C OF-CA1IFO% 
 
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 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 TRAINING, ORGANIZATION, AND PLAY
 
 SCHOOL, COLLEGE, AND SERVICE ATHLETICS 
 
 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 TRAINING, ORGANIZATION, AND PLAY 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER CAMP 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1919
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 Published April, 1919
 
 <sv 
 
 HI 
 
 TO 
 AMERICAN BOYS 
 
 AND ALL THEY DID 
 HERE AND OVER THERE
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IF there has been anything clearly demon- 
 strated beyond cavil and question in our ex- 
 perience in this war, it is the great value of 
 athletic sports in America. Not only have 
 our fighters turned out to be effective, but 
 the lessons of discipline, courage, and spirit 
 inculcated on the athletic fields have been 
 found to quicken very materially the proc- 
 esses of making civilians into soldiers. So 
 much has this proven true and so impres- 
 sive has the demonstration been that the 
 American is now athleticizing (if one may use 
 the word) all our foreign allies. True, Eng- 
 land was the pioneer in athletic sports, but of 
 late years much of the increased development 
 and specializing has come from American 
 sources, even though the spread of these 
 games, together with the Olympic games, had 
 introduced more nations to the enjoyment of 
 athletic contests. But it remained for this 
 war to prove how valuable these athletics 
 were to the rank and file, and all the allied
 
 viii PREFACE 
 
 forces are now inoculated with the zeal for 
 sport. Yet it should be remembered that, 
 after all, our boys were the ones who had had 
 these athletics in the very earliest days, even 
 before they put on long trousers, and this 
 educational development along these lines has 
 told, as the evidence in this war soundly cor- 
 roborates. For this reason it seems particu- 
 larly appropriate that something in the re- 
 sume of not only the present sports but those 
 that have been brought into special promi- 
 nence by the war should be compiled for the 
 use of our boys and young men throughout 
 the nation. They are the ones who have been 
 looking forward eagerly and wishing they 
 were older in order to be in this contest. 
 And they form the stock and backbone of the 
 generation that is coming on, and upon whom 
 will come, whether they like it or not, many 
 of the further burdens which are now upon 
 older shoulders. This book is offered in the 
 hope that it will be of some service in this 
 way.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION ATHLETICS AND 
 PREPAREDNESS 
 
 PAOE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 II. HEALTH AND SPORTSMANSHIP 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. CARE OF THE BODY 33 
 
 II. GENERAL HYGIENE 37 
 
 HI. PLUCK . . . : V '. .... 43 
 
 IV. ENERGY AND PERSISTENCE ... 49 
 
 V. FAIR PLAY AN ESSENTIAL IN ANY 
 
 FORM OF ATHLETIC SPORTS . . 54 
 
 III. INFORMAL GAMES AND STANDARD- 
 IZED INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 VI. DEVELOPMENT OF ATHLETICS IN SER- 
 VICE STATIONS 61 
 
 VII. STANDARDIZED INSTRUCTIONS ... 69 
 
 VIII. FORMS OF CONTESTS INVOLVING 
 
 LARGE NUMBERS OF MEN . 79
 
 x CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 IX. GAMES ADAPTED TO SMALLER GROUPS 115 
 X. ROUGH-AND-READY GAMES . . . 128 
 
 XI. GAMES FOR INDIVIDUAL OR PAIR COM- 
 PETITION 130 
 
 XII. GROUP OF SPONTANEOUS GAMES, 
 ADAPTED TO BOTH GYMNASIUM AND 
 PLAYGROUND, CALLING FOR ONLY 
 A SMALL NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS 133 
 
 IV. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 
 
 XIII. COMMITTEES IN SCHOOL AND CAMPS 141 
 
 XIV. ORGANIZATION 147 
 
 XV. MANAGEMENT 153 
 
 XVI. THE DUTIES OF THE MANAGER . . 160 
 
 XVII. THE DUTIES OF THE CAPTAIN . . 168 
 
 XVIII. How TO CONDUCT AN ATHLETIC MEET 175 
 
 V. TRACK, GYMNASIUM, AND FIELD 
 XIX. OLYMPIC GAMES 185 
 
 XX. CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING . ... 191 
 XXI. GETTING READY FOR OUTDOOR WORK 196
 
 CONTENTS xi 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXII. GENERAL BASEBALL SUGGESTIONS . 202 
 
 XXIII. DANGERS OF BASEBALL AS A PROFES- 
 
 SION 210 
 
 XXIV. THE IMPORTANCE OF COACHING IN 
 
 BASEBALL . 215 
 
 XXV. WINTER SPORTS 
 
 XXVI. MORE ABOUT WINTER TRAINING . 228 
 
 XXVII. WRESTLING AND BOXING .... 234 
 
 XXVIII. KEEPING FIT IN WINTER .... 245 
 
 XXIX. CONDENSED FOOTBALL PLAN . . . 268 
 
 ATHLETES' CODE 271
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Naval Recruits at Daily Setting-up Drill During the 
 War Frontispiece 
 
 Mobilization of College Men on the Yale Campus 
 
 facing page 6 
 
 Boys in the City " 36 
 
 Boys in the Country 40 
 
 At the Pelham Bay Naval Station . . " 70 
 
 Diagram of Chariot Race page 81 
 
 The Chariot Race facing page 80 
 
 The Tug-of- War Pelham Bay Naval Station 
 
 facing page 88 
 
 Mass Play " 94 
 
 Track Meet at Pelham Bay Station . . " 120 
 
 The Modified Marathon, New York City " 200 
 
 Yale-Princeton Baseball Game, Princeton, N. J. 
 
 facing page 208 
 
 Hockey Practice, McGill University . . " 224 
 The Daily Dozen Set-up . . . between pages 254-255 
 
 A Football Game of the Nineties, Springfield, Mass. 
 
 facing page 268 
 
 A Football Match in the New Yale Bowl " 270 
 
 xiii
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 ATHLETICS AND PREPAREDNESS
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 WHEN AMERICANS FOUND THEMSELVES 
 UNPREPARED 
 
 IN September of 1914 a metropolitan news- 
 paper on its editorial page published the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 AMERICANS, PEACE, AND PREPARATION 
 BY WALTER CAMP 
 
 Guard your shores and train your men, 
 Teach your growing youth to fight, 
 
 Make your plans ere once again 
 Ships of foes appear in sight. 
 
 Teach new arts until you hold 
 
 In your bounds all things you need, 
 Then you can't be bought or sold; 
 
 From commercial bonds be freed ! 
 
 
 
 If Manhattan rich you'd save, 
 
 If your Western Golden Gate ^ 
 
 Train a field force, rule the wave, 
 Every day you're tempting fate ! 
 
 Build your ships and train to arms, 
 Make your millions fighting strength 
 
 That shall frighten war's alarms 
 Ere they reach a challenge length ! 
 3
 
 4 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 A huge professional army may lead directly to war. 
 Many believe that it does. But a home force of cer- 
 tain preparatory experience is a duty that the condi- 
 tions to-day are forcing upon our senses. With a navy 
 and the possibility of calling into action a third of 
 our male population our security would probably be 
 assured. 
 
 How shall we prepare that third? We must make 
 it patriotic and fashionable to drill. The first step 
 toward that should be undertaken by the athletes of 
 colleges for the force of example. 
 
 Make it possible and popular through the force of 
 the example of the leaders, and we shall have a wave 
 of military training sweeping the country and leaving 
 behind it something far more valuable than the usual 
 resultant of enthusiasm. 
 
 But when the war actually came to us we 
 were unprepared. More than that, we then 
 learned of our inherent physical weakness 
 when 29.11 per cent were rejected in the 
 draft ! But we set our teeth and went to our 
 task. 
 
 Unlimited money, the turning over of prod- 
 ucts and material to the government without 
 profits, and finally the offering of self in the 
 service that is the answer that the citizens 
 of the United States made to the call of their 
 country ! Money, material, and men these
 
 INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 three, if efficiently used and given time, will 
 win any war. 
 
 Up and down the broad Hillhouse Avenue 
 in New Haven, under the quiet arching elms, 
 tramped the khaki-clad youth whom only a 
 few months ago I saw in football uniform try- 
 ing for the team. The sharp signals of the 
 quarter-back had given place to the "one, two, 
 three, four ! " of the drill-sergeant. Two thou- 
 sand of these boys, from seven in the morning 
 till sundown, were learning the new lessons. 
 At Princeton and Harvard, at Pennsyl- 
 vania and Cornell, at Columbia and at hun- 
 dreds of other seats of learning the same 
 thing was going on. And what of the older 
 men? 
 
 At the Biltmore, in New York, one evening 
 I met Fred Stevenson, the captain of that '88 
 crew that for so long held the record of the 
 Thames. He looked tired and worn. He had 
 been in Washington working up the details of 
 his specialty telephone service for the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 An hour later I met at the Yale Club Vance 
 McCormick, the old football captain and quar-
 
 6 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 ter, just back from Washington and hurrying 
 on there again. He remarked with the same 
 *tired and drawn face: "I wish I could get some 
 exercise." 
 
 I caught Fred Allen, of Lee, Higginson Com- 
 pany, another old crew captain, just rushing 
 off, with hurry and worry stamped on his fea- 
 tures, to Washington, but having time to 
 introduce me to Brown, of Harvard, who 
 brought over Iselin, and we talked about what 
 George Wharton Pepper, of Pennsylvania, and 
 the National Board of Defense were accom- 
 plishing. At Bonbright's they were awaiting 
 the return of Fred Walcott and Harry Stimson 
 from their pilgrimage through the West for 
 universal military training. 
 
 And so it went all these men throwing 
 themselves into the cause ! On my desk lay 
 dozens of unopened envelopes with the names 
 of financial firms. There was no need to open 
 these. Each would say that their services 
 were at the call of the government and their 
 clients, to place the bond issue. But there 
 were other envelopes. When I began to open 
 these I found the contents bore one important 
 question repeated in various forms: "I want to
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 do something of service to the country. What 
 can I do?" 
 
 Then with the vision of the tired faces of 
 those men with whom I had talked and who 
 had found what they could do, and with the 
 thought of all those others who were asking 
 the question, I sat down to study out an 
 answer. I knew I would never have let a foot- 
 ball man look as McCormick looked without 
 "laying him off" for a day or two. I knew I 
 should have despaired of a race rowed by a 
 crew looking, on the day before, as Fred Ste- 
 venson and Fred Allen did. I knew that if as 
 many men as were writing me letters were 
 offering themselves as candidates for a team, I 
 could have a squad that would mean a won- 
 derful eleven when they had been through 
 three months of preparation. 
 
 Then came the realization that all these men 
 needed a something that meant the same at 
 forty that it had meant when they were 
 twenty, but in different form. It meant a 
 course of training or else some of them would 
 "go fine" from overwork and some of them 
 would be useless from no work. 
 
 The Watt Street Journal told a little story
 
 8 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 the other day. A Western railroad president 
 of unusual ability and energy settled his 
 earthly accounts a few weeks ago. The de- 
 spatch said: "Railroad men in the West felt a 
 great loss, and Eastern financiers saw a vacant 
 chair that could not be readily filled." A year 
 ago a friend had said to him: "You are over- 
 working. Let me introduce you to my doc- 
 tor." And the doctor said: "Your vitality is 
 undermined. I see it in your face. Your 
 brain has overtaxed your body. Take a vaca- 
 tion immediately." The railroad man replied 
 that he had then no time to rest. Some 
 months later his friend found him in bed, but 
 he said : " I shall be up in a week. Your doctor 
 was right, but I cannot rest. My salary is 
 fifty thousand and I have just received a bonus 
 of fifty thousand. One cannot accept this 
 remuneration without assuming the responsi- 
 bilities that go with it." 
 
 His friend urged him once more on the basis 
 of his value to the road, but the railroad presi- 
 dent replied: "I shall be out in a week. I 
 must be on the job. Responsibilities will not 
 let me leave at this time. Later I can rest." 
 Later he did rest. He rested forever !
 
 INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 WHAT WAS THE MATTER? 
 
 Of what value can a man be to the govern- 
 ment or to his country when a greater power 
 than his business or his government gives 
 orders for his final rest ? But why was all this 
 true ? Why did we have 30 per cent rejected 
 in the draft ? 
 
 If a man thought he had one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars in the bank and then found upon 
 trying to draw upon it that his balance was 
 only seventy thousand, he would feel that 
 some examination was necessary. Let us face 
 things as they are. We found a rejection of 
 30 per cent of our men under the draft, and 
 that certainly should be enough to cause us to 
 make a pretty careful examination into the 
 reasons. Such physical education as we had 
 must be revised. Those who advocate still 
 continuing the foreign systems which we have 
 been teaching our physical leaders in the last 
 fifty years pretty generally admit now that 
 some kind of a change is necessary. If this is 
 so, why not take advantage of the cumulative 
 wisdom of those who have made a scientific 
 study into the matter and couple this with the
 
 10 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 practical side, which means that we should 
 save all the time possible and get results, and 
 then make a real effort to throw off the yoke 
 of "old-fashionedness" going on doing things 
 because they have been done, even though we 
 have found that they have not produced the 
 proper results. In other words, do just what 
 we have done with boats, aeroplanes, guns, 
 and everything else, discard the obsolete and 
 take up the modern. There are plenty who 
 know the utter failure of the present methods 
 and who have recently put their knowledge 
 into print. Take, for instance, Doctor Delano 
 and Doctor Bolin. The former, a practising 
 physician of large experience, who has made a 
 study of this matter, says: "Since muscle gives 
 us the readiest exhibition of energizing, man- 
 kind falls into the error of assuming without 
 further examination that muscular contraction 
 is exercise. The reductio ad absurdum of the 
 dynamic view of exercise might be illustrated 
 by a man taking a dumb-bell in hand, resting 
 elbow on a table and flexing the forearm on 
 the arm. If he increased the weight and the 
 number of contractions daily, we may be sure 
 that the biceps would respond by increasing in
 
 INTRODUCTION 11 
 
 size and power; there would be much work 
 done, as measured by foot-pounds, but what 
 of exercise ? From our point of view a negli- 
 gible quantity thereof, in no sense proportion- 
 ate to the time and effort !" 
 
 And then he goes on to say : 
 
 "Elaborate attention has been given to all 
 the varieties of systems through which muscles 
 are enlisted to make effort. Small wonder, 
 then, that, coming to the runner whose char- 
 acteristic pose of thrown-back head and open 
 drawn-down mouth, depicted with fidelity he 
 should speak of the platysma as the 'last mus- 
 cle of effort.' This goes on further than to 
 say that it is a part of the grand strain. But 
 the speed of the runner could not be increased 
 by any action of the platysma. As well to say 
 that the barber, snapping his eyes as he 
 snapped his shears, was increasing his effec- 
 tiveness. On the contrary, the platysma is a 
 muscle of respiration and the runner is uncon- 
 sciously striving to increase his thorax capac- 
 ity. It is the last muscle of effort but effort 
 to breathe not to run." 
 
 Of the things we have been doing: "Even 
 more wearing than daily toil, though, must be
 
 12 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 that sublimated work that men submit them- 
 selves to under the name of exercise. Over- 
 strenuosity at the period of growth must nec- 
 essarily lead to an overconsumption of energy. 
 The result is fatigue, but a fatigue to which 
 the mother nervous system contributes the 
 greater part. To make muscle exertion the 
 supreme test of exercise is to make a fetich of 
 muscle." 
 
 Then, turning to Bolin, probably one of the 
 most widely studied of the experts on gymnas- 
 tics, who, after something like twenty-five or 
 thirty years of it, concluded that setting up 
 gymnasium exercises for the arms, legs, or 
 pectoral muscles was not worth while. That 
 should be a relief to many a boy and man 
 who would rather play than do "monkey 
 drill." 
 
 And Bolin and the others are right. Dis- 
 card all setting-up work for arms and legs. 
 Get the work for these members in wholesome 
 play. Let the set-up exercise be brief, con- 
 densed to eight or ten minutes, and devoted 
 entirely to lifting the thorax, suppling the 
 big muscles of the trunk, and gaining poise 
 and balance. Had we but done this years ago
 
 INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 there would never have been 30 per cent of 
 rejects. 
 
 WHY ATHLETIC SPORTS ARE ESSENTIAL 
 
 Never were truer words put on paper than 
 those in an editorial of the government public 
 folder called "Personnel," published by the 
 War Department, as follows: 
 
 "But the man is wanted always. His 
 strong, healthy body and alert brain are 
 assets, and with each succeeding day of the 
 war those assets increase in value." 
 
 Now, with all this in mind, and facing the 
 fact that we were turning men into service by 
 the hundred thousand, taking them out of 
 their home environments and throwing them 
 into large camps, cantonments, and stations, it 
 was very manifest that the proposition was a 
 huge one, and without definite plan and or- 
 ganization there would be the usual results 
 from chaotic conditions, waste motion, and 
 what was still worse, the loss through bad 
 supervision of quite a percentage of these men 
 who had been fortunate enough, even in our 
 hit-or-miss way of doing things, to have the 
 physique and such normal condition of health
 
 14 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 as should enable them to pass the draft exami- 
 nations. These men were all taken out of 
 their home environment, where each had 
 looked forward at the end of the week to at 
 least a half day's amusement and athletic 
 sport. They had their local organizations for 
 play. They had relaxation from their work. 
 They had all that goes to make a sort of week- 
 end mark to be looked forward to, and in 
 which to'become refreshed for the next week's 
 toil. We must with the military training give 
 them something of this kind to duplicate the 
 home environment, or we should certainly 
 find these men looking for interest and excite- 
 ment in lines that would result in the rapid 
 deterioration of their health and condition. 
 Their daily work would, as we have indicated 
 above, take care of the muscular development 
 of their arms and legs, and would give them 
 enough hard exercise of a kind to strengthen 
 up the heart muscle, but all work and no play 
 makes Jack a very dull boy. We need not 
 waste any time on the development of his mus- 
 cular system, which would be taken care of 
 with the routine work that he was doing in 
 drill and service. We needed a standardized
 
 INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 setting-up exercise of very short duration for 
 merely suppling purposes, and as indicated 
 above, for the improvement of the thorax, the 
 prevention of constipation, and the general 
 poise and balance. This was devised and put 
 into a majority of the service stations. Then 
 we needed play and recreation. With this 
 must come the interest and excitement of com- 
 petition. We needed regimental teams to fos- 
 ter this. We needed station teams to increase 
 it, because then outside competition at week- 
 ends and holidays would be possible. We put 
 in athletic directors and began organized work. 
 We had baseball, football, track athletics, 
 swimming, boxing, cutter races; in fact, all 
 that went to bring about this normality of 
 athletic play. The American boy is not satis- 
 fied to simply go out into the field and throw a 
 baseball around or kick a football aimlessly or 
 do any of what may ordinarily be called "in- 
 formal athletics." He needs a stimulus and 
 incentive, because he has been educated along 
 these lines. He has been taught in street, 
 school, college, business wherever he goes 
 what we so familiarly call "the fighting spirit." 
 He must measure his prowess against some-
 
 16 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 body else. His team must measure its prow- 
 ess against some rival team. There must be 
 some reward for hard and faithful practice. 
 There must be some reward for brains and 
 skill. It must spell VICTORY for the men 
 who have the brains and skill, who have faith- 
 fully practised and who have the fighting 
 spirit or pluck or sand call it what you will. 
 So we fostered all this. We built upon the 
 foundation we had and lifted this spirit even 
 to a higher plane. We went on developing 
 the spirit of loyalty, of team-work, and of un- 
 dying courage; the kind that responds when 
 the ball is on the 1-yard line and fights to the 
 limit; that comes back over adversity, disre- 
 gards apparent defeat, and possesses that opti- 
 mism which believes that it can still be turned 
 into victory. And the result of all this was 
 that the foreign nations were simply astounded 
 when they found that we could really make 
 fighters in a real war in a few months. And 
 when they and the Germans saw the stand at 
 Chateau -Thierry they were convinced. In 
 other words, we builded upon the mimic war- 
 fare of our playing-fields and turned that 
 mimic warfare into the real thing. But had
 
 INTRODUCTION 17 
 
 we not had the numbers we should have badly 
 missed that 30 per cent of the unfit that had 
 to be turned back before we could start. 
 While appreciating to the full that it was the 
 fighting spirit of our boys due to our athletic 
 training in sports that brought us through, we 
 should not lose sight of the fact that we ought 
 to follow up that 30 per cent of rejects and 
 bring them up to the others. 
 
 A NECESSITY TO AMERICANIZATION 
 
 With the cessation of war, the athletic situa- 
 tion throughout the country became fraught 
 with enormous interest. We had reports from 
 the front which showed that every country in 
 Europe was beginning to take notice of the 
 wonderful effect of athletic sports upon men 
 in our service. So steadily had this increased 
 that all sorts of demands were being made for 
 assistance from the United States in develop- 
 ing similar sports abroad that they might pro- 
 duce the same kind of active fighting men. 
 
 Meantime, developments followed each 
 other fast and furiously here. Every naval 
 station, every army camp and cantonment, 
 even aviation stations and submarine bases
 
 18 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 had during the war taken on the exhilaration 
 and conditioning features of modern athletics. 
 In the commandeering of the colleges and the 
 new draft, taking men from eighteen to twen- 
 ty-one, further regard had to be paid to the 
 athletic side of the equation. All sorts of 
 experiments were tried at various colleges in 
 the last year in the way of informal athletics, 
 but without satisfactory results, and whether 
 the future will bring more intercollegiate con- 
 tests or not it is certain that the element 
 of competition will be strongly brought in. 
 "Hit-or-miss" athletics, contests in which 
 there is no excitement or rivalry, degenerated 
 speedily into lack-lustre affairs belonging to 
 no one, and having the detrimental feature 
 of permitting men to slack, in fact teaching 
 them to slack. The real thing that our ath- 
 letics have done to make a nation fit for war 
 has been largely to infuse the fighting spirit 
 and quick co-ordination as well as discipline. 
 It is not so much the physical development 
 which we find must be taken care of in addi- 
 tion, as the mental equipment in which their 
 results have been so marked. It is the old 
 story. For twenty-five years our athletes
 
 INTRODUCTION 19 
 
 have been taught not to be quitters, to regard 
 the epithet of "yellow" as the worst possible 
 disgrace, and finally to subject themselves not 
 only to the rigorous training but also to the 
 prompt response to discipline which has been 
 characteristic of all our sports. All this we 
 must continue. 
 
 Perhaps we have specialized too much. 
 That is probably true, but we have certainly 
 taught not only to the individual contestant 
 but to the boy in the bleachers the ambition 
 and fighting spirit which make winners. In 
 further plans this factor must not be lost 
 sight of. 
 
 Our athletic fields have been the melting- 
 pot for all our various nationalities in the last 
 twenty years. Playgrounds have been par- 
 ticularly strong in this respect for the last five 
 years, and credit for the latter should certainly 
 be given to the Playground and Recreation 
 Association as well as to the Y. M. C. A. and 
 other allied organizations. 
 
 We need more Americans. We need every 
 effort centred upon making us a compact na- 
 tion, assimilating not only its foreign-born but 
 those of foreign parentage. The men from the
 
 20 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 Turn Vereins proved the best qualified physi- 
 cally in the War of the Rebellion, and the 
 North American Gymnastic Union, the suc- 
 cessor of the old Turn Verein, is showing this 
 quality in the ranks to-day. 
 
 Men who play together and exercise to- 
 gether soon grow to know and understand each 
 other, and the farther this development is car- 
 ried the more homogeneous and physically pre- 
 pared will be the product. Secretary Lane 
 has said the Russian disaster came from the 
 ignorance of the Russian people and the fact 
 that so large a percentage of them has never 
 participated in the affairs of their own country. 
 
 The popularization of physical education, 
 its introduction into the public schools and 
 colleges, the operation of public playgrounds, 
 the sound and simple method of gymnastics 
 or calisthenics, will go far toward improving 
 our people in bringing about more American- 
 ization. 
 
 Every agency which has possibilities along 
 this line should be drawn into service.
 
