American Tankery Association

The American Tankery Association is the United State's equivalent to Japan's Sensha-Do Federation. The Association organizes, officiates, and conducts all tankery matches within the territory of the United States from the elementary school league to the college level. They are headquarted in Los Angeles, California.

## American tankery before the ATA

Tankery reached the United States not long after the sport's creation in France in the aftermath of World War I. Tankery clubs began cropping up along the Eastern Seaboad around 1920 and the sport steadidly moved westward as its popularity grew. The early days of American tankery would later be described by sport historians as a 'wild west of combative steel'. Ad hoc matches were the norm during this time with oversight near non-existent beyond school teachers acting as match officators. This 'wild west' period would not last long as it would become clear to tankery athletes of the day that some kind of formal body would be needed to not only make the sport more organized, but to also make it legitmate.

The first formal body would come into existence in Massachusetes, named the New England Tankery Union. As the name would suggest, this organization officated tankery matches in the New England area. More bodies would spring up across the nation that were:

* The Dixie Tankery Society - Formed in Georgia and officated matches in the American South.
* The Heartland Tankery Assocation - Formed in Michigan and officiated matches in the American Midwest.
* The Pacific Tankery Group - Formed in California and officated matches in the American West Coast.

From 1922 to 1933, these four tankery governing bodies existed and mainly kept to themselves as they conducted their businessed in their respective areas of the country. Soon, though, the organizations would increasingly interact with each other as the years go by. This cooperation led to the organization of special leauge versus league matches, with the first one being in 1925 between the New England Tankery Union and the Dixie Tankery Society, with a then-record setting 25,000 spectators in attendence. More of these special matches took place with ever increasing fanfare that soon led to the creation of a grand tournament in 1929 to determine which tankery orgization was the best. A series of rounds took place at locales throughout the nation, where at the end, a team from New Orleans clutched victory at the finals in the Grand Canyon area. This "Grand American Tankery Competition", as it was called then, would later be referred to as the 1st United States National Tankery Tournament.

Though the four tankery bodies were enjoying their own sucesses, their operations weren't perfect, and a major outside factor would soon compel them to consider and ultimately pursue a profound decision for the sake of the sport.

## The Formation of the ATA

Because of the fragmentation of the tankery governing bodies in the United States, invariably, there was some regions in the country that none of the four organzations ever operated in. As such, the 'wild west' of American tankery that was ended by the birth of these organizations still persisted in some remote areas. This was a problem noted by organization officials of the day though it wasn't pressing enough for it to be a priority, especially when the tournaments got underway.

This would change after October 1929 when the Amercian Stock Market crashed. The following months would see a terrifying cascade of banks collpasing as they ran out of money, spurring a greater economic panic that turned into a Depression. As the average Amercian spent less and less money, all aspects of the nation felt of a poor economy and rising unemployment, which did indeed include the sport of tankery. Since 1929, tankery matches have been recieving less and less spectators. Tankery teams more affected by the depression sold off some of their machines, and those that were truly worse off, had to shut down operations entirely.

The four tankery organizations were also suffering. The Heartland Tankery Assocation shrunk by 13% by selling assets to keep their margins in the black. The New England Tankery Union cancelled their eagerly awaited plans of starting the nation's first professional leauge. The Pacific Tankery Group held only one-fifth of the matches they usually do for the 1930 season. The Dixie Tankery Society fared the worse of them all as they became utterly insolvent as the bank that held their funds went under in 1931. The only reason why they didn't cease operations all together was through the passion of their former employees turned volunteers who officated tankery matches for little to no compensation.

The overall situation was regarded as untenable by all organization heads. As such, in 1933, a special convention was held in Dallas, Texas, where the upper echelons from all four tankery organizations along with a number of accomplished tankery athletes attended. At this convention, a proposal was set forth to all attendes:

> *"To ensure the welfare of the sport of tankery, should the four governing bodies of the nation come together to form one large governing body that would officate matches throughout the territory of the United States?"*
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The convention lasted three days that were all occupied by debate of the prospal. At the evening of the third day, the proposal was voted on, with the final numbers being 167 **FOR** the proposal and 12 **AGAINST**. With a clear majority, the proposal was passed and work immediately was underway to unite the four governing bodies as quickly as possible. This was accomplished four months later at a special ceremony at the united organization's new headquarters.

> *"To best provide for the welfare of the sport of Tankery, it is on this day, the Twelveth of September of the year Nineteen hundred and Thirty-Three, in Los Angeles, California, that the American Tankery Association is established."*
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## Triva

* The date of the established of the ATA is a reference to the Battle of Saint-Mihiel from World War I. This battle saw not only the first US-led offensive, but also the first major use of American tank units.