here forr his "Tarzan" films. Actor Conell Wilde started out here as fencing instructor.
The club was acquired by the Los Angeles Athletic Club in the late 1930's and continued to operate the HAC as an allied athletic club. In 1949, the club was the site of the first Emmy Awards. Eventually, the LAAC sold off the HAC, in addition to other allied athletic clubs.
In the 1990s, the Hollywood Athletic Club was reopened in the original building as a full service restaurant, billiards club and nightclub with an athletic club theme and a pro shop complete with authentic memorabilia throughout the club.
In the late 90's the club thrived as a nightclub, boasting two locations (one in the original Hollywood location and the other at the Universal Studios City Walk). The HAC was named "America's Best Billiards Club" for two years in a row by Billiards Digest. It was a celebrity hangout in it's own right and hosted the hottest party spot on Saturday nights and an exceptional restaurant.
In 1997, Gino Grajeda started the HAC junior girls field hockey program in cooperation with the Southern Pacific Field Hockey Committee and AAU membership was reactivated with support from Robert Reaves and the staff at the HAC, when the club was in full daily operations. The spring of 1998 saw the first FHF title for the field hockey program in the U16 Division.
The clubhouse then became a location for private parties, promotional events and a filming venue, including a live music/dance hall nightclub for local promoters at both the pool and the former gymnasium and surrounding areas in the clubhouse. The Universal Studios City Walk location was closed when the original club ceased daily operations.
Hollywood Athletic Club field hockey teams competed and won many leagues and tournaments from the late 90's through the end of May, 2006 when the clubhouse which housed the infamous name was removed.
In June of 2006, the building which housed the famed Hollywood Athletic Club became Social Hollywood, an upscale restaurant and nightclub and completed extensive renovations of the historic building. The HAC also completed the final season in the FHF program at Moorpark College in the spring of 2006. In November of 2006, the club won their first divisional title at the National Hockey Festival in the U19 Division after several years of second and third place finishes.
In January of 2007, the Hollywood Athletic Club field hockey program moved to the American Sports Center of Anaheim as a home for indoor hockey operations and began outdoor practices in the Huntington Beach and Newport Beach areas. The Orange County based proram competed under the Hollywood Athletic Club banner at the National Hockey Festival in Palm Springs in November of 2007 and included athletes from both Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
In December of 2007, the Hollywood Athletic Club Field Hockey program incorporated the Orange County Field Hockey Club and officially moved all operations to Orange County for the 2008 season. The Orange County Field Hockey Club will continue as an indoor hockey program and maintain alliances with the CSI Sports in the development of the Great Park in Irvine through through the spring of 2009.
In 2010, the Hollywood Athletic Club will return local operations to Los Angeles in both indoor and field hockey and will continue alliances with the Southern Pacific Field Hockey Committee, AAU, USA Field Hockey and CSI Sports and retire the Orange County Field Hockey name.
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