 INTRODUCTION 21 
 
 THE ASSET OF THE NATION HER YOUTH 
 
 No greater opportunity for national service 
 had ever come to men than that offered by 
 the Students Army Training Corps. The 
 commandants at these colleges had the same 
 type of men to handle as those who at the 
 declaration of war rushed from every college 
 and university in this country into the service, 
 and who, according to the testimony of offi- 
 cers and departments alike, have "made 
 good." This body of young men was perhaps 
 a couple of years younger than those who 
 went at the call of country but of the same 
 stock and, in fact, helped out by the addition 
 of some of the best men that otherwise would 
 have had no opportunity to go to college. 
 The S. A. T. C. has been mustered out of ser- 
 vice, but many of the boys themselves remain. 
 So do thousands in the schools. 
 
 All the experience already acquired through 
 the development of the physical side, sports, 
 recreation, and general preparation in army 
 cantonment, camp, and naval station, must be 
 brought in to aid this situation. For this rea- 
 son this compilation of facts and suggestions
 
 22 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 has been gathered, made up partly of experi- 
 ence with hundreds of thousands of men in 
 stations, and partly through twenty-five years' 
 familiarity with college sports and the develop- 
 ment recently of these sports into the making 
 of men fit for service. 
 
 One of the cardinal features to be borne in 
 mind is that of leadership. The great demand 
 and the great problem is to discover men who 
 are not only capable in other ways but who 
 are able to prove successful in recreational 
 leadership, for a man who is a successful play 
 leader throws himself into the work body and 
 soul, and this above everything else has a most 
 vital effect upon the general condition of our 
 schoolboys and college athletes, as it did upon 
 the enlisted men. In other words, the enthu- 
 siasm, the discipline, the ability to get action 
 and at the same time to make decisions soon 
 render a force far more effective because full 
 of vitality, enthusiasm, and that so-called 
 "pep and ginger" which is contagious. 
 
 Primarily it should be remembered that this 
 war has taught us that all the art, literature, 
 and education of the country may be at the 
 mercy of a savage people unless the nation has
 
 INTRODUCTION 23 
 
 enough real men who are ready to fight to pre- 
 serve the things that a people value. It is 
 therefore necessary that a nation should be 
 made up of people who individually possess 
 clean, strong bodies and pure minds, who have 
 a respect for their own rights and the rights 
 of others, and in addition possess the courage, 
 strength, and discipline to redress wrongs. 
 The true leader and the real sportsman pos- 
 sesses a chivalry that protects the weak and 
 preserves veneration and love for parents and 
 country, and believes in the physical strength 
 necessary to make that chivalry effective. 
 This is what the service of this country has 
 taught. We have made the boys of this coun- 
 try realize that manual labor which they pos- 
 sibly have known only in sport, but which they 
 then learned in the service, has a dignity of 
 its own; that discipline is one of the essential 
 features for rounding out a man in order that 
 he shall become an asset to his country. We 
 have learned that sports and a consciousness 
 of courage and strength used for fair play are 
 cardinal factors in this development. 
 
 With all this we realize fully that the mere 
 manual of arms and evolutions become a
 
 24 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 pretty dreary routine after a few months; that 
 unless youth has relaxation in the form of sport 
 and recreation he either breaks down or breaks 
 loose, with disastrous results. For this rea- 
 son leaders should be developed to understand 
 how to make boys play. The modern boy is 
 past the old stage-coach days, and he does not 
 care for "hit-or-miss" athletics. He wishes 
 to do something that has an organized side to 
 it, and which puts some premium upon skill 
 and brains. He may temporarily put up with 
 minor things, but in the long run his sports 
 have to have something of those higher quali- 
 ties. In order to help leaders in this way not 
 only are the smaller games described in brief, 
 but general methods of coaching, in the hope 
 that it will prove of service to coaches who 
 perhaps in the last year or two have become 
 somewhat rusty, as well as to all boys who are 
 looking forward from their school days to 
 something that the country demands; namely, 
 that physical fitness and preparation that 
 makes a youth a real asset to the fighting 
 strength of his generation.
 
 INTRODUCTION 25 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF SPORT 
 
 Perhaps we shall get a better perspective of 
 the situation if we go back and study a little 
 the history of the development of sport and 
 what our beginnings were and how we have 
 developed from informal games to the organ- 
 ized ones. 
 
 There were certain outdoor sports which 
 have always been practised as long as boys 
 were boys and nature provided facilities, such 
 as skating, sliding down-hill, and the like. We 
 go back previous to 1850. Here the writer 
 has had an opportunity, owing to the fact that 
 soon after graduating from college he wrote to 
 many men who were then well along in years 
 to learn what the games of their youth had 
 been. The earliest and most common sport 
 of boys that took on the nature of a game 
 was unquestionably "doing stunts," or rather 
 "stumps," as they called it in those early 
 days. From 1840 to 1850, we must remem- 
 ber, was the day of the omnibus and stage- 
 coach and, even in large towns, of the town 
 crier. The games that prevailed then among 
 the boys were "I spy"; "follow the leader"
 
 26 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 a development from doing stunts; "punk," 
 a game wherein one boy among a group would 
 be given a ball, and he was privileged to 
 "plug" or "punk" any other boy with the 
 ball. Immediately upon his throwing it there 
 ensued a scramble, and the boy who succeeded 
 in getting the ball was then privileged to 
 "plug" or "punk" another. Swings were 
 then common, and almost every yard had a 
 swing for the younger children. All commons 
 or parks had these swings and also what was 
 called a "fandango," which had a swinging 
 seat similar to the modern Ferris wheel. 
 Some of these were 40 to 50 feet in height. 
 The general sports of the street were noisy 
 ones and mischievous ones. The noisy ones 
 consisted of swinging what was known as a 
 locust. This was a round tin box with kid 
 stretched over one end, a horsehair threaded 
 through this end, this horsehair well rosined 
 and then tied to a stick. Swinging this 
 around made a fiendish noise like the locust, 
 from which its name was derived. Bean 
 blowers or putty blowers were the great thing, 
 and were used on laborers, drivers, and the 
 like. Then there were bow guns which shot
 
 INTRODUCTION 27 
 
 buckshot or, on necessity, screws, and were 
 used not only in killing cats but to irritate 
 and sting men and boys. Holiday afternoons 
 were usually marked by trouble of this kind, 
 as well as stone fights, where bricks and stones 
 were thrown. Seacoast towns also made use 
 of oyster shells for this purpose. There were 
 also marbles, kite-flying, walking on stilts, peg- 
 top, and, naturally, swimming and sailing, as 
 well as rowing. It was in the early part of the 
 fifties that development along more organ- 
 ized lines was beginning to be felt. " Tip-cat" 
 was giving place to "rounders" or "one old 
 cat." The single sled was being doubled up 
 and made into a double runner. Rowing was 
 taking on definite lines. 
 
 "One old cat" had developed into "two 
 old cat," and speedily into what boys knew in 
 those days as "one, two, three"; that is, a 
 game where the fielders move up to become 
 batsmen. Then came more organized base- 
 ball the "Massachusetts" game and the 
 "New York" game. Developments were 
 rapid just after the Civil War, and baseball 
 became the recognized and fully developed 
 pastime with definite contests wherein skill
 
 28 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 counted; nines made tours of the country; 
 rowing, which had been taken up at the col- 
 leges, developed also along some lines of com- 
 petition. Football of a rather mongrel kind, 
 developing from soccer football, came into 
 vogue, and track athletics as a side-show to 
 the intercollegiate boat-race and the baseball 
 game made almost a three-ringed circus at the 
 end of the summer term. These were the be- 
 ginnings and the developments, and just as 
 the material advances in inventions altered 
 our daily lives, so did sport become a recog- 
 nized part of them and speedily took its place. 
 When any country or people has developed in 
 this fashion, they have never been known to 
 go back. Perhaps the days of the stage-coach 
 were better and more quiet than the days of 
 the motor-car and the telephone. Perhaps 
 when the flying-machine becomes a means of 
 transport our lives will be still more crowded 
 and hurried, but at any rate history has shown 
 that people do not give up these things, nor do 
 boys, youth, and men themselves give up or- 
 ganized sport after it has once come in. In 
 fact, as Professor Richards showed many 
 years ago, organized sport has produced
 
 INTRODUCTION 29 
 
 greater order in schools and colleges. It has 
 taken the place of the town and gown riot 
 and the thousand and one mischievous pranks 
 played before the days when these organized 
 sports had such a hold. It is therefore prob- 
 able that our major sports will continue and 
 it is possible that other sports developing to 
 a higher plane will become major sports. It 
 is highly improbable that we shall go back, 
 abandon the sports where organization, train- 
 ing, and skill count, and take up once more 
 the informal sports of the early days. We 
 shall, however, endeavor to spread not only 
 these major sports but the development of 
 simpler games for the odd occasions. Such of 
 these as lend themselves to what has come to 
 be known now as "mass athletics" deserve 
 further development. It is well worth while 
 to give a thousand men exercise and pleasure 
 with some measure of competition in a leisure 
 hour. The further these are developed into 
 contests where skill and invention count, the 
 greater will be their chance of continued life. 
 I am giving, therefore, in this book those that 
 have proven of interest, and several of these 
 will admit of further development.

 
 CHAPTER I 
 CARE OF THE BODY 
 
 THE care of the body is one of the most im- 
 portant features not only for the development 
 of the athlete but also for the preservation of 
 the general health and condition. Naturally, 
 boys up to twenty-one do not as a rule have 
 to think so largely in terms of general health 
 as do the men who later on have forced their 
 energies into business careers involving seden- 
 tary lives. But the same preparation that 
 the boy gives to his athletics promises a capi- 
 tal start for his preservation of health in later 
 years. 
 
 Parents and faculties should therefore sym- 
 pathize with the training for athletics along 
 these lines. 
 
 There are three elements that in addition to 
 exercise co-operate most strongly toward mak- 
 ing the boy or man fit, and those are fresh air, 
 water, and sunshine. Out-of-doors as much 
 as possible, outdoor athletics in preference 
 to indoor athletics, open windows, especially 
 
 83
 
 84 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 in sleeping-rooms or, better still, sleeping- 
 porches, will give a boy fresh air and sunshine. 
 As to water, it should be used freely internally 
 and externally. Every boy's day should begin 
 with a cold bath and rubdown, the careful 
 brushing and cleaning of the teeth, for upon 
 the preservation of these depend his future 
 fitness not only for athletics but for military 
 service, and the teeth should be cleaned after 
 every meal. A moderate form of modern 
 set-up exercise should be used once a day, de- 
 voted not to tiring a boy out or in any way 
 detracting from his enjoyment of his sport 
 later, but to stretch and supple the muscles 
 and to bring about an erect carriage. This 
 will be dealt with in special detail, and the 
 best form, as proved by the use of nearly 
 three-quarters of a million men, will be given 
 specifically in the second volume of this series. 
 Breakfast should be a good meal, not taken 
 in gulps on the rush to prayers or recitation 
 a reasonable amount of time should be devoted 
 to it. As soon as the boy finishes his rubdown 
 in the morning, and before dressing, he should 
 drink two glasses of water, not iced, but of the 
 temperature of the room. It is as well to have
 
 CARE OF THE BODY 35 
 
 an hour elapse after breakfast before taking 
 up play and games that require vigorous exer- 
 cise, but the average boy can take moderate 
 exercise pretty soon after breakfast. 
 
 Studies usually occupy most of the morning. 
 The boy should drink another glass of water 
 before luncheon and avoid drinking very much 
 with meals. If he takes seven or eight glasses 
 of water a day (and none of these should be 
 taken immediately after exercise, but when 
 he has cooled down) he will not have that de- 
 sire to drink with his meals which often leads 
 to getting too little nutriment on account of 
 the contending thirst. Every boy should be 
 particularly careful to have shoes that fit him, 
 as the care of the feet is very important and 
 really means the well-being of the athlete in 
 any of his sports. Tight shoes, or shoes that 
 do not fit, breed trouble afterward. Blisters 
 should be taken care of at once. Particular 
 attention should be paid to any abrasion of 
 the feet. 
 
 It is not advisable to dress too warmly 
 when exercising. The time when care should 
 be taken is immediately after exercising. A 
 healthy boy can stand almost any amount of
 
 36 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 cold while he is in action, but it is softening 
 and weakening to wear too heavy clothing 
 when exercising. A reasonable time, at least 
 half an hour, should elapse after exercising 
 and a rubdown before eating, and a boy should 
 not eat when he is exhausted or tired, resting 
 for a certain period to prevent this. 
 
 The last part of the evening before retiring, 
 or at least half an hour, should be a period of 
 relaxation; that is, the study book should be 
 closed and an interesting story read or the 
 Victrola started, or something of this kind, as 
 it is inadvisable for a boy to go to bed with 
 the brain stimulated by intense study or the 
 working out of problems, which usually means 
 restlessness for the early part of the night. 
 
 Late suppers are, of course, absolutely taboo 
 for the athlete, as is also tobacco and alcohol. 
 
 Tight collars, muffling up the throat and 
 making it sensitive anything, in fact, that 
 impedes the circulation or tends to make ten- 
 der any part of the external skin should be 
 carefully avoided. Clean socks, clean under- 
 wear, and in general a belief that the body is 
 worth taking the greatest care of should be 
 the creed of the athlete.
 
 Regulation baseball in city park. 
 
 Improvising play. 
 BOYS IN THE CITY.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 GENERAL HYGIENE 
 
 IN the department of the care of the normal 
 body we have already touched upon the mat- 
 ter of personal cleanliness, the advantage of 
 cold baths, fresh air, and the like. One more 
 word on the care of the teeth. The ordinary 
 youth may think that in brushing his teeth he 
 is merely conforming to a social usage, but he 
 is doing much more. He is a small engine and 
 is dependent upon the quality and condition 
 of the fuel, and what he eats and drinks is that 
 fuel. If he contaminates it by not taking 
 perfect care of his teeth, that fuel will not be 
 as effective and may prove the cause of a 
 condition that will prevent his doing his best 
 work. Particularly after each meal and upon 
 going to bed at night and rising in the morn- 
 ing the teeth should be brushed. It is well 
 not to use tooth-powder on them of tener than 
 once a day. 
 
 And one suggestion more before we go on 
 to the subject of food. Wet clothes and wet 
 
 37
 
 38 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 shoes have never yet harmed any man who 
 was in good physical condition so long as he 
 was exercising and keeping his blood in circu- 
 lation by that exercise. But to sit in wet 
 clothes and wet shoes and stockings and to 
 cool off after exercising has harmed many a 
 man and many a boy. It is not the getting 
 wet, but it is the getting chilled in these con- 
 ditions, that does the harm. Every young 
 man should remember this and keep warm and 
 keep the blood in circulation until the oppor- 
 tunity comes to change. Don't stop, but 
 keep in motion until you can get off the wet 
 clothing, for it is a regard for that caution that 
 will keep you well. 
 
 Now, as to food. Nature has provided the 
 ordinarily healthy youth with a good diges- 
 tion, and she will stand sponsor for him as 
 long as he does not go contrary to her laws. 
 A young man who rushes through his meal 
 will probably be immune from difficulties for 
 a considerable period of time, but sooner or 
 later, having called upon nature to do her 
 work in a way which she dislikes, she will 
 make him pay for it. Nature never meant 
 him to bolt his food, but to take his time
 
 GENERAL HYGIENE 39 
 
 about it and enjoy it; and let it be clearly 
 understood that upon his digestion depends 
 the success or failure of the athlete. Nature 
 has not endowed the boy with a love of sweets 
 without reason. But she never meant him to 
 live on candy or pastry. She meant him to 
 get the most of his nutrition in good solid food, 
 and just as soon as he makes sweets take the 
 place of solid food he is storing up trouble for 
 himself to a moral certainty. 
 
 First, then, let him remember that ten or 
 fifteen minutes taken off that last bit of sleep 
 in the morning will be well worth while if he 
 adds it on to his breakfast- time, and, as to 
 sweets, let him remember to make the propor- 
 tion of these small. 
 
 One other thing he should bear in mind is 
 that nature did not mean him to take a 
 mouthful of food and then a drink and so on. 
 But it is very easy to get in the habit of doing 
 this, and then it seems to the youth that na- 
 ture craves that flooding of the meal with con- 
 stant drinking of liquid. As suggested earlier, 
 he will find that that desire disappears after 
 a time of self-sacrifice, particularly if he will 
 take a good drink of cool, fresh water imme-
 
 40 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 diately after his bath in the morning and just 
 before retiring at night. Nor should those 
 drinks be ice-water. Water the temperature 
 of the room in which he sleeps is always cold 
 enough. And plain fresh water is the only 
 drink that should be taken in any other way 
 than a swallow or two at a time. 
 
 As to sleep, the average boy at school or 
 even the youth at college does not get enough. 
 When he is growing and building up bone and 
 muscle, nature demands long hours of sleep. 
 Nine hours is little enough for a boy to take, 
 especially if he is growing fast. 
 
 Some men can get on with less, but it is not 
 worth while to cut that limit down if it can 
 be secured. More than that, it is always bet- 
 ter to take it from ten to seven or from quar- 
 ter of ten to quarter of seven than it is to 
 take it from twelve to nine, vacation notwith- 
 standing. And a man should always fill his 
 lungs with good fresh air several times before 
 turning in and immediately upon jumping up 
 in the morning. All animals stretch and 
 yawn, and the human animal can afford to 
 do some of that stretching when he turns out 
 of his bed in the morning. Later in this book
 
 Regulation baseball in the woods. 
 
 Improvised play. 
 BOYS IN THE COUNTRY.
 
 GENERAL HYGIENE 41 
 
 we will give some of these simple stretching 
 exercises that have been used with great ad- 
 vantage in the service stations. 
 
 A youth finds that there is one thing which 
 he needs in baseball, football, golf, tennis, 
 and almost all the sports, and that is what 
 his coach would call "a good eye." I have 
 known a fielder on a Varsity nine who had 
 formerly made a good record to make occa- 
 sional errors in judgment of flies, and upon 
 taking him to an oculist found that those 
 errors were simply an indication of a defect in 
 his eyesight. It is worth while in athletics, 
 to say nothing of other pursuits, therefore, to 
 take care of those eyes and see that they are 
 not abused. A boy may manage sometimes 
 to read or write and get along, even though he 
 is abusing his eyes, and very likely the first 
 indication of trouble may come in his athletics. 
 The eye is a very kind friend and will stand a 
 great deal of work if that work is done under 
 proper conditions. Get a good light to study 
 or read by, and wherever there is a possibility 
 of choice, make it daylight. Don't tire your 
 eyes, or continue to use them when they feel 
 tired, but give them a few minutes' rest now
 
 42 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 and then and begin over again. It will pay in 
 the long run. The slightest difficulty in vision 
 or any trouble with headaches should send a 
 youth to an oculist at once for examination, 
 in order to correct the trouble early. Men 
 do take part in various forms of athletics 
 with deficient eyesight, but it is a distinct 
 handicap.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 PLUCK 
 
 PLUCK is one of the greatest elements in ath- 
 letics to-day and the one par excellence that in 
 the long run determines the winner, whether in 
 sports or in the greater game of service, as 
 well as in the struggle for success in life that 
 must come to every man. And in this con- 
 nection I wish to relate one of my earliest ex- 
 periences in athletics. At that time track 
 athletics had not become as prominent as it 
 has of late years, and it was rather difficult to 
 get a large number of entries. Consequently 
 the management came to those of us who were 
 football and baseball players and were busy 
 with our practice, and urged us to enter the 
 track games. As I was in excellent condition 
 from other athletics I was not averse to try- 
 ing this, and entered in the quarter-mile and 
 the high hurdle. I had about two weeks in 
 which to prepare and naturally spent most of 
 it in work over the hurdles. Quarter-milers 
 
 43
 
 44 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 will be amused and interested in the fact that 
 I did not view the 440-yard race as one that 
 would particularly exhaust me, thinking that 
 my football and baseball training had made 
 me quite able to stand it. I was very much 
 interested, however, in the distance apart that 
 these two races should be placed on the pro- 
 gramme and made inquiries accordingly. I 
 was assured that the quarter-mile would come 
 very early and the hurdle very late in the 
 games. 
 
 At that time we were having our football 
 practice about 3.30 or 4 in the afternoon, and 
 we were having luncheon at 1 o'clock. I was 
 not eating a light luncheon either. I did not 
 realize this in my youth and inexperience, 
 and while we had a trainer we did not have 
 the benefit of his constant advice in matters, 
 as the boys do to-day. Hence, I ate heartily 
 at luncheon at 1 o'clock and went directly to 
 the field and had hardly time to get into my 
 clothes and running-shoes when it was time 
 to start for the 440. There were six of us 
 entered, and three of us soon pulled away 
 from the others. In those days we did not 
 have a 220-yard straightaway, but started on
 
 PLUCK 45 
 
 the back-stretch of the track and ran on up 
 around the upper curve and down to the fin- 
 ish. When we were going the last of the 
 upper curve the leader was about two yards 
 ahead of the second man, and I was on the 
 shoulder of the second man, endeavoring to 
 pass him. He was holding on, however, and 
 I was finding difficulty in getting by him. 
 But as we entered the start for home he wab- 
 bled and fell across in front of me, so that I 
 stumbled and nearly went over him, and as I 
 gathered myself I thoroughly realized that 440 
 yards run at full speed is a long distance, even 
 for a hardened football or baseball man. I 
 finished second, but owing to my late lunch- 
 eon and the partial tumble I felt very ill and 
 certainly had no desire to enter any more 
 races that afternoon. However, I realized 
 that I was pledged to go into the hurdles, but 
 desperately hoped that it would be very late 
 in the afternoon before it was called. I was 
 sitting on the porch of the house where we 
 dressed, with my head in my hands, feeling 
 pretty sick, when an upper classman with 
 whom I had merely a speaking acquaintance 
 came up and, patting me on the back, com-
 
 46 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 menced to encourage me and told me how 
 well I had done for a first try and wished me 
 every success in the hurdles. Under his en- 
 couraging words I really began to feel quite a 
 bit better, but just then the starter came over 
 and called the men to the marks for the hur- 
 dles. It was not at all in accordance with 
 what I had expected, and for a moment I felt 
 very much like quitting then and there. My 
 friend urged me, however, to go on, and I 
 went out to the start feeling very wabbly. 
 There were some five entries, but there was 
 only one man who was really prominent in 
 this event, and he was also a high jumper. I 
 had played more or less football with him and 
 knew that I could beat him on the flat, but 
 that his style and form would be much better 
 than mine and the chances were that he would 
 more than make up in getting over the hur- 
 dles what I could gain on him on the level. 
 However, while these things were going 
 through my head, we were getting on our 
 marks, and presently the pistol cracked and 
 we were off. This man led me all the way 
 from the first hurdle. I would gain a little 
 between hurdles but lose it on the jumps,
 
 PLUCK 47 
 
 and by the time we reached the eighth hur- 
 dle I was feeling pretty miserable and about 
 ready to let him have the race when I heard 
 my upper-class friend from the crowd on the 
 side of the track yelling: "Go on you've got 
 him !" Again, with renewed courage, I felt a 
 determination to win come over me. My 
 rival cleared the last hurdle more than half 
 a stride in advance of me, but I succeeded in 
 beating him out on the flat to the tape, a 
 thing which I never should have done had it 
 not been for the encouragement. 
 
 Now I tell this little episode to show what 
 an effect on the result an element of confi- 
 dence or determination, or whatever you 
 please to call it pluck, if you like has upon 
 the contestant. It is equally true in the great 
 game of war, as our marines showed when 
 decimated at Chateau-Thierry. I thought 
 this thing over a great deal in my next year 
 of athletics, and realized fully that there was 
 something that came into me through that 
 encouragement which enabled me to make 
 the necessary extra effort in order to win, and 
 studying over it, I came to the conclusion 
 that that quality certainly had been in me,
 
 48 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 but would not have been roused to action 
 had it not been for the friend outside. I 
 therefore argued that, if that were the case 
 and every man had that quality in him some- 
 where, only latent, if a man could bring it out 
 either in himself or in his team he could have 
 a double chance of victory. I have used this 
 theory many times since in coaching. 
 
