Mackenzie Athletic Association

Club founded within the scope of Mackenzie College, in São Paulo, and one of the pioneers of Paulista football in the early twentieth century. It was one of the founding clubs of the then Paulista Football League, embryo of the current São Paulo Football Federation.

History

The Mackenzie Athletic Association was born together with Mackenzie College, an educational institution linked to North American immigrants in São Paulo, in a period when football was beginning to organize formally in Brazil. Alongside clubs such as São Paulo Athletic Club, Germania (now Pinheiros Sports Club) and Clube Atletico Ypiranga, Mackenzie participated in the foundation of the Paulista Football League in 1901, a competition that gave rise to the current Campeonato Paulista. In the early years of Paulista football, Mackenzie played matches against the main clubs of the capital, in a strictly amateur period when the sport was still restricted to elites linked to foreign colonies and educational institutions. With the professionalization of football in the following decades, clubs like Mackenzie lost ground to larger and more popular associations. Currently, the Mackenzie Athletic Association maintains sports activities linked to Mackenzie Presbyterian University, without competing in professional football competitions, mainly preserving its historical role as one of the founders of organized football in São Paulo.