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The Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) was established as the national governing body for women's athletics in England in October 1922. It was formed to meet a growing demand for organised competition for women.

Separate associations were later created in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scottish Women's Amateur Athletic Association was formed in 1930, the Welsh Women's Amateur Athletic Association and the Northern Ireland Women's Amateur Athletic Association were both formed in 1951.

In 1991, as part of a wider re-organisation of athletics in the UK, the WAAA merged with the men's governing body, the Amateur Athletic Assocation (AAA). The new governing body was called the Amateur Athletic Association of England.

Formation of the WAAA
Prior to the formation of the WAAA there was limited competition for women and girls in athletics, mainly organised by schools and colleges. Part of the impetus for the formation came from the unofficial participation of an English team in the 1921 Women's Oympiad in Monte Carlo, organised by Frenchwoman Alice Milliat, where they competed against teams from France, Switzerland, Italy and Norway. Major W.B. Marchant, the Director of Physical Education at Regent Street Polytechnic and Joe Palmer, an athletics official, put together the English squad which was made up of women from Regent Street and Woolwich Polytechnics in London. They were selected from women attending Physical Education classes and coached by Joe Palmer. The squad was very successful, winning five of the ten athletics events, as well as the basketball tournament.

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