 Now when you get in a race or in a contest 
 of any kind or in a severe struggle in the ser- 
 vice of your country, you must remember 
 that a point comes when every one is tired 
 and when it is only those who have this pluck, 
 endurance, or some element within them 
 which enables them to temporarily throw off 
 the fatigue and depression that eventually 
 win. In looking forward each youth should 
 bear this in mind and determine that so far 
 as in him lies he will exhibit that quality 
 which, once acquired, I promise you, is help- 
 ful not only in school but in college and in 
 later life.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 ENERGY AND PERSISTENCE 
 
 PLUCK is a great asset for the would-be 
 athlete or the man in service. There is an- 
 other quality which in many cases is equally 
 necessary and in some cases, namely, that of a 
 youth who has to build up from a frail phy- 
 sique, an absolute essential. That quality is 
 Persistence. At a recent gathering of the 
 candidates of the track team in one of our 
 large universities where there were some three 
 or four hundred men present the story was 
 told of a small, insignificant chap, weighing 
 only between 90 and 100 pounds, who came 
 out as freshman and ran for three years be- 
 fore making good, but eventually proved one 
 of the best distance runners in the colleges. 
 Nor is this in any way an isolated case. The 
 writer remembers very vividly a man who 
 came out for quarter on the football team 
 who was so insignificant as to be practically 
 despised for the first two years; the third year 
 
 49
 
 50 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 f .\ 
 
 it was impossible not to take notice of him, 
 
 for, although playing on the scrub, he made 
 the Varsity more trouble than anybody else 
 on the field; and toward the latter part of his 
 third year he got a chance on the 'varsity. 
 From that time on he held the place, and in 
 his senior year was one of the best quarter- 
 backs that the 'varsity had had. Now both 
 these men were compelled to work and wait. 
 Success looked indeed far off to each at the 
 end of the first year of struggle, and probably 
 by the middle of the second year the ordinary 
 man would have abandoned the undertaking 
 in discouragement, but each stuck to his task 
 and never gave up, never lost confidence, 
 never lost hope, until in the end the result 
 was achieved. Now this is what we might 
 call long-time persistence. Persistence of a 
 different character is equally essential in 
 every athlete. It is the willingness to try 
 over and over again any play in order to see 
 where one's weakness lies and eventually to 
 correct that weakness. It is perseverance and 
 persistence combined. Yet a man may go on 
 trying a thing over and over again day after 
 day and make little progress if he is not will-
 
 ENERGY AND PERSISTENCE 51 
 
 ing at the same time to concentrate his atten- 
 tion. He must find out where the mistake is 
 and how to correct it, and then force himself 
 to make the effort repeatedly until it becomes 
 natural for him to do it in the right way. I 
 remember once seeing a man in a shell who 
 was being coached vigorously by the head- 
 crew coach. This would-be candidate was 
 one of those men who find it almost impossible 
 to concentrate their attention or to fully con- 
 trol their muscles for any length of time. 
 Temporarily, he would row well, as long as he 
 kept his mind absolutely on his hands, his 
 back, his slide, and the various other parts 
 that went to make the proper stroke. But 
 after an effort of a few minutes he seemed to 
 be too lazy to hold on to what he had learned, 
 and would go all to pieces again. The coach 
 who had thus succeeded in getting him 
 straightened up and rowing well was coaching 
 another man in the boat when he suddenly 
 turned back to this unfortunate Number 3 
 and called out: "What are you doing, Num- 
 ber 3? Did you know you were in a boat? 
 You look to me as though you were an old 
 woman in a rocking-chair." Now this was
 
 62 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 perfectly true and just and the man deserved 
 it, because he could row if he kept persistently 
 at it and perseveringly concentrated his atten- 
 tion on each part of his work all the time that 
 he was in the boat. I have given instances 
 of track athletics, football, and rowing, , all 
 from real life. I could give a hundred in 
 baseball, both professional and amateur. 
 
 The value of persistency in an aggregation 
 of men rather than in an individual has been 
 often demonstrated in baseball. Take, for 
 instance, the contest some years ago between 
 the Chicago Cubs and the White Sox. After 
 a couple of tie games the Cubs won three 
 straight. Now surely here was a case where 
 all possible odds were against the White 
 Sox. The score stood 3 to against them. 
 The Cubs had but to win one more game and 
 the series would be over. Then the White 
 Sox went to work and persistently, persever- 
 ingly fought the issue out until the games 
 stood three apiece, and then having tied the 
 series, won out in a blaze of glory with a tre- 
 mendous victory for the final. 
 
 So I would say to every one who reads this 
 book, look these things over. Note how the
 
 ENERGY AND PERSISTENCE 53 
 
 successful man or the successful team or the 
 successful regiment has always those two ele- 
 ments of pluck and persistence. Learn what 
 it means to you at the beginning of your 
 career to conquer discouragement, to plod 
 ever on with confidence that it is only a ques- 
 tion of time and that you must in the end 
 succeed. Then and then only will come the 
 rewards. The man who has won his way 
 never has the dangers of the downfall which 
 are ever present to the brilliant but erratic 
 man whose natural talents are great but who 
 relies upon that rather than upon hard work.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 FAIR PLAY AN ESSENTIAL IN ANY 
 FORM OF ATHLETIC SPORTS 
 
 FINALLY, before going into the detail of the 
 various sports in our schools and colleges, the 
 writer is tempted to appeal to boys and young 
 men to remember at all times that the future 
 of athletics lies in the hands of those who are 
 coming on and who can make that spirit good 
 or bad, just as they wish. Thackeray once 
 wrote: 
 
 "Who misses or who wins the prize? 
 Go lose or conquer as you can, 
 But if you fail or if you rise, 
 Be each, pray God, a gentleman." 
 
 And upon many occasions I have taken the 
 opportunity of quoting this at school and col- 
 lege dinners as one of the best mottoes for 
 any man who goes into athletics. I would 
 further expand this by asking every football- 
 player and every other athlete to bear in mind 
 that one of the first principles, and a cardinal 
 
 54
 
 FAIR PLAY 55 
 
 one, of fair play is to have confidence and 
 belief in the integrity and good spirit of the 
 opponents as well. It is not playing fair to 
 yourself to start out with the belief that your 
 opponent is not going to play fair. 
 
 At the request of the editors of the Phittip- 
 ian, a Phillips Academy paper, a few years 
 ago, I wrote an article in which I begged every 
 boy who loved football and believed in its 
 future to bear in mind that it is the dirty 
 play and not the dirty field that blackens, 
 that unfairness of suspicion will spoil any 
 sport. Particularly is this true in a sport like 
 football, which involves, as it does, almost 
 continual personal contact. Here, no amount 
 of legislation can take the place of a prevail- 
 ing spirit of fair play. English Rugby foot- 
 ball presents an excellent example of this in 
 the rules regarding the scrimmage. One of 
 their foremost athletes, in commenting upon 
 the methods of play known as "wheeling the 
 scrum" and "heeling out," said: "Both these 
 methods are illegal under the letter of the 
 rule, but no team would stand a chance that 
 did not practise them." Now, while that 
 illustrated the weakness of the rules, and
 
 56 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 showed that they ought to be changed if pos- 
 sible, at the same time it spoke worlds of 
 praise for English football-players, in that it 
 indicated that neither team ever thought of 
 accusing the other of attempts to take unfair 
 advantage. Each team tacitly accepted the 
 weakness of the rules, but was satisfied with 
 the play because each team thought well and 
 fairly of the other. The main thing, after all, 
 is to learn the rules thoroughly, and be sure 
 of what they mean; then play as hard as you 
 like, but play fair, and believe the other side 
 is going to do the same. Then you will have 
 no regrets and you will have done your part 
 to keep a good game where it should be. 
 Bear in mind, if you are spectators and parti- 
 sans, that when the opposing team comes over 
 to your side of the field and you are cheering, 
 and the little quarter throws up his hands to 
 show that his team cannot hear the signals, it 
 is your part and the part of the cheering lead- 
 ers to bring the cheer to an end and give him 
 a fair chance. Never cheer to distract the 
 opponents. Cheer all you like to encourage 
 your own side. Be as quick to appreciate the 
 good play a long run by an opposing half-
 
 FAIR PLAY 57 
 
 back as you are to recognize the worth in 
 your own men. No one expects you to be so 
 self-sacrificing as to feel the same amount of 
 pleasure in a victory by your opponents as in 
 a win by your own side, but don't let that 
 affect the cardinal principle of fair play. 
 
 Another point that is well worth considera- 
 tion is the irresponsible gossip which begins 
 no one knows where and spreads until its 
 poisonous effects have done untold harm to 
 any sport. A man or boy is rather apt to like 
 to make a good story and consequently mag- 
 nifies some act of his own or of his opponents, 
 which very likely at the outset was nothing 
 of moment, until it becomes a serious breach 
 of what is straight and right. Suspicion is 
 added to suspicion, then quoted as fact, and, 
 before the story stops, it bears absolutely no 
 relation to the original act. Don't believe 
 these stories and don't circulate them. A 
 tale was told, which I later had the opportu- 
 nity of proving entirely false, of a half-back 
 on the second team of a prominent university 
 being accused of an attempt to lay up one of 
 the first-string backs in order to secure his 
 place on the team. When I heard the story
 
 58 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 I denied it on the grounds that I did not be- 
 lieve that in any university there was not 
 sufficient college spirit, first, to prevent a 
 man from doing this, and, secondly, to pre- 
 vent his boasting of it, even if he had any 
 intention of doing it. It later developed that 
 the whole thing was a hoax played upon a 
 very gullible man who was known as easy to 
 fool; two boys had told the story to him with 
 embellishments, and he had repeated it. The 
 man who was accused of this confessed the 
 whole joke when he saw what a serious aspect 
 it had been given. 
 
 Every man should be particularly careful 
 about jokes of this kind which may eventually 
 hurt the sport in which he is interested, al- 
 though perhaps understood by the immediate 
 members of his team.
 
 Ill 
 
 INFORMAL GAMES AND STANDARD- 
 IZED INSTRUCTIONS
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF ATHLETICS IN 
 SERVICE STATIONS 
 
 FOR a year and a half athletics have been 
 conducted in the stations of America on the 
 theory that without recreational sport no civ- 
 ilization is complete. 
 
 The men who have organized and developed 
 it are possessed of the conviction that the 
 lack of it caused the German nation to lapse 
 into the fallacy of militarism, and that when 
 Germany learns the true spirit of sportsman- 
 ship and of play there will be hope for the 
 future of that country. 
 
 Whether America would lapse into a species 
 of barbarism or not without athletics is no 
 longer a debatable question to the men who 
 control the destinies of the service, for their 
 belief and practice is that through the or- 
 ganization and development of recreational 
 sport in the stations the civilization of the 
 New World has been conserved at its highest 
 
 ideals during the most exacting period of 
 
 ci
 
 62 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 American life the eighteen months' duration 
 of the country's participation in the World 
 War. 
 
 I can speak most authoritatively for the 
 work in the naval stations and aviation fields, 
 but the same conditions prevailed in the army 
 camps. Surveying briefly the organization 
 and growth of recreational activities since the 
 date of America's entry into the World War, 
 the general statement may be made that in 
 all the large stations and in most of the 
 smaller a programme of sports has been placed 
 at the disposal of the enlisted men comparable 
 in variety and extent with that of any univer- 
 sity or any available for the typical young 
 man of America in his home city. 
 
 Every seasonal sport has been organized by 
 a station team, while regimental and other 
 unit play has been developed in as complete 
 intermural competition as has been possible 
 under the peculiar conditions which exist in 
 every individual station. 
 
 To-day, with the curtain rung down on the 
 drama of fire and bloodshed which has held 
 the world stage for four years, we may for the 
 first time take stock of results.
 
 ATHLETICS IN SERVICE STATIONS 63 
 
 How different to-day are conditions in the 
 camps from those in existence in any and 
 every war of the past, American, European, 
 or Asiatic ! 
 
 For the man of the past who entered mili- 
 tary service, particularly that of the sea, the 
 curtain fell, and his career was a closed book 
 till, like a hermit emerging from a cave, he 
 stalked again into public view at the close of 
 his patriotic struggle, which he had lived 
 through under conditions that were often 
 depressing. 
 
 Lacking the spur of wholesome sport, his 
 days were cheerless in the extreme. 
 
 To-day the boast is possible that the World 
 War of 1917-18 was fought by America with 
 her navy men surrounded with recreation, 
 and the results are evident in America's 
 achievement in placing on sea duty the best- 
 conditioned, happiest-hearted, and highest- 
 spirited navy ever gathered in the history of 
 the world. 
 
 Without stint or defection, the services of 
 the organizers of athletics in America have 
 been at the disposal of the men in uniform of 
 their country, and a glance at the group who
 
 64 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 have directed recreational sport in the stations 
 will attest to the truth of the statement that 
 the service of these men in the loftiest of 
 sportsmanship was merely transferred from 
 the commercial to the patriotic sphere. 
 
 No branch of athletic activity has been 
 overlooked in the list which has been installed 
 in the stations, and the programme which has 
 been everywhere put into effect has been or- 
 ganized to meet the peculiar conditions exist- 
 ing in each individual station. 
 
 Three divisions might be made of the recre- 
 ational-sport activities: those directly aimed 
 at the promotion of physical fitness, those 
 that afforded protection for the marine fighter, 
 both offensively and in self-defense, and those 
 that aimed to divert and interest the enlisted 
 men of the stations. And again, the games 
 themselves were divided into two classifica- 
 tions, group and small team or individual 
 competition. 
 
 Defining the training of the men at the navy 
 stations as "an effort to fit them for sea duty," 
 athletics became instantly of prime impor- 
 tance as an adjunct of daily routine. Condi- 
 tioning young men universally is a novelty in
 
 ATHLETICS IN SERVICE STATIONS 65 
 
 any American group, whether in school, fac- 
 tory, or counting-room, as well as even in 
 military service, but the experiment has been 
 pushed so scientifically and thoroughly among 
 the men in service at the stations that the 
 dream of universal physical fitness has now 
 dawned upon the American nation generally, 
 until not only are the colleges of the country 
 revising their recreational-sport programmes 
 so as to make universal participation in some 
 form of physical exercise compulsory, but 
 business executives are establishing similar 
 simple systems for their operatives, clerks, or 
 employees as the most effective and econom- 
 ical form of industrial insurance. The stand- 
 ardized, shorthand system of physical-fitness 
 exercises known as the "daily dozen" has 
 largely revolutionized the general conditioning 
 form of drill given the men in the service. 
 Until its adoption, lack of standardization and 
 installation of cumbersome, if not actually 
 harmful, physical-fitness exercises had been 
 reported. 
 
 While the spectacular events participated 
 in by navy teams in the popular seasonal 
 sports football, baseball, track athletics, and
 
 66 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 rowing had the eye and the ear of the Ameri- 
 can public with an intensity hitherto devoted 
 exclusively to college sports and the games of 
 the professional world, the development in 
 the navy stations of the individual enlisted 
 man in the art of aggressiveness and self-de- 
 fense was no less important a factor in the 
 general navy training. 
 
 The comment which has been made and 
 which is universally admitted to be true, that 
 individually the German foe was no match for 
 the individual fighting marine, is a tribute to 
 the success of this branch of training in phys- 
 ical fitness in the navy stations of the United 
 States. 
 
 Every device of muscular achievement, 
 both aggressively and in the art of self- 
 defense, was included in the programme of 
 physical training which was taught. How to 
 grapple and conquer a Teutonic opponent 
 who possessed a bayonet, although his Ameri- 
 can marine antagonist was unarmed, was 
 shown by physical instruction, by group and 
 by individual lessons, as well as on the mov- 
 ing-picture screen. How to creep upon a 
 sleeping German camp and, using the devices
 
 ATHLETICS IN SERVICE STATIONS 67 
 
 of physical cleverness taught in American 
 navy stations, smother two slumberers, allow- 
 ing the possibility of a third awakening and 
 being met on equal terms by the American 
 marine, was one of the lessons given. Both 
 offensive and defensive physical cleverness 
 was assured by the instruction, which was 
 given by the most skilful boxers, wrestlers, 
 and experts in jiu-jitsu in America. Not only 
 were American lives saved by this skilful in- 
 struction but the aggressiveness of the Ameri- 
 can marines at Chateau-Thierry and in the 
 Argonne was doubled by the specialized phys- 
 ical instruction which preceded their gradua- 
 tion from their home navy stations. The 
 relation of boxing to bayonet fighting, with 
 constant drill in the most efficient methods of 
 obtaining proficiency in both, has been empha- 
 sized throughout the navy-station training. 
 
 Standardized rules for teaching boxing, 
 swimming, and wrestling in the stations have 
 been put into effect, allowance being made, 
 however, for individual conditions in the dif- 
 ferent stations. 
 
 Mass games, allowing the participation of 
 several hundred men, have been perfected by
 
 68 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 the athletic directors in the stations, and gen- 
 erally introduced in the larger districts, and it 
 is from these that we have the opportunity to 
 develop in school and college more of the gen- 
 eral participation. The writer's belief is that 
 they should in no way displace the major 
 sports, but should be supplemental to them. 
 Many of them will probably die out in time, 
 but some will live and give more pleasure and 
 exercise to the American boy.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 STANDARDIZED INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 STANDARDIZED SWIMMING INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 1. Uniformity of drill, regardless of number 
 in class or previous aquatic training of any 
 individual. 
 
 2. Space men so that free-arm movement 
 is possible. 
 
 3. Land drill for arms: Position. Stand 
 erect, heels together, arms at sides. Arms 
 sideways; raise to level with shoulders. Bend 
 arms forward from elbows to right angle with 
 upper arm. Left arm brought sharply down 
 to thigh. When this point is reached the right 
 arm describes the same movement, while the 
 left arm is carried upward and sideways until 
 it reaches a position at right angles with 
 shoulder, when the stroke is completed. The 
 right-arm stroke is completed exactly like the 
 left. Continuity of action is a vital point 
 essential to perfection of this stroke. 
 
 4. Leg action: Enter shallow water. Each
 
 70 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 pupil assumes a horizontal position, face 
 downward, supported by hands. Arch instep. 
 Legs as near the surface of water as possible, 
 and not more than four inches apart. Legs 
 must have free action from hips, and alternate 
 continuously in quick, shallow kicks. No co- 
 ordination is required between arm and leg 
 movement. 
 
 5. When leg and arm action have been mas- 
 tered, divide group into teams of two. Num- 
 ber one grasps number two about hips, giving 
 necessary support while arm and leg action 
 are used together. At the conclusion of a 
 reasonable time, teams shift positions. 
 
 6. There is no deviation from this routine 
 until all have mastered the art of swimming. 
 
 7. Have adopted the crawl stroke as the 
 most satisfactory for the development of 
 swimmers of all classes. 
 
 STANDARDIZED INSTRUCTIONS IN BOXING AND 
 WRESTLING 
 
 Boxing 
 
 1. Instruct in balling fists, the proper plac- 
 ing of weight on feet, with weight a little on 
 front foot. Practise three steps advance and
 
 Boxing bout. 
 
 Wrestling match. 
 AT THE PELHAM BAY NAVAL STATION.
 
 STANDARDIZED INSTRUCTIONS 71 
 
 with left jab, three steps retreat with left 
 hook. 
 
 2. Instruction on left hook. 
 
 3. Instructions on right cross to belly. 
 
 Wrestling 
 
 1. Ordinary hold around the waist; the in- 
 struction on how to break such hold with the 
 knee or heel of the hand or with the head. 
 
 2. Headlock and break. 
 
 3. Strangle hold and flying mare. 
 
 4. Waist hold and flying mare. 
 
 5. Double wrist lock. 
 
 6. Jiu-jitsu leg break. 
 
 7. Knife protection. 
 
 8. Breaking arm in clinch. 
 
 9. Block to kick. 
 
 SUGGESTED PHYSICAL EXERCISES FOR THREE- 
 WEEK PERIOD 
 
 First Week 
 
 Squads of not more than 250 men for recre- 
 ational thirty-minute period 
 
 1. Limbering-up exercises: Front rank, hands 
 placed on knees, rear rank slapping backs of 
 file leaders, about face, same exercises.
 
 72 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 2. Pulling match: Ranks facing each other, 
 right-hand palm down, left-hand palm up. 
 Grasp opponent's wrists and pull. 
 
 3. Pushing match: Same formation, right 
 hand against opponent's left shoulder, left 
 hand on opponent's arm, push. 
 
 4. Rooster fight: Arms folded, one foot off 
 ground; make opponent touch ground with 
 hand or foot held up. 
 
 5. Forward relay: Each man running twen- 
 ty-five yards and around a man stationed at 
 that point, returning and touching next man. 
 Man finishing falling in at rear of line. 
 
 6. Backward and forward relay: Lines facing 
 away from man stationed fifteen yards away, 
 man runs backward around man; returning, 
 running forward touching back of next man, 
 then lining up in front of front man in line. 
 
 7. Mount tag: One man is "it," and can 
 touch any man who is not on the back of 
 another; a man mounted on another man 
 makes both exempt. The game becomes 
 lively when a man being chased tries to climb 
 the back of some man already mounted. In 
 the resulting spill "it" can touch any one of 
 the three.
 
 Second Week 
 
 Squad of between 100 and 150 men in two 
 rows at six-pace intervals 
 
 1. Forward relay: Partners holding inside 
 hands running twenty-five yards around man 
 stationed at that point, returning and touch- 
 ing next pair. 
 
 2. Backward relay: Partners holding inside 
 hands, facing away from man stationed fifteen 
 yards away, running backward around man, 
 returning, running forward and touching backs 
 of next pair. 
 
 3. Human-burden relay : Man carrying part- 
 ner on his back to man stationed fifteen yards 
 away, dropping him, and being carried back 
 to starting-point, when next pair runs. 
 
 Squad in two lines at five-pace intervals 
 
 4. Leap-frog race: Station three men at ten- 
 yard intervals in a forward-bend position, 
 hands placed on knees; man running straddle- 
 vaults three men, then runs back and touches 
 next man. 
 
 5. Mount tag: Already described in first 
 week's programme.
 
 74 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 NOTE. Each platoon is requested to have 
 ready for the third week's programme a 
 "billy," made of canvas, two feet long, two 
 inches round, stuffed with rags. 
 
 Third Week 
 Squad in two lines at five-pace intervals 
 
 1. Shuttle relay: One-half each line facing 
 in single file, the other half twenty -five yards 
 between leading men; on starting signal lead- 
 ing men from same side run twenty-five yards 
 toward opposite man, who starts when touched 
 by runner. Man finishing lines up in rear of 
 line on the side he finished on. 
 
 2. Shuttle cane relay: Same as first, except 
 that man starting carries cane and hands to 
 second man, etc. 
 
 3. Shuttle backward relay: Lines about facing 
 and running backward to reach second man. 
 
 4. Front rank play three deep. Rear rank 
 play policeman's " billy." 
 
 5. Rear rank play three deep. Front rank 
 play policeman's "billy." 
 
 NOTE. Policeman's "billy," or "whip to 
 the gap." Men line up in a circle at arm's 
 length, hands behind back. Game is started
 
 STANDARDIZED INSTRUCTIONS 75 
 
 by one man running around circle with "billy " ; 
 when "billy" is placed in any man's hand the 
 recipient tries to hit the man on his right 
 (runner replacing recipient in the ring), chas- 
 ing him around circle until he reaches place 
 again, when runner keeps on going until the 
 "billy" is placed in another man's hand. 
 
 Three deep: Form double circle facing cen- 
 tre, front rank inside, rear rank directly be- 
 hind. One player is "it," another player is 
 the runner. "It" and the runner must keep 
 on the outside of the circle and must not cut 
 through it. The runner must get in front of 
 some "two" before being tagged and the rear 
 man in that "two" becomes the runner. In 
 case the runner is tagged he becomes "it," 
 and chases the man who was "it," who now 
 is runner. 
 
 RULES FOR HAND-GRENADE THROWING 
 
 The bull's-eye of the first target is placed 
 75 feet from the front of the trench, the second 
 100 feet, and the third 125 feet. These dis- 
 tances should enable a majority of the con- 
 testants to score points at each distance. 
 
 There will be five circles on each target,
 
 76 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 which will be outlined on the ground. The 
 circles will increase in size according to the 
 distance the grenades are thrown, but the 
 same number of points will be scored for hits 
 on each target. There will be a distance of 
 12^ ^et between the outer circle of the first 
 target and the outer circle of the second, and 
 7^ feet between the outer circles of the sec- 
 ond and third targets. 
 
