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The creation of the first sports associations
The foundation of the first sports associations in Greece dates from the last quarter of the 19th century. It was then that the first sports nuclei were  created both in Athens and in cities outside the borders of the Greek State where lived large and affluent Greek communities, such as Constantinople, Smyrna and Alexandria. They were sports associations, whose activity was very limited and focused on gymnastic exercise.
In the late 1880s and early 1890s new, more active, associations were created marking the beginning of competitive action. This development was accompanied by the gradual predominance of athletics over gymnastics and by the simultaneous development of other sports, such as wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, rowing and tennis. The organization of the first Olympic Games of modern times in Athens was a milestone in these developments.
It seems that the first Greek sports association was Milo, which was founded in Alexandria in 1873 by members of the Greek community. Four years later Hermes was founded in Constantinople, while in 1878 the Greek Gymnastic Society was established in Athens. In the first half of the 1880s two more associations made their appearance in Athens: the Athenian Gymnastic Association (1882) and the Sports Association of Athens (1885). The duration of the Athenian associations was short and because they were limited to the gymnastic exercise of their members it seems that they did not develop any competitive activity. However, their foundation was the first step towards the creation of sports institutions in Greece. Besides, the activity of Milo and Hermes was also limited until the beginning of the 20th century. At the same time, namely in mid-1880s, the Rowing Club was founded in Faliron, which organized regattas from 1888 onwards.
In the 1890s, new gymnastic associations made their appearance and developed not only gymnastics but also athletics. Athens, Smyrna, Cyprus, Patras, Corfu, Agrinio and other cities inside and outside the Greek borders created new associations, which constituted the birthplaces of Greek sport. Those primordial Greek sports nuclei soon came in contact with each other through sports games, such as the Tinia and the Panhellenic Games. They were incorporated from the very beginning into the official networks of Greek sport (SEAGS, COG) and formed a sui generis "geography", which did not coincide with the political boundaries of the Greek State, but resembled the fantasy boundaries of the Greek nation.
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