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Sports associations and games
The sports activity that was produced and centred round Ioannis Fokianos at the Central Gymnasium led to the competitive success of the fourth  Zappeian Olympiad in 1889. However, in order to expand the nucleus of young people (in their majority they were students and came from powerful families) who "frequented" the Central Gymnasium, competition was necessary in the presence of an audience. It was also essential to reward the winners and recognize their ability outside the narrow circle of the Gymnasium's frequenters. It is not a coincidence that in the games of 1889 there was no provision for the timing and recording of the athletes' performances (that was done for the first time during the Test Events in 1896, before the Olympics) and only the winner was recorded. That was a different perception from that which prevailed in the sports centres of Europe and North America, where performance, the record, had become an element of the competition. The contests too constituted deviations from the prevalent sports model. Many of them were gymnastic and not track and field events, others were "original" or "Greek-centred" and were therefore not recognized, whereas regulations were not always abided by. The same approach was prevalent in the games organized by Fokianos in 1890 and in 1891, as president of the newly established Panhellenic Gymnastic Society. The games of 1891 were the first to be organized by an association and were repeated in 1893.
The National Gymnastic Society ("Ethnikos"), which resulted from the split of the Panhellenic Gymnastic Society in 1893, organized its own games, the so-called Tinia, which were held only once, on 15 August 1895. The organizer of the games was Ioannis Chrysafis, who adhered to what was in force internationally as regards the contests and regulations, when he drew up the programme of the games. Those were the first games among associations to be held in Greece, but also the first sports meeting among Greek sports associations, which had their seat inside and outside the Greek boundaries. In those games had participated athletes from 9 associations: 2 from Athens, 2 from Piraeus, 2 from Patras, 2 from Smyrna and one from Syros. This was a particular sports geography, where emphasis was given to the capital and the major ports and centres of transit trade in the Greek State, as well as in Smyrna. It was the first time that Greek associations had a games meeting, something which was adopted and practised in the following decades. Moreover, it was the first meeting of sports associations from inside and outside the Greek State.
From 1895-1896 started the organization of local and regional games and games among associations in other cities too. In Patras were organized the Panacha•koi, in Limassol the Pagkypria and in Smyrna the Panionian Games. These institutions would survive during the following years, constituting a meeting point of the Greek associations and a reference of comparison for the competitive condition of the athletes. Through such unifying processes was born the request for the creation of a supervising body. The foundation of SEAGS in 1897 and the organization of the first Panhellenic Games in 1901 did not hold back the activity of associations. Most of the associations organized "internal" games and their regular organization, as well as the participation of athletes in games of other associations, are milestones in the operation and activity of the associations in those years. On the other hand, all the more associations carried out local and regional games, especially in big cities. In addition, wealthy associations in Smyrna, Samos, Alexandria, Constantinople and in the cities of Cyprus organized their own games and at times the best athletes of the greatest Greek associations from inside or outside Greece participated in those games. In Athens, the Panhellenic Gymnastic Society organized in 1899 the Sotiria, whereas the newly founded SEAGS was unable to organize the first Panhellenic games. This would be realized in 1901.
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