 The event is preferably a team contest. 
 Four men will compose each squad, and the 
 team scoring the highest number of points 
 will be declared the winner. 
 
 Following are the rules governing the event: 
 
 First: The hand-grenade used shall be the 
 standard iron barrel-shaped United States 
 army grenade, weighing eighteen ounces. 
 
 Second: The grenade shall be thrown from 
 a space 3 feet wide, 4 feet long, and 6 inches 
 deep. The manner of throwing shall be the 
 prescribed military form, a brief description 
 of which follows: 
 
 No free-style throwing shall be allowed, and 
 a judge shall be appointed to disqualify any 
 one using other than the approved form.* 
 
 * Later experiments have been tried in " baseball " swing.
 
 STANDARDIZED INSTRUCTIONS 77 
 
 The contestant faces at right angles to the 
 line of the throw, with the grenade grasped 
 firmly in the palm of one hand. This arm 
 should be extended at the side, while the 
 other arm is outstretched in the opposite 
 direction toward the target, so that both 
 arms and shoulders make a straight line. The 
 feet should be about two feet apart, the foot 
 and leg nearest the target being straight and 
 pointing in the direction of the throw, while 
 the other leg is bent at the knee, the foot 
 being at right angles to the line of the 
 throw. 
 
 The body is bent sidewise at the waist and 
 hip. To throw, the leg and body are straight- 
 ened and the throwing arm is brought up in a 
 vertical plane passing through the target, 
 while the other arm is brought down sharply. 
 The grenade is released at the highest point 
 of the arc. The arm used should be kept 
 straight, the elbow being bent only slightly, 
 if at all. 
 
 Third: Seventy-five feet from the throwing 
 line or front of the miniature trench a bull's- 
 eye with five circles shall be marked on the 
 ground, the centre ring being 2 feet in diam-
 
 78 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 eter, the second 4 feet, the third 6 feet, the 
 fourth 8 feet, and the outside ring 10 feet. 
 
 One hundred feet away a second bull's-eye 
 shall be laid out. The inner circle shall be 
 3 feet in diameter, and the others 6, 9, 12, and 
 15 feet respectively. One hundred and twen- 
 ty-five feet away from the throwing line a 
 third target shall be laid out. The inner cir- 
 cle shall be 4 feet in diameter, and the others 
 8, 12, 16, and 20 feet respectively. 
 
 Fourth: Each contestant shall have three 
 throws at each target. 
 
 Fifth: Each grenade landing in the smallest 
 circle shall score five points; between the 
 smallest and next larger circle, four points; 
 between the second and third circles, three 
 points; between the third and fourth circles, 
 two points, and between the fourth and larg- 
 est circles, one point.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS INVOLVING 
 LARGE NUMBERS OF MEN 
 
 CHARIOT RELAY RACE 
 
 THIS has proved the most successful of the 
 mass games introduced into navy athletic pro- 
 grammes during the war. It was devised by 
 George V. Brown, athletic director in the first 
 district, and was tried on Boston Common be- 
 fore some 15,000 people and in other athletic 
 meets in the first district during the summer 
 of 1918. 
 
 One of its great advantages is the fact that 
 a hundred men can be used on a team. As 
 many teams as are desired can be entered, 
 making possible a total entry list in this event 
 of several thousand men, if conditions warrant. 
 This game is therefore ideally adapted to the 
 larger stations and meets. Ten men run on 
 a team in each relay, being relieved by another 
 ten, who in turn are succeeded by the next 
 relay, this continuing till the entire team of a 
 hundred men has competed. 
 
 79
 
 80 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 The apparatus is simple and inexpensive. 
 It consists of two perfectly round poles about 
 2 inches in diameter and about 12 to 15 feet 
 in length, connected with ropes at the ends. 
 Six men run in the first line, grasping the pole, 
 and four men in the second. They drag over 
 the grass a toboggan, which can be purchased 
 at any store where winter-sports articles are 
 sold. On this toboggan is seated another 
 man, who retains his seat throughout the 
 race, notwithstanding the changing relays of 
 the members of the different teams. 
 
 As indicated in the accompanying diagram, 
 four or more posts are driven into the ground 
 100 yards between A and B, and C and D, and 
 between each succeeding pair, respectively, 
 each set representing the distance of the race. 
 The start and finish of each relay takes place 
 at posts A and C, etc., respectively. 
 
 The starters line up as the starters of an 
 ordinary relay race, grasping poles M and N. 
 At the gun they run from A to B and from 
 C to Z), respectively, making a turn at B and 
 D and back to the start A and C. The next 
 ten men of the company are all ready to relieve 
 these men and they take up the running.
 
 Going to the start. 
 
 Under full steam. 
 
 Three teams making the stai 
 THE CHARIOT RACE.
 
 
 8 MEN 
 
 
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 4 MEN' &>. /$* -^ 
 
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 X- 
 
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 5 
 
 t *! 
 
 1 o 
 
 t u 
 
 1 
 
 t 
 
 t ; 
 
 TEA 1 * 
 
 "... 1^ 
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 <' . * 
 
 1 Oi 
 
 ART AND FJNI8H START AN 
 
 TEAM 2 
 
 t , v.... 
 
 M N 
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 a FINISH 2 M N 
 
 .. ...! ' " *M' N' ' k ' 
 
 N O >> 
 
 N"" 8 V.... 
 
 DIAGRAM OF CHARIOT RACE.
 
 82 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 TRENCH BALL 
 
 Using an ordinary football-field, or even 
 larger grounds, teams of as many as seventy- 
 five men line up on the 30-yard line. One of 
 the teams is given three of the trench balls, 
 which are made of leather and are about the 
 same size as a 12-inch indoor baseball. There 
 is a loop handle on one side through which 
 to slip four fingers. The balls are thrown with 
 an overhand motion similar to that used in 
 throwing hand-grenades. If the balls are 
 caught on the fly the catcher is allowed to ad- 
 vance three steps before throwing them in 
 return. If they are not caught on the fly 
 they are thrown from the spot where they are 
 picked up. The throws are consecutive, no 
 team being allowed to throw the same ball a 
 second time, until a return throw is made by 
 an opponent. 
 
 The game is continued, the two teams ad- 
 vancing and retreating until the balls are 
 thrown over the goal-bar. When a ball is 
 thrown over the bar it counts one point and 
 is out of play. 
 
 The game continues until the three balls
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 83 
 
 have been thrown for goals. As a rule the 
 game requires between nine to fifteen minutes 
 before the three goals are thrown. Most of 
 the games end with a score of 2 to 1. 
 
 NOTE. This has proved a popular game at 
 stations where it is desirable to keep 150 to 
 250 men interested in a light recreational 
 sport. It calls for constant running, catching, 
 and throwing. 
 
 HARMLESS FOOTBALL 
 
 The ball is kicked off from the centre of the 
 field or, if the length of the playing-field is 
 limited, from some point sufficiently distant 
 from the receiving team's goal to allow its 
 members to run the kick back. In a small 
 playing space, for instance, the team kicking 
 off would kick from its own goal-line. 
 
 Following kick-off, the game proceeds ex- 
 actly the same as regular football, with the 
 following changes: 
 
 1. No tackling is permitted; a tag or a 
 grasp stops the man. 
 
 2. Interferers for the runners may use their 
 hands and arms to block an opponent. 
 
 3. Any number of forward passes may be
 
 84 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 made in each scrimmage, but no forward pass 
 may be made after the ball has crossed the 
 line of scrimmage. 
 
 4. Less than eleven men may play on a 
 side. Furthermore, I have used the game as 
 a warm-up and relaxation from the regular 
 grind of practice, with fifteen or twenty men 
 on a side, although confusion is apt to result 
 from large numbers. 
 
 NOTE. No equipment except a football is 
 required. Any number of men up to, say, fif- 
 teen can play the game. The rougher fea- 
 tures of the game are eliminated, and it affords 
 much recreation. Tripping, holding, and such 
 features are, of course, barred. 
 
 A similar game, devised in Australia, is 
 known as tiggi tiggi touchwood. 
 
 CAGE BALL 
 
 An inflated, canvas-covered ball, 24 to 30 
 inches in diameter, is used on a playing-field 
 140 by 100 feet in dimension, one-third the 
 size of a football-field. Two net cages, 20 feet 
 in length, 4 feet in width, and 18 inches deep, 
 made of rope and stretched between cross- 
 arm uprights 30 by 50 feet apart, form the
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 85 
 
 goals, which are placed ten feet from the end 
 of the field, the playing space therefore ex- 
 tending ten feet beyond each goal. 
 
 The official ball should be the Wilson No. 
 221 Cage Ball. The cages should stand ten 
 feet from the floor to the upper edge, the 
 goals attached to the regulation official up- 
 rights, which are made of wood or pipe, with 
 two cross-arms on each. One cross-arm is 
 placed ten feet above the ground and is six 
 feet in length, the other eight feet above the 
 ground and six feet in length. Holes or eye- 
 bolts are placed in the ends of the cross-arms. 
 The cage is anchored by ropes coming from 
 each corner to the cross-arms of the uprights. 
 
 The field may be marked off by either 
 whitewashed lines or by four flagpoles, one 
 at each corner of the playing-field. 
 
 The officials consist of a referee and four 
 umpires, one at each side and each end of the 
 playing space, to rule upon out-of-bounds 
 plays, and to watch for all infractions of the 
 rules, reporting them to the referee. 
 
 To begin the game, the two teams line up 
 twenty feet apart, facing each other in the 
 centre of the field. One player from each
 
 86 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 side walks to the centre of the field, both 
 grasping the ball. At the referee's whistle the 
 rival teams rush toward the ball and the two 
 players in possession of it strive to toss it to 
 their respective team-mates. The members 
 of the opposing teams try to bat, punch, or 
 throw the ball till it is lodged in their oppo- 
 nents' cage. 
 
 When the ball touches the ground the ref- 
 eree's whistle is blown and the players who 
 possess the ball are made to raise it into the 
 air, play momentarily ceasing till this is done. 
 
 If the ball goes out of bounds, either at the 
 end or side lines, the officials do not stop the 
 play unless in their judgment the ball is being 
 carried too far to make scoring possible. 
 Then the referee blows his whistle, takes the 
 ball, carries it to the side-line, and throws it 
 into the air twenty feet into the field of play. 
 
 Play continues thirty minutes, although two 
 halves of different length, with five minutes' 
 intermission, may be agreed upon. Three 
 possible fouls may be committed: running 
 with the ball, interfering with the cage, or 
 kicking the ball. In case one is committed, 
 the offended team is given the ball thirty feet
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 87 
 
 from the opponents' goal. The offenders 
 must line up inside a point twenty feet in front 
 of their own goal before play is resumed. A 
 goal counts a single point and the total tally 
 of goals is the final score. 
 
 In case of a tie score at the expiration of 
 time, play continues until one side has scored 
 a goal. 
 
 NOTE. This is one of the most successful 
 games devised for mass play, and can be 
 played by any number of contestants, from, 
 say, 8 to 2,000. It is rugged, yet not over- 
 strenuous. 
 
 If played indoors the goals should be fas- 
 tened by ropes to eye-bolts or cleats fastened 
 to the side walls at each end of the playing 
 space at the appropriate height above the 
 floor. 
 
 TUG OF WAR 
 
 A manila three-stranded rope not less than 
 4^ nor more than 5 inches in circumference 
 is used. 
 
 A tape is affixed to the centre of the rope, 
 and fifteen feet on each side are placed side 
 lines.
 
 88 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 A centre line is marked on the ground, and 
 fifteen feet on either side are two parallel side 
 lines. 
 
 The rope is taut at the start of the pull, 
 with the centre tape over the centre line, and 
 with the competitors' outside lines. 
 
 A pistol-shot indicates the start and finish 
 of the event. 
 
 No mechanical device is used for holding 
 the rope, but a belt is worn to protect the 
 body of the anchor man. 
 
 No man can pull on more than one team 
 in competition, but preliminaries, semifinals, 
 and finals may decide the winning team of a 
 series. 
 
 The event is won when one team pulls the 
 side tape on the rope of the opposing side over 
 the centre line, or at the end of three minutes, 
 by the team whose side tape is farthest from 
 the centre line. 
 
 The pull must be made in a path not ex- 
 ceeding fifteen feet in width, marked bylines 
 for at least 100 feet away from the centre. 
 
 No competitor is allowed to wear boots or 
 shoes with projecting nails, or to make holes 
 in the earth before starting the event.
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 89 
 
 Only the anchor man is allowed to pass the 
 tape around his body. 
 
 Each team is allowed one coach, who may 
 count and use a megaphone. 
 
 Every contestant pulls in a standing posi- 
 tion and without any artificial aid. 
 
 NOTE. Any number of participants can 
 play this game, but thirty-five on a side are 
 recommended. Seventy-five on a side makes 
 an interesting game. Recommended for mass 
 recreation in good-sized stations. 
 
 VOLLEY-BALL, 
 
 A playground measuring some 20 by 40 
 feet and a hollow ball somewhat larger than 
 a tennis-ball are necessary for this game. The 
 field is divided by a narrow net or a rope 
 stretched across the short dimension, the top 
 of the net reaching seven feet above ground. 
 
 The object of the game is to keep the hol- 
 low ball, or volley-ball, passing from one side 
 to the other over the top of the net or rope, 
 by batting it with either one or with both 
 hands. 
 
 When playing with young or inexperienced 
 players the ball may be returned over the line
 
 90 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 either on a "fly" or after the first bound. If 
 the ball is not returned over the line in this 
 manner that is, if it touches the ground 
 twice before it is started on its return, or twice 
 during its passage from one player to another 
 of the same team a point is scored against 
 the side that has failed i. e., the serving side 
 scored one point. 
 
 If the serving side bats the ball outside of 
 the bounds of the playground it is a foul, and 
 the opposite side then serves the ball. 
 
 Experienced players must return the ball on 
 a "fly" i. e. 9 the ball must never touch the 
 ground. If it does, the side that last batted 
 the ball over the net scores a point. Teams 
 may play either for a certain number of points 
 or for a certain length of time. 
 
 NOTE. As an active conditioning exercise 
 for two teams of either eight to sixteen play- 
 ers each, either indoors or outdoors, this game 
 compels enthusiasm. 
 
 MODIFIED FOOTBALL 
 
 In modified football there is no running 
 with the ball, tackling, or hard blocking, and 
 groups of men can play the game without the
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 91 
 
 regular equipment. It can readily be played 
 by service teams, as the only equipment 
 really needed is a football. 
 
 The game can be played on a regulation 
 football-field marked out and with or with- 
 out goal-posts. Or a space can be measured 
 or paced out. Flags can be used instead of 
 the white markings with very little change to 
 the game. The game is entirely a passing or 
 kicking game, and groups of men can play it 
 in an informal way with considerable enthu- 
 siasm. The rules are simple and can be un- 
 derstood in a few moments. In case of dis- 
 cussions the rules of football as explained in 
 the Official Guide will be followed. 
 
 Length of Field. 300 feet same as the 
 regulation football-field without the end zones. 
 
 Width of Field. 160 feet same as the 
 regulation football-field. 
 
 Goal-Posts. 18 feet 6 inches apart in cen- 
 tre of the goal-line, 20 feet high, with cross- 
 bar 10 feet from the ground. 
 
 Field of Play. Marked off in 20-yard lines 
 parallel to the goal-line. (NOTE. FLAGS CAN 
 
 BE USED TO MARK OFF THESE 20-YARD LINES, 
 PLACED ON THE SIDE-LINES, AT THE SAME TIME
 
 92 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 MARKING THE SIDE-LINES. WlTH THE FLAG 
 MARKINGS FOR THE GOAL THE BALL MUST GO 
 OVER THE HEADS OF THE OPPONENTS TO 
 COUNT.) 
 
 Players. Any number, preferably 11 men 
 on a side. 
 
 Length of Game. 40 minutes divided in 
 two periods. The periods can be lengthened 
 or shortened. Five minutes' rest allowed be- 
 tween periods. 
 
 Ball. Regulation football. 
 
 Official. Referee with whistle or horn. 
 
 Winner of the toss shall have the choice of 
 goal. If winner selects goal, loser will kick- 
 off. Loser of the toss shall have the same 
 privileges at the beginning of the second 
 period. 
 
 Team kicking-off shall be on-side and shall 
 line up as in regular football and shall kick- 
 off from the regular 40-yard line. Opponents 
 will line up as in regular football, or if there 
 are more or less than 11 players they shall 
 be arranged by the captains, except that they 
 shall be 10 yards away from the kicker. 
 
 On the kick-off the ball is punted out and 
 not kicked off as in regular football.
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 93 
 
 PENALTY OFF-SIDE ON PUNT. BALL is 
 
 BROUGHT BACK AND PUNTED FROM A MARK 
 10 YARDS BEHIND THE 40-YARD LINE. OP- 
 PONENTS MOVE UP 10 YARDS. 
 
 In receiving ball these rules will be followed : 
 
 If the ball is caught before hitting the 
 ground, the player catching same is allowed 
 three long steps or jumps, and can return ball 
 by either punt or drop-kick, one extra step 
 being allowed for the kick. 
 
 If the ball is missed on the fly, it is re- 
 turned by a forward pass from a position 
 where it is stopped farthest away from the 
 opponents' goal-line, one step being allowed 
 for the pass. 
 
 If the ball hits the ground before it is re- 
 ceived by a player, it is returned by a drop- 
 kick from a position where it is stopped far- 
 thest away from the opponents' goal-line, one 
 extra step being allowed for the kick. 
 
 A kick-over (touch-down) is scored by a 
 drop-kick only over the opponents' goal-line, 
 at any place between the side-lines. Two 
 POINTS ALLOWED FOR THIS. The ball is then 
 brought out 15 yards and a try for a goal is 
 made, ONE POINT being allowed for the goal
 
 94 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 if made. If flags are used instead of goal- 
 posts, the ball must go over opponents' heads 
 between the flags. 
 
 When a goal is being kicked, the opponents 
 will line up behind the posts or flags and at 
 a signal from the referee that the ball has 
 touched the ground, they can run out and 
 attempt to block same. 
 
 If kick-over (touch-down) is made at a point 
 near the side-lines and it is a difficult try for 
 a goal from the allowed 15 yards, a punt-out 
 will be allowed. With the kicker behind the 
 goal-line at a point where the ball was kicked 
 over, the opponents will line up behind the 
 goal-line 5 yards away from the kicker, and 
 when the referee's whistle has announced that 
 the ball has been punted out, they may run 
 out and attempt to prevent the kicker's side 
 from making a fair catch. If a fair catch 
 is made, the scoring side will make a try for 
 goal from the spot where the ball was caught. 
 If the ball is not caught, no try for goal is al- 
 lowed. 
 
 The loser of goal has the choice of the kick- 
 off (punt-out) or receiving the ball. 
 
 If the ball goes outside it is brought back
 
 Carlisle w. Yale, Polo Grounds, N. Y. 
 MASS PLAY.
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 95 
 
 into the field of play 25 yards from where it 
 went out of bounds, and the side who were 
 in the act of receiving the ball will punt or 
 drop-kick the ball, players on the kicking 
 side being on-side. The opponents must be 
 10 yards in front of the kicker. 
 
 Penalty for off-side play, 10 yards, the ball 
 being brought back, and after penalty the 
 team will again kick. 
 
 IF THE PLAYER OF A TEAM DELIBERATELY 
 TOUCHES THE BALL BEFORE IT IS RETURNED 
 BY THE OPPONENTS, THE OTHER TEAM WILL 
 RECEIVE A 10- YARD PENALTY FROM WHERE 
 IT WAS FIRST TOUCHED, AND THE BALL WILL 
 BE PUNTED OR DROP-KICKED FROM THE NEW 
 MARK. 
 
 PLAYERS TAKING MORE STEPS THAN AL- 
 LOWED WILL BE PENALIZED 10 YARDS. RE- 
 CEIVERS OF THE BALL WILL RECEIVE THE 
 PENALTY AND BE ALLOWED TO PUNT OR DROP- 
 KICK THE BALL. IF A GOAL IS MADE ON THE 
 
 PLAY, IT DOES NOT COUNT, AND RECEIVERS 
 WILL BRING BALL OUT 10 YARDS AND PUNT 
 OR DROP-KICK. 
 
 REFEREE WILL HAVE FULL JURISDICTION 
 OF THE GAME.
 
 96 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 MOUNTBALL 
 
 This is a game of ball played by half of the 
 players while mounted on the backs of the 
 other players. It is therefore desirable that 
 the players be paired off so that the two in 
 each pair should be of nearly equal weight and 
 size. 
 
 The players form a circle in pairs. To 
 do this they line up two abreast, each with 
 his selected partner. This double line then 
 marches in a circle, halts, and faces inward. 
 This will form two concentric circles. There 
 should be considerable space between couples; 
 in other words, the circle should be rather 
 large in comparison with the number of play- 
 ers. It is then decided by a toss-up or other- 
 wise which of the two circles shall first be 
 "ponies" and which shall be riders. The 
 ponies bend forward from .the hips, pressing 
 their hands against the knees, or thighs just 
 above the knees. The knees should be stiff, 
 not bent. The backs are thus bent forward 
 and the riders mount, straddling the shoulders 
 of the players who are ponies. 
 
 The ball is put in play by being tossed from
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 97 
 
 any player to another, and the game consists 
 on the part of the riders in trying to keep the 
 ball in as active play as possible in a simple 
 game of toss and catch, and on the part of 
 the ponies in trying to prevent the catching 
 of the ball. To do this the ponies must grow 
 restive and turn around in any way they see 
 fit, but must not lose their general place in 
 the circle. 
 
 When a rider fails to catch a ball all of the 
 riders must at once dismount and run in any 
 direction; the pony belonging to the rider who 
 missed the ball picks up the ball immediately, 
 and as soon as he has it calls "Halt !" All of 
 the riders must then stand still, and the player 
 who holds the ball tries to hit his recent rider. 
 The rider aimed at may try to evade the ball 
 by stooping or jumping, but must not other- 
 wise leave his place on the floor. During this 
 part of the play the other ponies remain in 
 their positions in the circle, so that the one 
 who is throwing the ball will not confuse them 
 with the riders. If the player (pony) who 
 throws the ball at his dismounted rider suc- 
 ceeds in hitting him, all of the ponies and 
 riders exchange places, the riders becoming
 
 98 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 ponies and the former ponies mounting them. 
 If the player aiming the ball at his dismounted 
 rider does not succeed in hitting him, the 
 riders remount and the game goes on as before. 
 
 It is not permissible for a rider to hold a 
 ball at any time, no matter how difficult his 
 position at the moment may be; he must toss 
 it at once. It is well to have a leader, whether 
 one of the players or not, who watches for 
 mistakes, gives the commands to mount and 
 dismount, and announces misses and hits. 
 
 NOTE. This is one of the most strenuous 
 games physically of its kind, and between ten 
 and sixty players are the best number to at- 
 tempt it. It is adapted to the playground or 
 gymnasium, and a basket-ball or handball is 
 used. 
 
 JUMPING RELAY RACE 
 
 A starting line is drawn anywhere between 
 ten to forty feet from and paralleling a finish- 
 ing line, in accordance with the distance it is 
 desired to make the race, and the players line 
 up in single file behind the starting line. 
 When the signal is given, the first players in 
 each file, who are standing toeing the start-
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 99 
 
 ing line, jump ahead with both feet till they 
 reach the finish line. Then they turn and 
 run back to the starting line. On his arrival 
 at the starting line every player should touch 
 the hand of the next player in his file, who 
 should begin his relay in jumping as soon as 
 his hand is touched by the returning player, 
 who, after touching his successor in the relay, 
 goes to the end of the file of contestants, thus 
 allowing every player in the file to move up. 
 
 The team or file wins the race whose final 
 player is first to reach the starting line. 
 
 NOTE. This game is popular at small sta- 
 tions. No apparatus or training is necessary. 
 Between ten and fifty players are recom- 
 mended. 
 
