Weiner, Joe

Joseph Weiner

Weiner was Yale University's first Jewish basketball player, and was considered one of the best Jewish players outside the New York area in the 1910s. As a poor youngster in New Haven, Connecticut, he played on a team organized out of Edwin Bancroft Foote Boys Club, a safe hang-out for the children of Jewish immigrants where. Weiner said, "we gathered to play, learn, and develop."

Weiner later played for the Atlas Club, a Jewish social athletic club. He said, "The Atlas Basketball Team, of which I was captain, toured through Connecticut and Massachusetts. We played in places that an all-Jewish team had never previously seen...because of the team's success, ability, spark, and smartness, we commanded great respect not only as a basketball team, but as Jewish goodwill representatives."

In the 1920s, Atlas won city, state, and regional amateur championships and even beat the Yale varsity in a 1922 exhibition game which raised $2,100 for the Jewish Relief Fund. Weiner later played while at the Johns Hopkins Medical School. He became an allergist and vice-president of the New Haven Medical Association.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Oct. 12, 1894 - d. Jan. 1983

Career Highlights:
Weiner was an outstanding forward for Yale in the 1910s and was one of the stars of the Ivy League during his college career. Originally cut from the varsity, Weiner made the team midway through the 1913 season. Weiner said of being Yale's first Jewish player, "My presence on the team, I believe, made it easier for other Jewish players who followed me - fellows like Sam Pite, Peter Gilitz, and Ed Horwitz."

In 1915, Weiner was named first team All-Ivy League, and All-Eastern as he led Yale to the Ivy League championship with a conference record of 8-2. The Bulldogs had an overall record of 14-3 and were rated as one of the top five teams in the country (there was no official poll until 1948). The following year, he continued his success as he finished ninth in the conference in scoring with 4.2 points per game, although Yale could not repeat as Ivy League champs, finishing with a record of 13-7 (5-5 in conference).

Origin:
New Haven, Connecticut

Career Dates:
Played forward at Yale University, 1914-1916.

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