 OVER AND UNDER RELAY 
 
 The players stand in two or more files, the 
 files containing an equal number of players. 
 The game is a passing relay, the files compet- 
 ing against each other. The leaders of each 
 file have two balls, bean-bags, or blackboard 
 erasers. At a signal a ball (or whatever is 
 used) is passed back over the heads of the 
 players until it reaches the last one in the
 
 100 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 line, who keeps it. The leader counts ten 
 after the ball leaves his hands and at once 
 passes back the second ball between his feet, 
 the players bending over to pass it along. 
 When this reaches the last player he runs 
 forward with a ball in each hand and takes 
 his place at the head of the line, which moves 
 back one place to give him room. At once 
 he passes one ball backward overhead, counts 
 ten, and passes the other between his feet. 
 This continues until the original leader, who 
 has been gradually backing to the rear of the 
 line, reaches the front again, carrying both 
 balls. The line wins whose leader first ac- 
 complishes this. 
 
 This game has some admirable exercise in 
 it, keeping the players bending and stretching 
 alternately. Quick play should be encour- 
 aged. 
 
 NOTE. This game is a combination of 
 archball and strideball. It is adapted to out- 
 door and indoor competition, and between 
 ten and fifteen players make the best combi- 
 nation.
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 101 
 
 STRIDEBALL 
 
 The players are divided into two or more 
 groups, which compete against each other, 
 each having a ball. Each group stands in 
 single file in leapfrog position, feet wide apart, 
 to form a tunnel through which the ball is 
 passed. The first players (captains) of each 
 file toe a line drawn across the ground, and 
 at a signal put the ball in play by passing it 
 backward between the feet. When players 
 become expert, one long shot will send the 
 ball to the end of the line. The other players 
 may strike it to help it along as it passes them, 
 if it goes slowly. Should the ball stop or go 
 out of bounds at any place, the player before 
 whom this occurs must put it in play again, 
 starting it between his feet. When the ball 
 reaches the rear of the file the last player 
 runs with it to the front, the line moving back- 
 ward quickly one place to make room for him, 
 and immediately rolls the ball back again be- 
 tween the feet. This is repeated until the 
 "captain" is the last player. He runs for- 
 ward with the ball, places it on a marked spot 
 twenty feet in front of his line, and returns to
 
 10 * ATHLETES ALL 
 
 his place at the head of the file. The file wins 
 whose captain is first to return to his original 
 position. 
 
 Should there not be space for a point at 
 which to leave the ball, the game may be fin- 
 ished by the last player holding up the ball 
 when it reaches the end of the line, or by his 
 running forward with it to the head of the 
 line. 
 
 An Indian club instead of a ball makes a 
 much more skilful game, the club being 
 shoved over the ground, neck first. It is 
 much more difficult to guide than a ball, re- 
 quires greater deliberation for a long shot, 
 and more easily stops or goes out of bounds. 
 A basket-ball or small ball may be used. 
 
 This is one of the best games for training 
 self-control under excitement, as the precision 
 needed for a long shot, especially with the 
 Indian club, is very difficult under the cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 NOTE. This is played both as an indoor 
 and an outdoor game, adapted to between a 
 dozen and a hundred players, with any ball, 
 small club, or bean-bag as apparatus.
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 103 
 
 PASS AND TOSS RELAY 
 
 The players are divided into two equal 
 groups, which compete against each other. 
 Each group is divided into two lines or ranks, 
 which stand facing each other. There should 
 be from ten to twenty feet of space between 
 the two ranks. 
 
 The game consists of passing a bean-bag up 
 one of these lines to the end, when the last 
 player runs across to the opposite line, tossing 
 the bag as he goes to the end man in that line, 
 who catches it and passes it down the line. 
 The same play is performed at the other end, 
 the last player running across to the opposite 
 line, tossing the bag as he goes to the last 
 player there. The lines move up or down 
 one place each time a player runs across to 
 the opposite rank. 
 
 This play is repeated until the first one 
 reaches his original position again, and the 
 bag is passed to him there. Immediately on 
 receiving it he should lift it high, as a signal 
 that the play is completed in his group. The 
 group wins whose first player is first to do 
 this.
 
 104 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 The game may be made a little more definite 
 by the first one having some distinguishing 
 mark, as a handkerchief, tied on his arm. 
 
 When players have some proficiency in the 
 game, as prescribed, they may play with two 
 bags instead of one, keeping both in play at 
 once. In this form of the game the diagonal 
 opposites start each a bag at the same time, 
 that is, players Number 1 and Number 9. 
 The game becomes thus just twice as rapid. 
 The team wins whose Number 1 and 9 first 
 succeed in both returning to their original 
 positions, where they should hold the bags 
 aloft. 
 
 A score should be kept, each team scoring 
 two points for winning a game and one point 
 for every time that its opponents' bags touch 
 the floor, either through poor throwing or bad 
 catching. 
 
 NOTE. Any kind of a ball or similar object 
 may be used as equipment. Between sixteen 
 and sixty players are recommended. The 
 game is a year-around indoor and outdoor 
 affair.
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 105 
 
 TARGET TOSS 
 
 Three concentric circles should be drawn on 
 the ground or floor, after the idea of a target. 
 Their size will depend somewhat on the skill 
 of the players, but for the youngest players 
 the inner circle should be not more than two 
 feet in diameter and the outer circle six feet 
 in diameter. For those more skilled, smaller 
 circles may be used. From ten to thirty feet 
 from the outer rim of the largest circle a 
 straight line is drawn on the ground to serve 
 as a throwing line. Where there is a small 
 number of players all may use one target. 
 Where there is a large number, several targets 
 should be drawn and the players divided into 
 as many groups. Each group has three bean- 
 bags, or, if out-of-doors, small blocks of wood, 
 stones, or shells may be used. Each player 
 throws in turn, throwing each of the three 
 bags or other objects at each turn. The 
 thrower stands with his toe on the throwing 
 line, and tosses a bag toward the target. If 
 the bag stops within the centre circle it 
 scores fifteen points; if between the centre 
 circle and the next larger one it scores ten
 
 106 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 points, and if between the middle circle and 
 the largest, or outer one, it scores five points. 
 For very little children a bag that lands on a 
 line may score for the larger circle which it 
 touches. For more expert players a bag 
 landing on a line does not score at all. The 
 player wins who has the highest score in five 
 rounds of the game. 
 
 NOTE. This is an indoor and outdoor game, 
 practicable for between sixteen and sixty 
 players. Stones, shells, or bean-bags are used 
 as apparatus. 
 
 ARCHBALL 
 
 The players line up in two or more single 
 files, which compete with each other as teams, 
 and must therefore contain an equal number 
 of players. The captain or leader of each 
 team or file toes a line drawn across the 
 ground and holds a basket-ball (a bean-bag or 
 other object may be used). At a given signal 
 he passes the ball backward over his head to 
 the player next behind, who in turn passes it 
 backward as rapidly as possible, and so on 
 until it reaches the last player in the line. He 
 at once runs forward, carrying the ball to the
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 107 
 
 front of the line, which moves backward one 
 place to make room for him. He toes the line 
 and passes the ball backward over his head. 
 The play continues until the captain reaches 
 the end of the line, and runs forward with the 
 ball to his original place at the head of the 
 file. As he takes his place there he holds the 
 ball aloft as a signal that he has finished. 
 The file or team wins whose captain is the 
 first to return to his place. 
 
 The game may be made very enlivening by 
 passing several articles in rapid succession, 
 each of a different and contrasting character, 
 such as a basket-ball, tennis-ball, Indian club, 
 heavy medicine-ball, bean-bag, light dumb- 
 bell, three or five pound iron dumb-bell, etc. 
 In this form of the game the last player must 
 accumulate all of the articles before running 
 forward with them, or the score may be made 
 on the arrival of the last article at the rear 
 of the line. 
 
 NOTE. As a game compelling rivalry be- 
 tween several teams of about ten players each, 
 this is attractive, in both indoor and outdoor 
 competition. Basket-ball, oat-sack, or bean- 
 bag is used.
 
 108 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 MEDICINE-BALL TAG 
 
 Forming a circle composed of ten to twenty 
 players, who face inward, the game is begun 
 with a player who is "it" standing inside the 
 circle and trying to intercept any inflated ball 
 of the medicine-ball type as it is being tossed 
 from one player to the next. When he catches 
 or touches the ball he is entitled to take the 
 place in the circle of the man who has last 
 handled it, and who thereby becomes "it." 
 The game is played on a circle marked on the 
 ground or gymnasium, about 25 feet in diam- 
 eter, and the players may either stand or sit 
 during the game. 
 
 NOTE. Interest is lost if too great a circle, 
 calling too many players into the game, is 
 formed. 
 
 DODGEBALL 
 
 Any number of players form in a circle in 
 two teams, one circle facing in, the players 
 about four feet apart, the other team being 
 collected inside the circle. The team forming 
 the circle has a number of the basket, volley, 
 or soccer balls which are available, and with
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 109 
 
 them attempts to hit players of the team in- 
 side. As a player is hit he drops out and the 
 game continues until all the players are out. 
 The time required is recorded, the teams 
 change places, and the game is again played, 
 the team winning which requires the shortest 
 time to put out its opponents. 
 
 NOTE. The game is adaptable to either 
 playground or gymnasium use, but a circle 
 composed of not more than twenty -five play- 
 ers is recommended. 
 
 PRISONER'S BASE 
 
 After selecting two teams of from eight to 
 fifteen players, positions are taken on a play- 
 field some 30 by 75 feet in dimensions, with a 
 line across the field space marking off a section 
 as a prison, the objective of the sport being to 
 capture three prisoners. When either team 
 has done this it has won the game. 
 
 Any player may be made a prisoner by an 
 opponent who left his base later than did the 
 first player. If a member of Team No. 1 
 advances toward a base of Team No. 2, he 
 may be tagged by any member on Team 
 No. 2. He therefore quickly retreats to his
 
 110 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 own base to escape being tagged, in case an 
 opposing player pursues him. If he is tagged 
 before reaching his base he is sent to the 
 prison of Team No. 2. Should a player from 
 his own team run out to support him, this new 
 player having left his base later than the pur- 
 suer, he may tag the player from Team No. 2 
 and place him in the prison of Team No. 1. 
 
 Prisoners may be freed when one of the 
 players succeeds in tagging a prisoner without 
 himself being tagged. If there are two pris- 
 oners they may grasp hands and stretch 
 toward their own team, thereby assisting in 
 their release. Both are free if the first is 
 tagged. When a prisoner has been captured 
 all players must return to their own base be- 
 fore another play is started. Only one pris- 
 oner may be made at a time. All players 
 must stand behind the line marking the front 
 of their base. If one foot is put over the line, 
 they have left their base and may be made 
 prisoners by an opposing player who is still 
 on his base. 
 
 NOTE. This rather historic and somewhat 
 complicated tag game allows the participation 
 of only a limited number of players, but re-
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 111 
 
 quires no equipment. It is essentially an 
 outdoor game. A referee is required and 
 order must be insisted upon. Too many play- 
 ers must not be allowed on the field at once. 
 
 PASS BALL RELAY WITH ENCIRCLING 
 
 Several teams, each, containing six to ten 
 men, are chosen, the members of every team 
 standing in a straight line next to one another. 
 When a signal is given, the ball or other object 
 which is used is passed sideward from the 
 first to the last player in every team. 
 
 As soon as the last player receives the ob- 
 ject he turns and runs along the rear of his 
 team, then along the front, then again along 
 the rear until he arrives at the other end of 
 the line, when he immediately passes the ball 
 to the next player, who repeats the play by 
 passing the ball again down the line, the last 
 player in line encircling the team as before. 
 
 This is repeated until every member of the 
 team has taken his turn in the encircling, and 
 the team members stand again as at the be- 
 ginning. 
 
 A variation of this game consists in allow- 
 ing the players to stand one behind the other
 
 112 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 and passing the ball overhead or underneath 
 from the first to the last player. In this case 
 the last player runs along the right side of his 
 team, down the left side, and again up on the 
 right. 
 
 When running around the ends a runner 
 may hook his arm into that of the player at 
 the end, thus enabling a quick turning. 
 
 NOTE. Groups between a dozen to a hun- 
 dred players will find this sport a lively game, 
 adapted to agility and quick thinking. 
 
 FOOTBALL BASEBALL 
 
 Salient features of both baseball and foot- 
 ball are combined in this game. The objec- 
 tive of play is, as in baseball, to circle the four 
 bases and thereby score in tally. 
 
 Positions are taken by the nine players, 
 as follows: One behind, one in front, one to 
 the right, and one to the left of the home- 
 plate; one just outside and one somewhat in- 
 side first base; one just outside and one some- 
 what inside third base; one just to the left of 
 second base. 
 
 The team at bat or on the attack sends a 
 player to open the game. He steps to the
 
 FORMS OF CONTESTS 113 
 
 home-plate and, standing on it, kicks the ball 
 into the field by means of a punt, drop-kick, 
 or place-kick. In doing this he must not step 
 beyond the home-plate. If he wishes to take 
 one or more steps before kicking the ball he 
 must begin behind the home-plate. 
 
 Except as follows, the regular rules apply: 
 (a) If the ball is kicked outside the foul-line 
 on a fly the player is out. 
 
 (6) If the ball lands inside the foul-lines 
 and then bounces or rolls out, this is a fair 
 play. 
 
 (c) A player on a base cannot leave this 
 base to run for the next one until the ball is 
 kicked. 
 
 (d) After a kick, a player on a base may 
 run until he is put out, according to the rules 
 governing baseball, or thrown out (see e), or 
 until the ball has been placed on the home- 
 plate by an opposing player. If the runner 
 has passed first base and is approaching sec- 
 ond (or third) base after the ball has been 
 placed on the home-plate, he may continue 
 until he reaches his base. This rule, how- 
 ever, shall not apply to a runner approaching 
 the home-plate; in order to score a run he
 
 114 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 must reach the home-plate without being 
 touched with the ball. 
 
 (e) A player is out who when off the base 
 is tagged with the ball in the hands of an 
 opponent, or who when off a base is hit with 
 the thrown ball. 
 
 (/) A fielder may throw or kick the ball to 
 his team-mates. 
 
 (</) Three outs shall end an inning, and nine 
 innings shall constitute a game. 
 
 NOTE. Two competing teams of nine play- 
 ers are used for this indoor and outdoor event, 
 which is usually played on a diamond of regu- 
 lation size, with an oval football.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 GAMES ADAPTED TO SMALLER GROUPS 
 
 WHOLLY apart from the games which are 
 ideally adapted to large masses of men, a 
 large list of recreational sports is available. 
 These are of especial use for constant service 
 in the stations or naval units in which a small 
 number of men are quartered. The games are 
 both for individual and mass play, and in- 
 clude a number which call for military equip- 
 ment and a number which require no equip- 
 ment whatever. 
 
 Most of these are designed for outdoor work, 
 but require no specially constructed field. 
 Many, however, can be given in gymnasiums 
 or auditoriums where indoor sports are held. 
 Complete descriptions of these games follow. 
 
 TURN OUT ELI 
 
 This event is a primitive form of football, 
 without the ball. A man stands in the mid- 
 dle of the field, with all the other competitors 
 
 115
 
 110 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 behind a line some fifty yards from him. 
 When he calls "Turn out Eli," the other men 
 run from their line the length of the field past 
 the man the entire hundred yards to another 
 line parallel to the line behind which they 
 started. If the man in the middle has been 
 able to tackle and hold one or more of the 
 other competitors on their run across the field, 
 the man or men held must join him, and when 
 he next gives the signal "Turn out Eli," 
 must help him tackle the other men as they 
 run across the field, from line to line. The 
 game continues till the men in the centre have 
 tackled and held all the men who are running 
 from line to line. This may be played by 
 between ten and possibly as many as forty 
 men. The game should last about fifteen 
 minutes. 
 
 HOPPING RACE 
 
 In this event every individual competitor 
 races with one foot either held in his hand and 
 not touching the ground, or else with the foot 
 bound and tied so that it cannot touch the 
 ground, while the race is run with the com- 
 petitor hopping on the other foot.
 
 GAMES ADAPTED TO SMALLER GROUPS 117 
 
 Between four and a dozen competitors 
 should enter this race, which lasts about a 
 minute. 
 
 POTATO RACES 
 
 These are the simple events in which every 
 individual competitor picks up between ten 
 and thirty potatoes lying in a row on the 
 ground about two feet apart. The number of 
 competitors varies between four and about a 
 dozen men. 
 
 THREE-LEGGED RACE 
 
 In this event the competitors run a distance 
 of between 25 and 200 yards in teams of two, 
 each pair running with their inside legs tied 
 together as they stand side by side. 
 
 SACK RACE 
 
 In this event every individual competitor 
 steps into a sack and races, leaping ahead 
 from 25 to 100 yards with the sack tied about 
 his body.
 
 118 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 RELAY RACES 
 
 These offer the greatest variety imaginable, 
 including the straight relay, in which the sim- 
 ple handkerchief or cork is passed, varied with 
 all sorts of obstacle events and all sorts of 
 regulations regarding clothing, articles car- 
 ried in the hands and arms. As many teams 
 as may be desired can be entered in these 
 races. Usually from four to ten teams, of be- 
 tween four and eight members each, are em- 
 ployed. 
 
 CRAWL RACE 
 
 This is an individual event in which the 
 contestants race from 20 to 50 yards on hands 
 and toes without bending knees or elbows. A 
 variation is for the entrants to lie flat on their 
 stomachs and crawl 10 to 15 yards. Still 
 another is .for them to race 20 to 25 yards on 
 hands and feet, with backs toward the ground. 
 
 HUMAN WHEELBARROW RACE 
 
 The players are arranged in pairs, one be- 
 hind the other, with the front man on the 
 ground, with his hands on the starting line.
 
 GAMES ADAPTED TO SMALLER GROUPS 119 
 
 At a given signal the rear man lifts the front 
 man's legs, and the teams, by pairs, race a 
 short distance. 
 
 CHARIOT PURSUIT RACE 
 
 A square field, possibly a baseball diamond, 
 or a circular track is used. Teams of four 
 men are formed, with their arms locked, re- 
 maining in that position till the end of the 
 race. The teams are placed a given distance 
 apart; if on a baseball diamond, each being 
 stationed on one of the bases. The teams 
 begin a pursuit race upon the referee's signal, 
 the team winning which first catches the 
 other. 
 
 NOTE. This is not to be confounded with 
 the mass chariot race, played with standard 
 equipment and large number of competitors. 
 
 RESCUE RELAY 
 
 Any number of teams can participate. 
 Each team is divided, one-half standing in file, 
 one in back of the other at one starting line, 
 the other half lying on the ground on their 
 backs, twenty or twenty-five yards away. 
 At a signal the first man of each file at the
 
 120 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 starting line runs, picks up the first man on 
 the ground and carries him back to the start- 
 ing line. The man carried is supposed to be 
 wounded and should give no assistance what- 
 soever, but is dead-weight, and the "fireman's 
 carry" is used. As the first man crosses the 
 starting line with his burden the second man 
 in line starts. 
 
 RESCUE RACE 
 
 Two-men teams. Rescue men run fifty 
 yards to "wounded men," lift them on their 
 shoulders without any assistance by the 
 wounded, and carry them back to the start. 
 
 TRACK AND RUNNING EVENTS 
 
 These may be held not only as simple run- 
 ning races but as obstacle matches, with 
 every competitor handicapped by material 
 carried in his hand, on his back, or on his feet, 
 as, for instance, wearing heavy shoes, carry- 
 ing a bundle on his back, or a heavy stick or 
 other weight in his hand. These races should 
 have between four and a dozen men each, and 
 last according to the distance over which the 
 competitors run.
 
 The end of a sprint. 
 
 Broad jump. 
 TRACK MEET AT PELHAM BAY STATION.
 
 GAMES ADAPTED TO SMALLER GROUPS 121 
 
 SWAT TAG 
 
 The men form a circle facing the centre 
 and keep their eyes on the ground in the 
 middle of the ring, with their hands behind 
 them, palms up. One man goes around the 
 outside of the circle with a "swatter" in his 
 hand, which may be an old glove, belt, or 
 any convenient object. This man is called 
 "it." He starts the game by walking around 
 the outside of the cirlce with the swatter in 
 his hands, and placing it in the hands of any 
 of the players. The person in whose hands 
 the swatter has been placed, immediately 
 strikes his neighbor on the right with it. This 
 player to avoid being struck with the swatter 
 runs around the circle once and back to the 
 place that he has vacated. The player in 
 whose hands the swatter has been placed has 
 the privilege of placing it in the hands of 
 any of the players. 
 
 CROSS TAG 
 
 A player who is chosen to be "it" calls 
 out the name of another whom he elects to 
 try to tag. A third, at any time, may run
 
 122 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 between the two other players. When he 
 passes the line between them he becomes the 
 object of the pursuit instead of the original 
 second player. A fourth player may at any 
 time run between the pursued player and the 
 man who is "it," thus diverting the chase to 
 himself, and this may be continued indefinitely. 
 Whenever a player crosses between the 
 chaser and the player pursued, the latter 
 ceases to be a fugitive. Whenever the player 
 who is "it" tags the player who is properly 
 being chased, the tagged player becomes "it." 
 
 RUN AROUND 
 
 The men line up, three, four, and five deep, 
 forming a circle, all facing the centre and 
 representing the spokes of a wheel. One free 
 man called "it" goes around the outside of 
 the circle and strikes the back of a man who 
 is the last in any line. The man struck does 
 the same to the man in front of him, and 
 when all the men in that line have been struck 
 they all run around the circle to the right 
 and endeavor to get their places in the line 
 again. The man last to regain his position 
 in the line is "it."
 
 GAMES ADAPTED TO SMALLER GROUPS 123 
 THREE DEEP 
 
 The men form a double circle, all facing 
 the centre, all the Number Ones directly in 
 front of the Number Twos. There are two 
 free men, one called "it" and the other the 
 "runner." The thing is for "it" to catch 
 the "runner," who runs around the outside 
 of the circle, before the "runner" can get in 
 front of any Number One. If the latter suc- 
 ceeds in doing this before he is tagged, the 
 last man in his line, namely, Number Three, 
 becomes the "runner." If the "runner" is 
 tagged he becomes "it," and chases the man 
 who was chasing him. 
 
 HUMAN BURDEN RACE 
 
 The men form a double file back of a line 
 and at a signal the men in the rear mount 
 the backs of those in front and are carried to 
 a line twenty-five or fifty yards away. They 
 then reverse positions in back of this line and 
 start back to the starting line, the one reach- 
 ing that point first winning the race.
 
 124 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 SKIN THE SNAKE RELAY 
 
 Any number of men, from eight to twenty 
 on each side, may take part in this, forming 
 two parallel lines. The men spread their feet, 
 and the man in front puts his right hand be- 
 tween his legs and reaches back and takes the 
 left hand of the man in back of him, and so on 
 down the line. At a signal the last man in 
 the line lies down on his back on the ground, 
 and each man in the line walks or topples back 
 with his feet spread until all are on the ground. 
 The last man to fall, the man in front, touches 
 his head to the ground, then rises and starts 
 forward, pulling his man after him. The 
 hands remain grasped throughout the game, 
 and the line first to resume its original posi- 
 tion, skin the snake, wins. 
 
 YOU'VE GOT TO 
 
 Twenty or thirty men form a circle, grasp- 
 ing hands firmly. Within the circle are hats, 
 gloves, chairs, belts, medicine-balls, etc., and 
 each man in the circle endeavors to make the 
 men each side of him touch one of the objects
 
 GAMES ADAPTED TO SMALLER GROUPS 125 
 
 within the circle. The man touching an ob- 
 ject drops out. If a break comes in the circle 
 the man on the left of the break drops out, 
 he being blamed for the break, as it was his 
 right arm which let go. 
 
 HAT GRAB 
 
 Two teams, ten to thirty on each, face each 
 other about thirty yards apart. The men 
 on one team place their hats on a line between 
 the two teams. At a signal all rush for this 
 line and endeavor to get a hat and return to 
 their places in line without being tagged. A 
 man is tagged only when he has a hat in his 
 hand, and when he is thus tagged he drops 
 out. The game continues until one side is 
 wiped out. 
 
 BLACK AND WHITE, OR MUTT AND JEFF 
 
 Two teams, up to twenty-five men each, 
 face each other about four feet apart. One 
 side is called "Black" and the other "White," 
 or "Mutt" and "Jeff," respectively. We 
 will take "Mutt and Jeff" for this illustra- 
 tion. The instructor calls the name of one 
 side, we will say "Mutt," which side im-
 
 126 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 mediately turns and makes for a line about 
 thirty feet behind them. The side called 
 "Jeff" endeavors to catch them before they 
 reach this line, and throw them to the ground. 
 The men thrown drop out of the game. The 
 game continues until one whole side is elimi- 
 nated. 
 
 CANE-SPREE 
 
 Canes about three feet in length are placed 
 in the centre of the court or playing enclosure, 
 alongside each other, in a line parallel to the 
 ends of the court. The competing teams line 
 up at the respective ends of the playing en- 
 closure and, at a given signal, rush to seize 
 the canes and to return with them to the end 
 line of the court. The side which returns 
 with the most canes at the end of three 
 minutes is winner. No restrictions are made 
 as to the methods used to secure the canes, 
 except that no roughing is allowed, such as 
 tripping, strangling, or kneeing. 
 
 MOUNTED PUSH-BALL 
 
 This is a variation of the dismounted event 
 which has proved interesting and popular,
 
 GAMES ADAPTED TO SMALLER GROUPS 127 
 
 both with players and spectators. The rules 
 are identical with the dismounted event. 
 
 MIXED TEAM BELAY RACE 
 
 This differs from the typical relay race be- 
 cause an officer, usually a corporal, runs with 
 the enlisted men, remaining in the rear, while 
 the team runs in formation the entire distance. 
 The half-mile has been found to be an excel- 
 lent distance, and teams of seven men each 
 are recommended. The position of the cor- 
 poral as he finishes the race will be taken as 
 the position of his team.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 ROUGH-AND-READY GAMES 
 
 GUN WRESTLING 
 
 ANY number of men, equipped with broom- 
 sticks, wooden rifles, or smooth clubs, are 
 lined up into two squads facing each other 
 some four feet apart. Every pair is given a 
 club, and wrestles for its possession for a 
 specified number of minutes. The side which 
 possesses the most clubs or rifles at the end of 
 the game wins. This is similar to the game 
 " fighting foe for rifles." 
 
 OVER THE TOP 
 
 Two teams, composed of any number, ten 
 yards apart, line up facing each other, the 
 defensive team thus standing twenty yards 
 distant from its goal-line. The team on the 
 offensive tries to break through the line of 
 the team on the defensive after the starting 
 signal. Sides are then reversed, and the team 
 wins which has the greater number of men 
 
 128
 
 ROUGH-AND-READY GAMES 129 
 
 across the goal -line of its opponents after a 
 specified time, usually two minutes. 
 
 NO MAN'S LAND 
 
 Two teams of five or six men each stand at 
 equal distances from a table about two feet 
 high and from four to six feet square, wearing 
 boxing-gloves. At a given signal they run to 
 the table, jump upon it, and fight for a minute 
 or two. The side with the most men on the 
 table when the bout closes wins. The con- 
 testants are allowed to pull, push, or punch. 
 
 NOTE. These three rugged games, adapted 
 for a comparatively small number of contes- 
 tants, are of direct benefit in stiffening the 
 self-defense as well as the aggressive powers 
 of the men in military training. They are an 
 important aid in preparing men for overseas- 
 fighting duty.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 GAMES FOR INDIVIDUAL OR PAIR 
 COMPETITION 
 
 DOG-FIGHT 
 
 Two players kneel, facing each other, some 
 three feet apart, with an endless strap or string 
 which will not cut into the flesh over the 
 heads, which must be kept back and up. At 
 the starting signal the players pull until one 
 drags the other off the mat or pulls his head 
 forward, thus releasing the strap. 
 
 THE LONG REACH 
 
 The individual contestant marks a line on 
 the ground or floor and toes it. With a piece 
 of chalk or a stick he bends forward as far as 
 possible from the line, and rises again to his 
 original position without moving his toes from 
 the line. The hand which supported the body 
 in stooping to make the mark must not be 
 drawn along the ground or placed on it a 
 second time. 
 
 130
 
 INDIVIDUAL OR PAIR COMPETITION 131 
 
 INDIAN WRESTLE 
 
 By pairs the contestants lie side by side 
 upon their backs, with arms locked and feet 
 extended in opposite directions. They raise 
 and lower their right feet twice. They lock 
 heels at the third raising and each endeavors 
 to bring his opponent's leg down to the 
 ground, thereby turning him upon his face. 
 
 COCK-FIGHT 
 
 Two players are placed in a ring six feet in 
 diameter on the ground or floor. They stoop 
 and grasp their ankles and in this position 
 they attempt to displace each other by shoul- 
 dering. The player who loosens his grip on 
 his ankles or who is toppled loses. 
 
 ROOSTER-FIGHT 
 
 Two players squat within a circle drawn 
 upon the floor, placing a stick under their 
 knees, with the arms under the stick and the 
 hands clasped in front of the knees. In this 
 position each player tries to tip over his op- 
 ponent.
 
 132 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 STICK TWISTING 
 
 Two players grasp a broom-handle high 
 over their heads, bring the stick down be- 
 tween them, thereby twisting it within the 
 hands of one of the players. 
 
 HAND WRESTLE 
 
 Two wrestlers clasp right hands, advancing 
 the right foot, and each tries to make his 
 opponent move a foot from his position on 
 the ground. 
 
 RISING PROM PROSTRATE POSITION 
 
 Each individual folds his arms across the 
 breast, lies down on his back, and gets to his 
 feet without using hands or elbows. 
 
 NOTE. These purely individual stunts, by 
 their variety and direct application to physi- 
 cal improvement, are adaptable in a combina- 
 tion of the combative and the play spirit.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 GROUP OF SPONTANEOUS GAMES, 
 ADAPTED TO BOTH GYMNASIUM AND 
 PLAYGROUND, CALLING FOR ONLY A 
 SMALL NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS 
 
 WATER-BUCKET RACE 
 
 EVERY contestant travels with a bucket half 
 filled with water balanced on his head with 
 his hands as firmly as he can hold it. The 
 man who finishes the race with the mort 
 water left in his bucket or pail wins. As con- 
 siderable of the water is sure to be lost from 
 the bucket during the race, the event has 
 proved decidedly amusing. 
 
 EQUIPMENT RACE 
 
 By squads the contestants remove their 
 shoes and place them, each pair carefully la- 
 belled, in a single pile. The contestants dash 
 from the starting line to the pile, some thirty- 
 five to seventy-five yards away, pick out their 
 own shoes, throwing as far away as they wish 
 
 133
 
 134 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 any shoes not their own. The squad which 
 first arrives at the starting line with all the 
 shoes of its members wins the race. 
 
 KING RUN 
 
 Two teams numbering between eight and 
 forty men each are formed, and line up, the 
 even numbers facing each other, all the men 
 of the same side joining hands with arms ex- 
 tended. When play begins one man from 
 each team will leave his place in line and throw 
 himself against the locked hands of any two 
 men on the opposite side. If he breaks 
 through, all the players to his left return 
 to his team with him. If he fails to break 
 through, he joins the opposing team. The 
 sides alternate in sending men to break 
 through, and the team with the most men at 
 the end of a given period wins the game. 
 
 CROSSING THE RUBICON 
 
 On a long central line two teams of any 
 numbers each are formed facing each other, 
 every contestant with one foot on the line. 
 At the start of play every contestant attempts 
 to pull another over the line and succeeds
 
 GROUP OF SPONTANEOUS GAMES 135 
 
 when both feet of his rival have crossed the 
 line. The captured player joins his rival's 
 team, and helps it to pull all its opponents 
 over the line. 
 
 A variation of this game is given by each 
 team having a prison thirty yards back of the 
 line. When a team pulls an opponent over 
 the line that player automatically goes into 
 the prison. Members of each team may 
 rush across the line, and if they reach the 
 prison without being thrown, they may, with 
 the prisoners they take, return to their own 
 side of the line without molestation. When a 
 prisoner is touched in prison by a member 
 of his own team not a prisoner, he is free to 
 accompany his fellow -team member back 
 across the line. When a prisoner is captured 
 one man of the side making the capture may 
 drop back to prevent opponents getting 
 through to him. The team which has cap- 
 tured the most prisoners within a set time 
 limit is the winner. 
 
 HAND PUSH 
 
 Teams of any numbers stand along a cen- 
 tral line facing each other, one foot advanced
 
 136 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 to the line. The hands are held shoulder 
 high, with palms facing outward. At the 
 signal every player attempts to make his 
 opponent move one foot off the ground, and 
 to throw him off his balance. The player 
 who succeeds counts one toward victory, and 
 the team whose players outnumber their 
 rivals in tallying is the winner. 
 
 TOSS THE BLANKET RELAY 
 
 Any number of teams, each composed of 
 between sixteen and fifty, arranged in parallel 
 lines, each team consisting of an even number 
 of members, may be formed. The men op- 
 posite each other firmly grasp hands with 
 arms outstretched. Each team has a runner 
 and two extra men. The runners at one end 
 of the line stand some five yards from that 
 end and the two extra men at the opposite 
 end. When play begins, the runners leap 
 upon the arms of the men in their team, who 
 toss them the length of their line, just as they 
 would toss a man with a blanket. The runner 
 is shot clear of the line at the opposite end, 
 where he is caught by the two extra men. 
 He immediately turns and leaps upon the
 
 GROUP OF SPONTANEOUS GAMES 137 
 
 arms of the last men, who toss him up the 
 line where he started from, and where he is 
 caught by the two extra men. 
 
 The team which tosses its runner back and 
 forth first is declared the winner.
 
 IV 
 ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 COMMITTEES IN SCHOOLS AND CAMPS 
 
 THE earlier a youth learns something of the 
 salutary effect of organization, the better will 
 he be fitted not only for the minor parts of 
 school and college life but for the major work 
 that comes later, when he goes out into the 
 world or into the service of his country. 
 Many points of this description will also prove 
 of value to non-commissioned officers, upon 
 whom may fall the detail of conducting 
 athletics in a camp or station. For this rea- 
 son I advocate, even in the younger schools, 
 the introduction of the principle of systematic 
 method into all then* affairs, particularly in 
 their athletic concerns. One has only to go 
 back twenty-five or thirty years to find that 
 even in the large colleges and universities 
 matters were conducted in a very slipshod 
 way, and methods of properly dealing with 
 the athletic affairs were almost unknown. 
 Each organization was quite independent of 
 
 141
 
 142 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 any other. When a manager and captain 
 graduated there was very little for the suc- 
 ceeding captain and manager to take over in 
 the way of knowledge and experience, and the 
 result was that similar mistakes were repeated 
 over and over again. The first that I am 
 able to find of any definite attempt to correct 
 this was in the case of a captain who kept a 
 sort of diary. This man was captain for two 
 years, having been elected in his junior year, 
 and by the end of his second year he had col- 
 lected an amount of recorded experience in 
 this diary which was of great value to his 
 successor, to whom he turned it over. This 
 particular diary dealt with football and de- 
 scribed the various attempts at plays, where 
 the mistakes were likely to arise, how to 
 avoid them, what plays to use on rainy days, 
 what methods to adopt when playing with 
 the wind and playing against it, what teams 
 had been unsatisfactory competitors, the de- 
 tail of arrangement with visiting teams, and 
 a number of like suggestions, which really 
 started the first principles of carrying over 
 from one management to another the bene- 
 fits of acquiring wisdom in these matters.
 
 COMMITTEES IN SCHOOLS AND CAMPS 143 
 
 A similar course of procedure is open to 
 any schoolboy captain to-day, and would 
 prove valuable to his successor even though 
 the details of management have now been 
 very considerably improved so far as relates 
 to the business end. Since that tune the de- 
 tail of organization has grown to be much re- 
 spected in the larger universities and colleges 
 and many of the schools. There is no reason 
 why this should not be taken up in the small 
 schools and minor athletic clubs. 
 
 In the first place, it would be found advisa- 
 ble to amalgamate all the athletic interests in 
 a school or club, at the same time keeping a 
 certain amount of independent individuality. 
 For instance, we will suppose that a school 
 supports four of the main branches of ath- 
 letics, namely, football, baseball, basket-ball, 
 and track athletics. Each one of these should 
 have a captain and manager and their ac- 
 counts should be kept independently, but at 
 the same time there should be a general ath- 
 letic committee, upon which committee each 
 one of these organizations has a representa- 
 tive, and there should be a representative of 
 the faculty on this committee, together with a
 
 144 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 certain representation of the graduates of the 
 school. Financially, it is well to have all the 
 receipts pooled into one common fund, the 
 accounts of each being, however, kept sepa- 
 rate, so that each manager has an especial in- 
 terest in the economic running of the affairs 
 of his association. There should be a com- 
 mon treasurer and all the receipts should be 
 turned into his hands and all expenditures 
 made through him, each organization having 
 special order forms; the accounts of the or- 
 ganization should be audited once a year by a 
 member of the faculty, and if there be a school 
 paper the reports should be published in this 
 school paper. 
 
 Of course, in the large universities, football 
 is now the main support of the other branches 
 of athletics, although as a rule baseball is quite 
 self-supporting. The other organizations in 
 a university, like track athletics and rowing, 
 must be supported either by subscription or 
 by the overplus coming in from football and 
 baseball. It will be found on organizing them 
 into a common association under a committee 
 that purchases can be made more effectively 
 and quantity discounts taken advantage of,
 
 COMMITTEES IN SCHOOLS AND CAMPS 145 
 
 and at the same time that the tendency toward 
 extravagance of any one organization which 
 makes more money than is expended in their 
 own support is considerably checked, because 
 there is such an evident need of the money for 
 the support of other sports. 
 
 In a majority of the schools it is probably 
 true that athletics are supported by general 
 subscription, either by an assessment or by 
 voluntary contributions. In any case, the 
 money will go further and will be more wisely 
 expended if there is an organization of the 
 kind described. It is true that one school dif- 
 fers from another or one college from another 
 in the amount of financial support necessary 
 to certain sports, and in the returns from 
 these sports, but the principle remains the 
 same. It is not difficult to support an or- 
 ganization of this kind if the accounts of the 
 last four or five years are obtainable. If these 
 have not been kept, or have been kept so care- 
 lessly that they cannot be used for the pur- 
 poses of comparison, an accounting for a year 
 should be held, and then a basis will be given 
 for the preparation of a budget for each 
 sport for the succeeding year. It will be
 
 146 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 found on putting this into practice that the 
 development of business sense in the boys 
 who hold office or who are on these commit- 
 tees is worth all the time and labor it costs, 
 and, in addition, the athletic interests will take 
 on a far more definite and satisfactory shape. 
 This same principle should be applied, and 
 generally is, to any well-organized athletics 
 in a station or cantonment under an athletic 
 officer.
 
 WHEN such a committee has been formed 
 it will be found advisable to divide the main 
 committee into certain subcommittees for the 
 purposes of rapid and satisfactory action. In 
 the first place, there should be, in order to 
 establish this general committee, a mass- 
 meeting of the school or club, and a committee 
 appointed there to draft a constitution. This 
 constitution should then be passed upon at 
 another meeting of the school. As soon as 
 this constitution is drafted and ratified, such 
 members of the committee as are elective 
 should be chosen and they should then unite 
 with the ex-officio members that is, captains 
 and managers, who by virtue of their office 
 become automatically members of this com- 
 mittee. Then this committee should meet 
 and elect its officers, the chairman and secre- 
 tary, and if the office of treasurer is made an 
 
 147
 
 148 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 elective office, they should elect him. It is 
 usually customary, however, to have either a 
 graduate or a faculty treasurer. After the 
 election of officers it is well to have an execu- 
 tive committee, a small number, three or four 
 at the most, being chosen from the main com- 
 mittee. This committee can act on matters 
 requiring prompt consideration and decision, 
 and where necessary its act can be later rati- 
 fied by the main committee. There should be 
 a finance committee, on which the treasurer is 
 himself, ex officio, a member. After this organ- 
 ization of the committee it may be found in 
 later action that it is advisable to have other 
 subcommittees, as, for instance, a field com- 
 mittee, which should take charge of the up- 
 keep of grounds, buildings, and field; a com- 
 mittee on eligibility; perhaps also another 
 committee on rules and regulations relating 
 to the use~of the field or playgrounds, so that 
 there may be no clashing of one organization 
 with another in the use of the advantages 
 provided. 
 
 After the organization has been thoroughly 
 perfected and has been in operation for a year, 
 it may be found advisable to alter certain of
 
 ORGANIZATION 149 
 
 the provisions of the constitution or the by- 
 laws that may have been passed; to alter 
 somewhat the powers of the officers; to 
 change the personnel of the committee. All 
 these things can then be done properly and 
 in order and to the great advantage of the 
 interests of the school and its athletics. 
 
 Now, in addition to this organization for 
 the government and running of athletics in 
 the school, let me revert once more to the 
 matter of a captain's diary or log-book. This 
 idea, if developed, can be made of the greatest 
 possible value to the athletic interests of the 
 school and of succeeding captains. The same 
 may be said of a note-book of a similar kind 
 to be kept by a manager. As a rule, the cap- 
 tain has another assistant, unless perchance 
 he has a field-captain, who takes his place in 
 case he is not in condition through some acci- 
 dent, to go on the field and lead his men. In 
 the case of a manager, however, in all the 
 larger organizations there is an assistant man- 
 ager and sometimes even a second assistant. 
 If any boy occupying the position of man- 
 ager will keep notes set down immediately 
 at the time of the occurrence, detailing his
 
 150 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 experience and suggesting how his successor 
 may profit by that experience, he can congrat- 
 ulate himself upon building up a fund of 
 knowledge for the business end of his organiza- 
 tion that will not only be appreciated by his 
 immediate successor but by a long line of 
 successors. 
 
 A few suggestions may be in order for the 
 captain and the manager in this connection. 
 Let us suppose, first, that the captain of a 
 basket-ball team, with his team, goes to play 
 in other rinks or gymnasiums than his own, 
 and he finds certain differences in the condi- 
 tions which it would be well for his successor 
 to know and advise the team of that they 
 may be prepared for this on occasion of their 
 next visit. We will suppose the captain of a 
 football team goes to another town to play 
 and finds that certain ground rules are neces- 
 sary. He should jot this down for the bene- 
 fit of his successors, so that they may be able 
 to tell the team before the last minute what 
 these ground rules are. He may find certain 
 points coming up in the rulings that may 
 take him or his team unawares, and these 
 should be noted so that before the next con-
 
 ORGANIZATION 151 
 
 test his succeeding captain will know exactly 
 what to expect and may talk perhaps with 
 the officials about it. Let us suppose a base- 
 ball captain had visited another diamond for 
 a contest and a crowd had interfered in some 
 way in the outfield with the game. This 
 should be noted preparatory to making ar- 
 rangements for another season. These are 
 only a very few suggestions, but they will 
 give an idea of what points of value the cap- 
 tain may put down. 
 
 Moreover, he can make his diary as full as 
 he likes of suggestions regarding the players 
 who are going to play another year or more, 
 so that his successor may have clear ideas as 
 to their capabilities and possibilities. Take 
 the case of a manager, on the other hand. 
 He may find difficulty in his guarantees. He 
 may find after the trip is over that he could 
 have made better arrangements for the ac- 
 commodation of his players. He may have 
 found that there is a cheaper way to make 
 the trip with the same amount of comfort. 
 He may have become involved in a disagree- 
 ment with some other manager, and wish to 
 prepare his successor for handling a similar
 
 152 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 situation the following year. All these things 
 count in the matter of organized athletics of 
 to-day, and the earlier a boy learns this the 
 more capable he will be later on.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 MANAGEMENT 
 
 A BASEBALL nine or a football team can be 
 made or marred by its captain or manager. 
 In the professional ranks of baseball the man- 
 ager is the important factor, the captain being 
 the field-captain, as a rule, and not director- 
 in-chief of the policy of the nine. In many in- 
 stances the field-captain has, however, played 
 a very important part, and especially is this 
 true if he is a natural leader of men. In ser- 
 vice as well as school and college organizations 
 the plan is very different. The manager un- 
 dertakes the financial end of the business, 
 arranges details and guarantees, and sched- 
 ules the trips, looks after the training- table, if 
 the nine has one, and in general attends to all 
 the business end of the venture. The cap- 
 tain looks after the training of the men, their 
 daily practice, the development of their vari- 
 ous abilities, and, finally, has full charge of 
 them in the game itself, very much as the pro- 
 
 153
 
 154 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 fessional manager has of his team. For these 
 reasons it is of the utmost importance for a 
 station or cantonment, as well as the college 
 or school organization, that a proper selection 
 of these two men be made. 
 
 There are various methods of determining 
 whether a man or boy will make a good man- 
 ager or not. He ought not to be selected for 
 his popularity. It is a good thing if he is 
 popular, for that, particularly in cases where 
 subscriptions are to be collected, is a very 
 considerable asset. But he ought to have a 
 good business head and judgment. He ought 
 to know the value of money and how to ex- 
 pend it to secure the best results possible. He 
 should be a good correspondent because he 
 will have to represent the school or the univer- 
 sity in dealing with other schools or universi- 
 ties through the medium of letters. He should 
 be fair-minded, with plenty of respect for his 
 own rights, but not an obstinate man who can 
 never see the necessity or the wisdom of a 
 compromise. He should be, if possible, a man 
 who is friendly with the captain, because un- 
 less the two work together there is very little 
 chance of success for the organization. It
 
 MANAGEMENT 155 
 
 might appear many times during the season 
 that the captain would like to do things for 
 his nine which are overexpensive, and there 
 may be times, on the other hand, when the 
 manager perhaps is inclined to be too eco- 
 nomical. With the two conflicting tendencies 
 it is almost essential for the two to be friends 
 in order that they may talk it over and work 
 it out in a friendly and fair spirit. 
 
 Now, how is such a man to be found and 
 selected for manager? In service teams the 
 athletic officer under the commandant looks 
 after these matters. But at school elections 
 a choice must be made. There have been two 
 methods in vogue, neither of them infallible, 
 but each having its good points. First and 
 most common is a popular school or college 
 election of a man from a class which will have 
 two years still in school or college. This man 
 is chosen as assistant manager. If during the 
 year of his assistant managership he performs 
 his duties in such a way as to give convincing 
 proof of the possession of the above-named 
 qualities, he is, at the end of his first year, 
 elected manager. If as assistant manager he 
 has proved inefficient or a failure in any way,
 
 156 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 then he is not elected, but some other man is 
 chosen. It can easily be seen in this latter 
 case there is considerable risk, as the man has 
 not been tested out in the work of the assis- 
 tant manager. 
 
 The second way is to select the man through 
 competition. A number of men may be 
 chosen to try for the place, and these men 
 work under the existing manager through the 
 season or a certain fixed period of time, and 
 the man who makes the best showing in this 
 testing secures the management's approval, 
 which is practically equal to election. The 
 weakness of this method is that in a number 
 of cases the test is merely that of securing 
 subscriptions, and while it may test the energy 
 of a man it does not open a broad field to him, 
 and much may depend upon his own circum- 
 stances. Probably a combination of the two 
 would work out best. The captain is never 
 chosen by a popular vote of the school or 
 class, as is the manager, but is elected by the 
 men who have played with him on the nine 
 or team. This is usually done immediately 
 after the close of the season. All the men 
 who have played in the important games, the
 
 MANAGEMENT 157 
 
 games where initials are awarded, are entitled 
 to a vote. Some of these men return for the 
 following year and some do not. The places 
 of those who do not are thus taken by new 
 men, and these men, it can be seen, will serve 
 under a captain whom they did not choose. 
 As a matter of fact, this seldom works out in 
 a detrimental fashion, for the newcomers are 
 as a rule quite satisfied to "make" the nine, 
 without being overanxious to direct its policy. 
 
 The captains for first-year organizations, 
 freshmen in school and colleges, are often ap- 
 pointed by the upper classmen or the univer- 
 sity management. In some cases these offi- 
 cers are appointive at first, and as the men 
 get to know each other, an election is later 
 held. 
 
 The quality probably most essential for a 
 captain is a reputation for perfect squareness 
 combined with force. The men must be sure 
 that each one is going to have a fair and equal 
 chance, that no favoritism will be displayed, 
 and that if a man makes good he will get 
 his reward. Then, too, the members of the 
 nine should be pretty thoroughly convinced 
 that when the captain says a thing, he is going
 
 158 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 to carry it out and is not to have one mind 
 one day and another another; that he has 
 some definite plan of campaign in his mind, 
 and that he means to follow it to the end. 
 The captain, however, should not be a pig- 
 headed man, who, when he sees a certain 
 plan of his is working badly, is unable, on 
 account of sheer obstinacy, to' make up his 
 mind to a new plan. Several captains have 
 wrecked their nines on this rock of obstinacy. 
 It is no credit to a man to be so forceful and 
 determined that he goes ahead unmindful of 
 this dangerous weakness that stands as a 
 warning in his path. The captain should have 
 a mind which is able to size up a situation 
 quickly, think quickly, and reach a decision 
 that has taken into consideration all the fac- 
 tors in the question. Before the season is 
 hah* through, he should have made a thorough 
 study of his men so that he knows each indi- 
 vidual's special qualities, and when and how 
 that individual should be used. He should 
 know the dispositions of all his men, par- 
 ticularly of batteries in baseball, for upon 
 this much will hinge. He should have a 
 thorough respect for the manager and under-
 
 MANAGEMENT 159 
 
 stand that managers' duties include the pro- 
 vision for all expenditures. 
 
 The captain should have the respect and 
 sympathy of the athletic officer and com- 
 mandant in service teams and in civil life of 
 the authorities of the school or college, and 
 he should return this respect and sympathy 
 by seeing all his candidates keep up to the 
 mark in their studies.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 THE DUTIES OF THE MANAGER 
 
 IN the last chapter we took up the matter 
 of choice and manner of election of managers 
 and captains for school arid college organiza- 
 tions. I now wish to expand somewhat 
 further the duties of these two individuals, 
 giving, if possible, an insight into the most 
 approved methods so that the boy who finds 
 himself for the first time a manager or cap- 
 tain shall have some standard to work toward 
 and feel that he is at any rate trying for the 
 best, endeavoring to reach the ideal demanded 
 by the position. 
 
 Taking up the duties of the manager first: 
 In its simplest form we will take the base- 
 ball nine that is purely a local organization 
 and plays no games away from home. Let 
 us suppose a boy is elected manager of such 
 an organization. His first duty is to see that 
 the nine has a field upon which to practise 
 and to play its games. It may be that the 
 
 160
 
 THE DUTIES OF THE MANAGER 161 
 
 nine is obliged to use the diamond of some 
 other organization and has only odd times at 
 which to use it. The manager's first duties 
 then are to find out about this and see what 
 privileges his organization can enjoy. If he 
 is borrowing the diamond of some college 
 team or local small league team, it is very 
 possible that he may make arrangements 
 with the manager of that team, giving him 
 the right to have his players on that diamond 
 at certain hours in the day and certain days 
 in the week. If he maps this out beforehand 
 instead of simply waiting for odd times, he 
 will find that instead of having a hit-or-miss 
 field he gets his boys on for their practice, 
 he has regular hours and regular days, and 
 his net result is twice as great as if the thing 
 were allowed to run itself. Possibly the 
 arrangement is that he shall pay a small sum 
 for the use of the diamond. In that case it 
 is probable that he is using the diamond at 
 times when there is no other use for it, and a 
 proper business arrangement with the owner 
 of the ground might be brought about through 
 the medium of friendship with the captain 
 of the more prominent nine. It is also pos-
 
 16* ATHLETES ALL 
 
 sible that the boy may wish the use of the 
 diamond for certain games with other local 
 organizations. In that case he must arrange 
 the time so as not to interfere with the regular 
 occupants of the field. In planning this he 
 must also take into consideration his oppo- 
 nents, and find out what dates which are 
 possible to him are agreeable to them, and 
 also the time of day when the games may be 
 played. It is very often a fact that the 
 smaller organizations are obliged to play 
 their games in the morning. Perhaps ar- 
 rangements can be made for Saturday morn- 
 ing when there is a regular game scheduled 
 in the afternoon. It may be possible that 
 when late in the season regular games are 
 scheduled for 4 o'clock it is practicable for the 
 smaller organizations to start their games at 
 noon and finish in time to turn over the dia- 
 mond in proper season for the regular after- 
 noon game. The matter of percentages on 
 gate receipts, the question of whether the 
 ground itself will furnish a caretaker or 
 ticket taker, or whether the smaller nine must 
 attend to these affairs must be settled by the 
 manager. At any rate, it is his duty to go
 
 THE DUTIES OF THE MANAGER 163 
 
 over all these matters and clear them up so 
 that they shall not burden the captain, and 
 yet see that the practice may be had at reg- 
 ular times and the games be scheduled for his 
 season's work. The next problem that faces 
 him is possible advertising of these games. It 
 may be that his nine is so small in the matter 
 of importance that only the friends of the 
 boys who are playing are likely to come. It 
 is still possible that quite a number of the 
 pleasure-loving public would go if they knew 
 when the contest was to take place. Here 
 comes in the problem of advertising for the 
 manager, and it may be well worth his while 
 to see the local newspapers and persuade them 
 to give him reading notices of his game. 
 Almost any local paper is willing to do this 
 without charge. Certainly it can be accom- 
 plished when the nine is likely to develop 
 and become of enough special importance to 
 pay for advertising. 
 
 The next duty of the manager is regarding 
 uniforms and materials for the game. He 
 should first find out whether the manager of 
 the grounds will furnish base-bags, and in 
 case he will not, he must provide his own.
 
 164 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 Then he should consider the matter of uni- 
 forms. It is very possible that his nine is 
 not rich enough to have a complete uniform. 
 There is certainly an advantage in having 
 some article of the uniform common to all 
 the boys, even though it be only a cap, and 
 very few nines are so poor that they cannot 
 afford at least that amount of insignia to 
 designate their players. The manager should 
 get prices on these caps, or on coats, or on 
 complete uniforms, if they can afford it, and 
 by writing to the various sporting-goods 
 houses he will improve his business knowledge 
 and at the same time probably be able to get 
 some saving in price through competition. 
 He must also see to the matter of balls and 
 bats, both for playing games and for prac- 
 tice. In a nine of small pretensions some of 
 the boys will furnish their own bats, and most 
 of them will furnish their own gloves. Pos- 
 sibly they will all have to subscribe to the 
 catcher's cage and protectors. All these, 
 however, come in the province of the manager, 
 and he should find out just how far he is 
 likely to be helped out by the individuals. 
 When he has determined as to whether he
 
 THE DUTIES OF THE MANAGER 165 
 
 will have to pay rent for the grounds, or 
 whether he can have them for nothing, what 
 parts of the uniform or playing paraphernalia 
 must come out of a common purse, he can 
 figure out how much money he needs to pro- 
 tect himself for the season's work, and by 
 collecting it from the boys or friends of the 
 nine he starts on a fair business basis, and 
 whatever he gets in on gate receipts above 
 the immediate expenses of the game may go 
 to reimburse the general expense column. 
 Then it is the duty of the manager, acting 
 in consultation with the captain, to arrange 
 about umpires and other details regarding 
 cleaning up the field or things of that kind; 
 for every boy should realize that he has cer- 
 tain duties to perform toward the owner of 
 the grounds and that if he leaves everything 
 in good shape when he finishes he is much 
 more likely to be allowed to use the ground 
 again. 
 
 So much for the most simple duties of 
 management. The next step is when a nine 
 makes out-of-town trips. There the manager's 
 duties are to provide the tickets and see that 
 the nine knows what time to appear for the
 
 166 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 train, and that every boy brings the articles 
 that are necessary for him. Out-of-town 
 games also usually involve guarantees of 
 travelling expenses, or some arrangement 
 about the division of gate receipts, and it is 
 well to make these plans several days ahead, 
 so that there may be no difference of opinion 
 at the time of the game. Every manager 
 should get his agreements in writing, and put 
 his own acceptances in the same form. 
 
 Next we come to the school nine, and here 
 the only difference is that the nine is usually 
 supported by subscription from the school at 
 large, and it is the manager's duty to solicit 
 and collect these subscriptions. For this pur- 
 pose he should have a small book with stubs, 
 so that he can enter the amount of the sub- 
 scription, give the subscriber a proper receipt, 
 and retain a written record. In this case he 
 generally graduates to the form of manage- 
 ment where a certain amount of bookkeeping 
 is essential, and he should enter his expenses 
 and receipts in such form that he can make 
 his annual report to the school. From this 
 it is only a step to the college organization, 
 and the boy who has begun with a small local
 
 THE DUTIES OF THE MANAGER 167 
 
 nine and who has later managed a school nine 
 is a fair candidate for the management of a 
 college nine. One thing for him to bear in 
 mind in all these questions is that the more 
 he carries out the exact detail of the manage- 
 ment and plans ahead, the more he is edu- 
 cating himself for good work in whatever 
 position he may be placed.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 THE DUTIES OF THE CAPTAIN 
 
 WE come now to the position of captain: 
 The same sequence of the small local nine up 
 to the prominent college nine prevails ex- 
 actly as in the case of the manager. For 
 this reason we will start again with the local 
 boy organization. It is a captain's duty to 
 take charge of the training of his men; to 
 see that they are on hand at the specified 
 hour for practice; to see that every boy gets 
 a chance to show his capabilities; and, finally, 
 when he has sifted out his material, to place 
 them in the proper positions, and then to 
 educate each boy along the most approved 
 lines of playing that position. The captain 
 should always be elected by the players, and 
 that, too, at the very beginning. By this 
 election they promise allegiance to that man. 
 They agree to follow his lead, to respond to 
 his orders, and to do it cheerfully and will- 
 ingly. Harmony in an organization, no mat- 
 
 168
 
 THE DUTIES OF THE CAPTAIN 169 
 
 ter how small a one it may be, is the only sure 
 road to success, and the sooner boys learn 
 respect for their captain and implicit obedi- 
 ence to his orders the earlier they will fit 
 themselves for better work as they grow older 
 and more accomplished players. Any col- 
 lege captain or any league manager will tell 
 a boy what a nuisance an insubordinate 
 player always makes of himself, and how 
 little such players are tolerated on good nines. 
 In a boys' organization where the boys are 
 very young there is apt to be a tendency 
 toward each boy thinking that he is going to 
 have his own way and be his own captain. 
 The sooner the captain settles this matter, 
 once and for all, the better, else he is going to 
 have trouble all through the season. 
 
 Having made this clear, the captain's next 
 duty is to see that his men practise properly 
 and in sufficient amount, and that no one 
 boy is overlooked or overworked. It is usually 
 a mistake to let pitchers who are relied upon 
 to do the pitching for the nine do too much 
 of the pitching for the batsmen, but in small 
 organizations some portion of this work must 
 be done by the regular pitchers or else the
 
 170 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 nine will get very poor practice in batting. 
 It is the captain's duty to see that these men 
 take proper turns in doing this hard work, 
 and that no man because he is willing and 
 unselfish is forced to do more than his share 
 of it. I cannot put it too strongly, that the 
 usual weakness of small and minor organiza- 
 tions is in the batting, and here the captain 
 should spend infinite time and patience on his 
 men. It is foolish to make every boy bat in a 
 certain form, but his faults may be corrected. 
 For instance, the two faults most common 
 to batsmen are what is known as "shy foot"; 
 that is, drawing the forward foot away when 
 the ball is delivered instead of stepping up 
 and meeting the ball squarely; the other is 
 dropping the shoulder farthest away from the 
 pitcher, so that the bat describes more or less 
 of an arc and the result is strikes, fouls, or 
 little flies. These two habits once eradicated 
 almost any boy with a good eye can become 
 a batsman if he will spend enough time and 
 thought on the subject. 
 
 Another duty of the captain is to agree to 
 ground rules whenever a match is to be played 
 on a field that requires such rules. He should
 
 THE DUTIES OF THE CAPTAIN 171 
 
 arrange this with the opposing captain, if 
 possible, before the day of the game. If im- 
 possible to do that, he should arrange it before 
 the toss. These matters being arranged, the 
 captain's duty is to toss, or rather call the 
 toss of the umpire, to determine which nine 
 goes to the bat first. This having been set- 
 tled, the captain takes charge of his own nine, 
 and it is his duty to interfere as little as possi- 
 ble with the opponents in any way, to avoid 
 discussion or any bandying of words. In 
 other words, in common language, to "mind 
 his own business" and let the other nine mind 
 theirs. Any talking at an opposing pitcher 
 to rattle him or exchanging facetious com- 
 ments with players of the other side is poor 
 business and a breach of good manners. In 
 handling his men the captain should be ever 
 ready to place his fielders in proper position, 
 to change them according to what he knows 
 of the opposing batsmen, and where it is nec- 
 essary, to encourage his men after an error 
 or something of that kind. At the bat he 
 should teach his men to have plenty of initi- 
 ative of their own, but he should be ever 
 ready to tell a batsman when he is coming
 
 17* ATHLETES ALL 
 
 up whether he wishes him to bunt, to instruct 
 the coach whom he sends out to the bases 
 when and how he wishes the runner to be 
 sent down, and, in addition, to handle the 
 strategy of the game. 
 
 The difficulties which will come to the cap- 
 tain are many, and while experience is the 
 only teacher, there are few captains who would 
 not have benefited had they known some of 
 the situations which were likely to confront 
 them before they came up. In the first place, 
 the captain must work with the manager 
 toward a businesslike method of running the 
 nine. He must realize that no nine, no mat- 
 ter how rich, can have everything that is 
 wanted, and he must keep down expenses to 
 the smallest point compatible with the inter- 
 ests of the nine. Furthermore, it is unfortu- 
 nately often true that the captain must keep 
 the expenses down lower than that point. In 
 other words, there will not be funds enough 
 to meet what seem to be the necessities of the 
 nine, and then the captain must work with 
 the manager to eliminate every possible ex- 
 travagance and to cut off things which are 
 least essential. He should not allow the
 
 THE DUTIES OF THE CAPTAIN 173 
 
 members of his nine to criticise the manage- 
 ment, but should back up the business end 
 with all his influence. 
 
 The question of discipline among his men 
 is paramount, and here he must exercise dis- 
 cretion and not invite trouble; but when he 
 has once made up his mind that a certain move 
 is necessary for the welfare of the organiza- 
 tion he must carry it out, and while it is not 
 necessary to do this roughshod he must ac- 
 complish his end, and if necessary meet with 
 some antagonism and conquer it. A weak- 
 kneed captain is worse than no captain at all, 
 and any boy will find that his nine respects 
 him proportionately to his strength of char- 
 acter. He should not be ashamed to change 
 his mind or policy when he finds he is making 
 a mistake; but, on the other hand, he should 
 not let any one feel that he can be influenced 
 regardless of the rights and wrongs of the case 
 by any amount of argument from his men. 
 The great thing is to start right, and the 
 sooner he impresses his force of character upon 
 his men and that, too, without self-conceit or 
 aggressiveness, but calmly and determinedly, 
 the sooner the rough places will become
 
 174 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 smooth and the better work his nine will do. 
 A man who simply represents the views of 
 the last person who talked with him and, 
 hence, becomes a weathercock, is useless as a 
 leader of a nine. Experience has taught this 
 to many organizations, and the successful ones 
 have usually been those which have had lead- 
 ers who have maintained the strictest disci- 
 pline tempered with good judgment. It has 
 been the general consensus of opinion of all 
 our military authorities that this knowledge 
 and experience of leadership in athletic organ- 
 izations has been the greatest factor in de- 
 veloping our men and youths into competent 
 officers in the service. Any boy who has the 
 opportunity to become captain and handle a 
 ball nine may congratulate himself upon the 
 fact that in doing this work he is preparing 
 himself for larger fields of endeavor, and if he 
 learns the secrets of leadership here he will 
 carry them on into the larger things of life.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 HOW TO CONDUCT AN ATHLETIC MEET 
 
 WITH the great stimulation of interest in 
 track games of late years, owing to the Inter- 
 collegiate championships as well as the Olym- 
 pic games, and last, but not least, to the 
 wide spread of these sports throughout the 
 camps, cantonments, and naval stations of 
 the country, many a boy has studied into the 
 question, and thousands more than formerly 
 have taken part in such contests. Now, in 
 track games as well as in the other sports, it 
 is the part of wisdom of every boy who is 
 going into these contests at school or in the 
 service, and, in fact, whether he is going to 
 enter or not, to understand thoroughly the 
 rules of the games, because it may be that 
 with his development later, either at college 
 or elsewhere, he will be able to become a good 
 performer at some one of these specialties. A 
 crack runner, jumper, or weight putter has a 
 
 175
 
 176 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 most enviable reputation, and as a rule the 
 physical development contingent upon taking 
 part in these sports is excellent. Moreover, it 
 was found during the recent war that hardly 
 one officer out of a thousand had any definite 
 idea of running off an athletic meet among his 
 men, and the call for officers who could handle 
 these affairs was loud and persistent. 
 
 It would be well for boys in summer and 
 fall to organize athletic meetings wherever 
 they can get together a group of contestants 
 and a track to run upon. Most of the tracks 
 of the colleges are not in use in the late sum- 
 mer and could be secured for schoolboys' 
 meets without much difficulty. Briefly, what 
 is necessary for the contestants and judges to 
 know can be summed up in a few words, and 
 contestants and judges will be able to carry 
 out their contests under these suggestions in 
 an orderly and fair manner. 
 
 First, as to weight putting: In the big con- 
 tests like the Intercollegiates there are always 
 two days Friday, the day of trials, and Sat- 
 urday, the finals. In putting the shot on 
 Friday the field-judges allow each contestant 
 three trials, and out of those who do the best
 
 HOW TO CONDUCT AN ATHLETIC MEET 177 
 
 in the three trials five go into the finals on 
 Saturday. These five are then allowed three 
 trials and the best four of the two afternoons 
 that is, if a man does not better his put of 
 Friday it still stands the best four then go 
 into three additional trials, and the best per- 
 formance of the two afternoons decides the 
 contest. As most boys know, the shot is put 
 from a circle seven feet in diameter. This 
 circle may have a wooden framework around 
 jt or be simply whitewashed. If the compet- 
 itor's foot goes outside the circle it is a foul. 
 The shot is a sixteen-pound metal sphere. 
 
 In throwing the hammer the same rules pre- 
 vail as in the shot, regarding the trials and 
 the finals. The hammer and handle (the han- 
 dle is usually made of wire and not more than 
 four feet in length) must weigh at least six- 
 teen pounds. The hammer is thrown from a 
 seven-foot circle. If the hammer breaks in 
 making an attempt, the contestant is allowed 
 another trial. This means if the hammer 
 breaks in the hands while making the attempt 
 and not if the hammer breaks when it lands. 
 
 In the broad jump in the preliminaries each 
 man is allowed three trials, and the best four
 
 178 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 of these have three additional trials. If any 
 part of the competitor's shoe is over the 
 scratch line, which is the outer edge of a joist 
 set level with the ground as a take-off board, 
 it is a foul. The length of the contestant's 
 jump is from the outer edge of this joist to 
 the point nearest it that is touched by the 
 jumper during his jump. The ground is well 
 broken up and made soft and the mark is 
 pretty manifest. If the jumper falls back, the 
 mark made by him on falling which is near- 
 est the take-off board is the mark of his jump. 
 In the high jump it is customary in the 
 Intercollegiate rules to hold on Friday three 
 trials for each contestant at each height, and 
 the best five of Friday compete again on Sat- 
 urday, the event being decided by the contest 
 of Saturday, the jumps on Friday not count- 
 ing except for a record or for the purpose of 
 qualifying. If a tie occurs on Friday that 
 would result in qualifying more than five men 
 for the Saturday contest, the tie must be 
 jumped off on Friday. In the high jump it 
 will be seen from this that the event is decided 
 by the Saturday contest. In jumping the 
 high jump the contestant may omit any
 
 HOW TO CONDUCT AN ATHLETIC MEET 179 
 
 height if he likes, but he cannot have the bar 
 lowered to try at the height he omitted; that 
 is, he must jump continuously as the bar is 
 raised for the other competitors, but if he 
 omits any height he must take the next height, 
 and cannot go back to try the lower height. 
 When a contestant has taken one trial at a 
 given height he cannot omit the other two 
 trials, but must finish his three trials at the 
 height he commenced. 
 
 The rules regarding pole-vault are the same 
 as those regarding the high jump. Two 
 balks that is, a man starting and running 
 under the bar count as one try. A con- 
 testant breaking his pole is not considered a 
 trial. A contestant may not raise his lower 
 hand over the other during a try. He can 
 bring his lower hand up to his other hand, 
 but not over it. He cannot raise thfe upper 
 hand. Contestants are allowed to dig holes 
 for their poles if they so desire. Pegs that 
 are set in the uprights should extend out not 
 over two inches, and the cross-bar should be 
 marked "top" and "bottom," and as it is 
 replaced after each jump the side "top" must 
 be turned up. It is possible for a field-judge
 
 180 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 to excuse a contestant called off for a track 
 event, and after that event lie may come back 
 and take his missed trials. 
 
 The officials at track games consist of the 
 clerk of the course, who really has entire 
 charge and designates to his assistants their 
 specific work. Then there are the field- judges 
 who decide all field events, such as the high 
 jump, pole-vault, broad jump, throwing the 
 hammer, and putting the shot. There are 
 four judges at the finish in the track contests 
 and three timekeepers. There are one or 
 more starters. The clerk of the course, with 
 his assistants, sees that the men come out 
 and go to the mark, he or his assistants check 
 them off, and after they have answered their 
 names they are then in control of the starter. 
 
 There is a chief scorer with his assistants who 
 
 \ 
 
 keeps a complete record of all the times, an- 
 nounces the names of the next contestant in 
 the field events, and keeps a complete record 
 of all the contestants that start and all that 
 finish, recording fouls and the like. The 
 referee is the final authority on all matters. 
 He has several inspectors as assistants to him 
 who take positions in the track events at
 
 HOW TO CONDUCT AN ATHLETIC MEET 181 
 
 various points around the course to report 
 any jostling, shoving or crowding, or fouls of 
 any nature. The inspectors also report the 
 number of hurdles knocked down. The mar- 
 shals have control of the individuals who are 
 on the field when not competing. 
 
 There are usually three timekeepers, two 
 on one side of the track and one on the other. 
 If the watches disagree, the slowest time is 
 usually taken. 
 
 In all running races in important contests 
 like the Intercollegiates there should be four 
 judges at the finish, two standing at one end 
 of the tape and two at the other. The judges 
 in case of disagreement meet together and the 
 majority decides. These judges pick first, 
 second, third, and fourth places. One thing 
 that is often forgotten in track contests when 
 one sees a man rush forward, endeavoring to 
 break the tape, is that the finish is not the 
 tape but a line drawn on the ground across 
 the track from post to post, and a contestant 
 is not considered to have finished the race un- 
 less his entire body crosses that line. If a 
 man falls and only part of his body is over 
 the line, he is not considered to have finished
 
 182 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 the race. In the hurdles, if a competitor 
 knocks down three or more, or any part of 
 three or more hurdles in the race, he is dis- 
 qualified. 
 
 In all running races contestants are obliged 
 to keep their own courses, that is, in sprint 
 races, 100 -yard races, and 220 -yard races 
 lanes are marked off by tape or string, and a 
 contestant must keep in his own lane. In the 
 long-distance races no such lanes are marked 
 out, but a competitor may be disqualified by 
 the referee for jostling, running across, or in 
 any way impeding another competitor, and 
 where there are contests like the Intercolle- 
 giates it is possible for all the competitors rep- 
 resenting a member of an association in any 
 one event to be disqualified by the referee for 
 the act of any one of them. It is easy to see 
 why this rule must prevail, as in distance 
 races a man who himself might be unable to 
 win might foul an opponent and some other 
 of this man's own track team thereby win out.
 
 V 
 TRACK, GYMNASIUM, AND FIELD
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 OLYMPIC GAMES 
 
 MUCH has been said and written about the 
 wonderful Olympic games held at Stockholm, 
 but their effect upon athletics, and particu- 
 larly upon boys' sports, promises to be so 
 wide-spread that a careful consideration of the 
 results should be considered. In the first 
 place, J. E. Meredith, the modern schoolboy 
 from Mercersburg, later a Penn athlete and 
 finally an American aviator, set a new Olym- 
 pic and world's record of 1 minute 51A sec- 
 onds for the 800-metre race. In the final 
 heat this schoolboy was lined up against 
 Braun, Germany's noted runner, also Brock, 
 of Canada, while the other American contend- 
 ers were the veteran Sheppard, Davenport, 
 Putnam, Edmundson, and Caldwell. The 
 starting system used at the Olympic games 
 unfortunately was not the same as that used 
 in this country. There was no " setting back " 
 for a false start. The result under this sys- 
 
 185
 
 186 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 tern has always been that men endeavor to 
 get away in advance, that is, "beat the pis- 
 tol," and it is pretty sure that even when they 
 are started there is a very distinct advantage 
 to some and disadvantage to others. Now, 
 as it happened in this race, Sheppard got the 
 start, but Meredith set out to overhaul him, 
 with the result that at the quarter-mile post 
 Meredith was practically at Sheppard's side, 
 and they had covered the distance in 52^ 
 seconds. As they came into the stretch Shep- 
 pard and Braun were both making their efforts, 
 and less than 100 yards from home Sheppard 
 was leading, with the German second and 
 Meredith third. Then the schoolboy began 
 his work. Like a lion he fought his way up 
 on the leaders, and the veteran Sheppard and 
 the noted German "cracked" just at the 
 finish, and Meredith came by a winner by a 
 foot. The German had dropped, Sheppard 
 just got over, and Davenport was only a 
 couple of feet behind Sheppard. 
 
 It was indeed a wonderful performance and 
 means much to the schoolboys all over the 
 country, but a word of caution should go 
 with it. Meredith is an exceptional boy, and
 
 OLYMPIC GAMES 187 
 
 what he can stand in the way of training and 
 running is not to be taken as a standard for 
 boys of less sturdy physique. The lesson 
 really to be learned is that it is possible for 
 even a schoolboy to defeat the veteran run- 
 ners of the world. But it takes some excep- 
 tional natural ability upon which the founda- 
 tions can be laid. We must avoid what the 
 English criticise in us, and at times criticise 
 fairly, and that is the exaggeration of an eager- 
 ness for victory, which eagerness is highly 
 commendable until it becomes an overeager- 
 ness; in other words, until either the mind 
 or the body suffers under the pressure. The 
 Englishman has been forced to learn that 
 more specialization in training is necessary if 
 he is to compete with the carefully organized 
 systems that are coming in in all sports. 
 The American, on the other hand, should 
 consider with very careful attention a letter 
 written by an Englishman in which he says 
 "Americans have carried athletics beyond 
 normal limits and strive only for records. 
 The mark of human endurance has been 
 passed and many of the boys after winning 
 collapse and are carried from the field."
 
 188 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 This, he further says, is "a tragedy and a 
 joke; a tragedy to the lives of the boys, and 
 a joke because the real point in athletic de- 
 velopment has been missed." He thereupon 
 calls upon England and the Englishmen to be 
 satisfied and stay as they are, and concludes 
 with the statement that if they do this "Eng- 
 land's boys will be stronger fathers of a less 
 nervous and happier race!" But this war 
 has taught us many lessons in which the 
 English and American athletes have shared 
 alike. 
 
 I would say, then, to the boy athlete, don't 
 take it to heart if the physical director of your 
 school or college or if the athletic trainer 
 tells you to go slow and drop out for this 
 year and work up to the next. Our greatest 
 tendency for the present is to overdo, to 
 drive the machine at too great a pace, and 
 this is just as true of the boys in their athletics 
 as it is of their fathers in business and their 
 mothers in social pleasures. He who sounds 
 a note of warning may not be heeded, but 
 it is time that warning is sounded and was 
 observed. 
 
 The fable of the tortoise and the hare is
 
 OLYMPIC GAMES 189 
 
 repeated over and over again in play and 
 work as well. A boy should realize that as 
 in all his sports a preparation or training is 
 necessary, so it is vital that he should under- 
 stand that the preparation for his life's work, 
 or even for his development in college, his 
 school discipline and sports are only the train- 
 ing the preparation and if this training be 
 overdone, if he attempts too much, too soon, 
 he is only making the foolish mistake of run- 
 ning the early part of his race too fast, and 
 others will surely pass him when, before the 
 tape is reached, he finds himself fading away ? 
 Some boys stand training better than others 
 can do more work without going stale 
 but every one should remember that in school 
 athletics undertraining is preferable to over- 
 training, and the majority of failures come 
 from overdoing and "going fine" rather than 
 from insufficient work. A boy should be 
 frank with his trainer. He should not make 
 the mistake of believing that it is the part of 
 wisdom to deceive that trainer or physical 
 director, but rather even at the present seem- 
 ing confession of weakness to admit an over- 
 effort and time given an opportunity of re-
 
 190 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 pairing the defect. He should never be fear- 
 ful lest his pluck or courage should be ques- 
 tioned when he tells the truth to those who 
 are responsible for his physical condition. 
 He should realize that they are as anxious 
 as he can be to make the best possible show- 
 ing, but not at the expense of later usefulness. 
 Meredith has set a high standard and every 
 boy who admires that work of his should feel 
 proud of him and should desire to do some 
 bit of work in his own line in the same effec- 
 tive way, but he should be careful not to 
 make the mistake of trying to reach that goal 
 by short cuts or at the sacrifice of the sound 
 body.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING 
 
 THERE is always an opportunity for a 
 young man to develop himself physically, 
 even though he may seem to have very few 
 chances. For instance: it certainly is not 
 possible for every schoolboy to get athletic 
 sport with others the year around. Baseball 
 nines, football teams, and crews all require 
 the co-operation of a number of other boys. 
 Track events are somewhat different, but 
 even there some accessories are necessary. 
 
 But almost any young man may enjoy 
 cross-country running by himself, and it is 
 almost impossible to imagine the condition 
 where a boy cannot get exercise and develop- 
 ment of this character. Perhaps this is diffi- 
 cult in a crowded city, but even here it is far 
 from impossible. In fact, I have seen a 
 crowd of fifty or sixty boys coming through 
 Broad Street of Philadelphia past the Pennsyl- 
 
 191
 
 192 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 vania Railroad Station in one of these runs. 
 But real cross-country running is, of course, 
 more desirable than city pavements, and the 
 sameness of running through ordinary streets 
 is much less inspiring than running out in the 
 open country. Any one can tell how far he 
 has run by carrying a pedometer a little 
 watch-like attachment which is now made at 
 a very reasonable price so that any boy can 
 have one without saving up his money very 
 long. Of course in cross-country running one 
 of these instruments may not keep the dis- 
 tance with absolute accuracy, but for all 
 intents and purposes it will be close enough. 
 The question arises: How far ought a youth 
 to run? That will depend entirely upon his 
 condition and amount of practice, as well as 
 the country over which he goes. It is like 
 all other athletic sports. A youth should be- 
 gin with jogging pretty easily and not over- 
 doing it, but after two or three weeks he will 
 find himself getting in condition and his dis- 
 tance can be proportionately increased. In 
 fact, cross-country running for any boy is far 
 better performed during the first year or two 
 without any conditions of extreme competi-
 
 CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING 193 
 
 tion, like championships or rival school runs. 
 When a man is hardened to cross-country 
 running and has done it for two or three years, 
 he can then go into competition. 
 
 The dress for this kind of running depends, 
 of course, upon the season of the year, but 
 two cautions should be borne in mind, foe 
 many a cross-country runner makes a mis- 
 take by erring on one or the other. It is not 
 an unfamiliar sight to see a group of these 
 runners coming along on a cold day in the 
 fall dressed as thinly as though it were mid- 
 summer. Now I doubt very much if a man 
 who was in fair flesh and who did not train 
 off very much under running would find any 
 disadvantages in this, for the exercise would 
 keep him comfortably warm after he was 
 started ; but a man or boy who is rather thin, 
 while he would not take cold from this ex- 
 posure under exercise, would find his powers 
 of endurance somewhat affected. On the 
 other hand, the most foolish thing possible is 
 for a cross-country man to wear heavy clothes 
 so that he is in a continuous perspiration, 
 unless he is merely using his run to reduce 
 flesh. Especial care and attention should
 
 194 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 be given to the feet, for here the misery of a 
 blistered heel or a raw spot can well be appre- 
 ciated. Every youth probably has a pair of 
 shoes that are so well adapted and moulded 
 to his feet that no amount of running or walk- 
 ing in them would produce any trouble. If 
 so, these are the shoes for him to wear even 
 though he has to have a new sole put on them 
 or spikes or hobnails; then, he should break 
 in a new pair gradually until they are as 
 pliable as the old ones. In case of a bad 
 abrasion, especial care must be taken against 
 infection, and while a man can protect a raw 
 spot by a bunion plaster strapped over it 
 with a surgeon's tape or bicycle tape, it is a 
 point of wisdom to take it easy until the spot 
 heals. 
 
 In gauging the distance to be run, and the 
 amount of speed, effort, etc., the best measure- 
 ment for each youth is to come in comfortably 
 tired but not exhausted. His .condition may 
 be judged by two points: whether he has a 
 good appetite and whether he sleeps soundly 
 and well. If he finds he is losing weight and 
 that he is not hungry when the time comes to 
 eat, or that he does not sleep well or feel re-
 
 CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING 195 
 
 freshed after a night in bed, he should make 
 up his mind that he is overdoing it. 
 
 Of course the best way to develop a special 
 talent in cross-country running is to have a 
 first-class man running with the others. Un- 
 derstand, this is not essential, but it can readily 
 be appreciated that the stimulus of competi- 
 tion and careful development can be brought 
 about in this way when it could not be effected 
 by any other means. Now the advantages of 
 this cross-country running lie in the fact that 
 it develops a man for any sort of athletic work 
 he is likely to go into, and especially for the 
 service. It is splendid, of course, for distance 
 runners in track events; it is an excellent 
 preparation for crew men; it is a fine way of 
 keeping in condition the year around for foot- 
 ball and baseball men, and, finally, if a man 
 or boy goes into no other athletics, it is one 
 of the best of the sports possible where no 
 special apparatus or other men are necessary.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 GETTING READY FOR OUTDOOR WORK 
 
 WHILE the first beginnings of spring are on 
 the way every healthy, normal youth is look- 
 ing forward to the time when his outdoor 
 sports begin in earnest again. His hockey 
 and coasting are about over and soon the base- 
 ball season will begin. 
 
 Meantime, for the younger boys there is the 
 kite-flying season, and with the development 
 of the conquest of the air by men this promises 
 to become a far more interesting subject for 
 the older boys. Gliders of all kinds can be 
 experimented with, and while the winds of 
 March are not the ideal ones for aeroplane 
 work, they will furnish much experience for 
 the boy who has graduated from kites to the 
 more finished product. 
 
 When it comes to the beginning of outdoor 
 work for spring sports, boys should remember 
 that in spite of their having kept in pretty 
 good condition throughout the winter, they 
 are still soft as far as violent straining exer- 
 
 196
 
 GETTING READY FOR OUTDOOR WORK 197 
 
 cise out-of-doors is concerned. The man may 
 have kept himself at work on various ap- 
 paratus indoors and may also have had con- 
 siderable outdoor exercise, and yet if he goes 
 out in March and endeavors to pitch a base- 
 ball for fifteen or twenty minutes he will find 
 his arm plenty lame the next day. In fact, 
 it may be that he will give it a strain that will 
 hurt him all the season. I cannot make it 
 too impressive that boys and college men 
 should not undertake to pitch very much 
 when they first start in. It should be very 
 easy, and they should work up gradually, 
 taking a week or so before they are delivering 
 the ball with much speed or snap. It pays 
 a great deal better in the long run than to 
 have an arm which is painful or useless later 
 in the season. The same is true about other 
 violent exercise of a similar nature throwing 
 very hard, running fast, or attempting to slide 
 all these should come along gradually, and 
 it is better to take two or three weeks to get 
 over the initial stages. 
 
 A case in point is that of a prominent col- 
 lege team : In their spring recess they made a 
 trip and as they had not done much of any
 
 198 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 outdoor work before starting off, the experi- 
 ence was not surprising. In one of their 
 games the captain, endeavoring to slide to 
 second, caught a spike and twisted his foot 
 under him and broke his leg, thus incapaci- 
 tating him practically for the season. I know 
 of other cases where nines have, on Southern 
 trips, taken four or five pitchers with them 
 and brought back at least two, and sometimes 
 more, box men with "glass" arms who were 
 not available again throughout the season. 
 These mistakes are not worth while and 
 should be borne in mind. 
 
 While the average boy has almost always 
 an opportunity to play baseball and while that 
 is the most common and the easiest play 
 to get others to take part in, there are other 
 forms of sport which are well worth the con- 
 sideration of any athlete. First of these is 
 rowing, where opportunity affords, but in this, 
 unless the school where the boy attends is a 
 boating school, the matter is difficult and of 
 course requires suitable water and weather, 
 and some expensive equipment. But there 
 is another sport which is available in every 
 way, and that is the sport of track athletics.
 
 GETTING READY FOR OUTDOOR WORK 199 
 
 Almost any boy, no matter what his circum- 
 stances, can make himself a success in some 
 form of track athletics if he is patient and 
 persevering. First and simplest of these is 
 the long-distance and cross-country running. 
 Wherever a man can carry himself by the use 
 of feet he may practise cross-country runs. 
 Then, too, it is almost always possible to se- 
 cure a place where something other than dis- 
 tance running may be enjoyed; short sprints 
 and sprinting on turf is just as good as on a 
 cinder track; in fact, rather better. The ham- 
 mer throwing and shot putting are rather 
 more difficult to arrange for, particularly the 
 former; but the jumping, both broad and 
 high, and, in fact, the hurdling, is not difficult 
 to practise. Taking up first the cross-country; 
 while there is no season of the year that does 
 not admit of work along these lines, there are 
 days in winter when the slush and snow make 
 it a pretty disagreeable task, but by the time 
 February is passed and March is at hand the 
 weather begins to be more propitious and the 
 going better. The first thing for the cross- 
 country candidate to remember is that, as in 
 all other sports, he should begin easily; he
 
 200 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 should jog-trot and walk ordinarily, and sim- 
 ply work on the theory of getting a couple of 
 hours of outdoor exercise, no matter how little 
 distance he may cover. He should then ex- 
 tend this a little at a time, shortening up the 
 walk and adding to the run, by no means en- 
 deavoring to keep up a pace that exhausts 
 him. He can well afford to spend three 
 weeks in this kind of work before he endeavors 
 to try himself out at anything like a pace. 
 His next step is to find out what kind of a 
 pace is best adapted to him under trying 
 conditions. Moderate hill-climbing and some 
 soft going will tell him something about his 
 peculiarities, and it is safe to say that the 
 most expert cross-ountry runner is the man 
 who knows best when to force himself and 
 when to save strength. Another thing should 
 be noted in this early preparation, and that 
 is that it isn't worth while, nor is it necessary, 
 to run over the same course every day. In 
 fact, it is much better (it keeps a man's inter- 
 est up to a higher pitch and is much more 
 developing) for him to take different routes. 
 One other thing: the cross-country candidate 
 should not be deluded with the idea that the
 
 The start. 
 
 In mid-course. 
 THE MODIFIED MARATHON, NEW YORK CITY.
 
 GETTING READY FOR OUTDOOR WORK 201 
 
 more thinly he is clad the more he toughens 
 himself. Especially is it well to bear in mind 
 in the breaking up of winter and beginning 
 of spring that if a man is so stripped as to 
 make it an effort to keep warm he is taking a 
 little more out of himself than if he were not 
 quite so much exposed. This doesn't mean 
 bundling up, but it does mean running in such 
 a costume as to carry as little weight as possi- 
 ble and at the same time not feel every pierc- 
 ing blast after one is warmed up.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 GENERAL BASEBALL SUGGESTIONS 
 
 ALTHOUGH professional baseball was eclipsed 
 by the war, the game itself is greater than 
 ever in camp and cantonment. National 
 League, American League, "Bush" League, 
 College and School leagues had given way to 
 service teams, still the boys in the back lots 
 and every player from the lowest to the high- 
 est wishes to make himself a little better, a 
 little more effective, and a little more certain 
 of "making good," and it should be remem- 
 bered that it is the boy who has the best 
 chance. He is all the time "coming," getting 
 better and stronger, and if he is observing all 
 the laws of health and putting his mind and 
 heart into his work, whatever that work is, 
 his chances of improvement are far greater 
 than even those of the league player whose 
 habits are formed and who in a very few years 
 will begin to go back. 
 
 I presume by this time many a boy has 
 
 found how easily the eye and hand adjust 
 
 202
 
 GENERAL BASEBALL SUGGESTIONS 203 
 
 themselves when certain pressure is put on, 
 as, for instance, the penalty of having to 
 chase the ball if he did not reach it with the 
 bat. Of course there will be times even after 
 a boy has become very adept at hitting the 
 ball in almost any position when an unusually 
 deceptive pitcher will be able to fool him, 
 but if he keeps up his batting practice under 
 the instructions given in another chapter the 
 number of pitchers that can fool him and the 
 number of times that they will fool him will 
 grow steadily less and his batting average 
 will begin to creep up. 
 
 Now as to the general fielding of the school 
 or college nine; most of these organizations 
 spend too much time on the fielding and too 
 little on the batting, and a good captain will 
 bear this in mind and make sure that his men 
 get plenty of hitting. Moreover, the fielding 
 practice is apt to be poorly divided and rather 
 poorly proportioned, a good deal of practice 
 being devoted to plays which would not come 
 often, while only a small amount of practice 
 is devoted to the play which is liable to occur 
 more frequently. Let me give an illustration 
 of this:
 
 204 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 School and college nines seem to have a 
 particular desire to practise double play, 
 short or third to second base and second base 
 to first. 
 
 Now this is good practice good throwing 
 practice, and good practice in speed and agil- 
 ity. But as for its being directed toward a 
 play which is of great importance in school 
 and college games, that is a mistake. Even 
 with their practice the school and college nine 
 do not make a great many of these double 
 plays in the course of a season. They either 
 cannot speed up enough to make it or when 
 they try to get unusual pace they bungle the 
 job. Any one who cares to keep a record will 
 find that for one double play thus made the 
 school or college nine will make three or four 
 misses of it, that is in games, and the missed 
 play here counts so much more that one could 
 almost say it would pay a school or college 
 nine never to undertake to make a double play 
 of this nature. They would save runs un- 
 doubtedly by so doing, for either the second 
 baseman muffs the ball in his haste to get it 
 and throw it to first and then neither man is 
 out, or what may be still more fatal in hurry-
 
 GENERAL BASEBALL SUGGESTIONS 205 
 
 ing his throw over to first he throws wild and 
 the runner who hits the ball comes all the 
 way home for a run. 
 
 Start then with this idea an idea that any 
 captain or manager could work out for him- 
 self. Don't spend all the time in trying to 
 execute double plays or fancy plays, but let 
 those be practised only enough to reach a 
 fair standard. But let the plays which come 
 four or five times as often and which are, 
 therefore, of much more relative importance, 
 be practised a greater proportion of the time. 
 The throwing of any baseman or short-stop to 
 first base, for instance, is of vital importance, 
 as it comes far more often than a throw to 
 second or third or home. Make every man 
 letter-perfect on this play from any part of 
 his position. A nine that can always get that 
 ball to first base is what you want in the first 
 place. Then comes the question of handling 
 of ground hits by the infield. As stated in 
 another chapter, it is well to have a great deal 
 of their practice come from the kind of balls 
 that are hit in games and not from the kind 
 of ball a man tosses up and bats, each man 
 taking his turn and knowing that the ball is
 
 206 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 coming to him and is going to come with a 
 regular roll or bound such as it always gets 
 from this kind of a hit. The kind of ball he 
 will get in a game has an ugly twist or shoot 
 to it probably, and that comes from the fact 
 that the ball is pitched to the batsman in- 
 stead of the batsman throwing it up and hit- 
 ting it. Keep this standard in mind and see 
 that your team get the amount of practice 
 that is going to improve them for the game 
 and not the kind of practice that is merely 
 going to use up their time. 
 
 The same is true in a measure of the out- 
 field. If an outfielder never gets any flies but 
 those that are tossed up and batted and what 
 is generally considered to give practice to the 
 outfield, he may or may not prove reliable 
 in an emergency. If he gets the kind of bat- 
 ting that comes in all sorts of ways he may 
 become a far more reliable man. As to the 
 outfielder's throwing, with due care, exercis- 
 ing to see that their arms are kept in good 
 condition, they should become thoroughly ac- 
 customed to throwing the ball so that it 
 reaches the home-plate on a low first bound. 
 Of course if a man runs far out he must re-
 
 GENERAL BASEBALL SUGGESTIONS 207 
 
 lay it in, but the practice of throwing the ball 
 home is very valuable. 
 
 Above and beyond everything else the cap- 
 tain should impress upon his outfielders the 
 necessity of getting that ball back into the 
 diamond promptly. Many school and col- 
 lege outfielders hold on to the ball, and a 
 clever base runner is liable to get an extra 
 chance by it. As soon as the ball is in the 
 hand it should be fielded in, usually to the 
 second baseman. But get it back there 
 somewhere, and get it in without delay, is the 
 cardinal principle. The schoolboy nines can 
 learn these points and be as quick and active 
 and up to date in method as the best pro- 
 fessional teams, and the captain and players 
 should pride themselves upon this part of 
 their work. 
 
 As to battery practice, the first thing to bear 
 in mind is that neither the pitcher nor catcher 
 should get a lame or disabled arm. Upon the 
 first signs of any trouble of this kind he should 
 be stopped and rested and his arm worked 
 over. If the nine has two or three pitchers 
 they should be worked alternately, so that 
 one man shall not have all the pitching to do.
 
 208 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 It is very wise at all times to have a coat 
 or something to throw over the arm, even in 
 warm weather, for when a pitcher is warmed 
 up he is more sensitive possibly to cold than 
 the rest of the men, and whether more sen- 
 sitive or not, it is more vital not to have his 
 arm go wrong. 
 
 I will reserve the various minor points of 
 pitching for a later chapter, but in connection 
 with this one about fielding it should be re- 
 membered that the pitcher should be taught 
 the same as the other fielders to cover his 
 position and cover it promptly, to make that 
 throw to first so that he is sure of it almost 
 with his eyes shut, and he ought to have a 
 good fair amount of practice of whirling and 
 throwing to second. 
 
 One other thing: it is well for him to have 
 some practice on his running in on a slow 
 ball coming along the first and third base line 
 that is the ordinary kind of a bunt. He is 
 sure to get some of these, and upon his abil- 
 ity to field them will very often depend a game. 
 
 Finally, the catcher beside his regular bat- 
 tery work should have practice in catching 
 high fouls, and here it is best for him to prac-
 
 GENERAL BASEBALL SUGGESTIONS 209 
 
 tise with his mask on and throwing the mask 
 off after the foul is batted. This is what he 
 will have to do in a game, and it is just as 
 well that he should do some of it in his or- 
 dinary practice. Of course throwing to sec- 
 ond is very vital for him, and for the most 
 part he should practise receiving the ball 
 from his regular pitcher, having the batsman 
 stand up in the box. This reproduces the con- 
 ditions under which he will have to work in a 
 game.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 DANGERS OF BASEBALL AS A 
 PROFESSION 
 
 NOT so long ago professional baseball- 
 players were receiving salaries never before 
 dreamed of, contracts being made for not 
 one year but two or three. A new league 
 had been started to compete with the old- 
 established National and American Leagues, 
 and, naturally, the attention of every boy in 
 the country was directed even more strongly 
 than usual to the American national game. 
 Then came the war and all this was changed. 
 But the American boy still loves baseball. It 
 should be remembered that a very large pro- 
 portion of these men drawing high salaries 
 and who otherwise made good in the baseball 
 world, were practically unknown or their 
 value unrecognized when they came from or 
 to the bush leagues. With all this glamour, a 
 boy should realize, however, fully that these 
 men who came to the top were the exceptions 
 and that there were thousands of others who 
 
 210
 
 DANGERS OF BASEBALL AS A PROFESSION 211 
 
 did not succeed, and, furthermore, that the 
 general effective life of a baseball-player and 
 by this we do not mean the number of years 
 he will live but the number of years when he 
 can draw a large salary is comparatively 
 limited. True, there are splendid exceptions, 
 and these only go to prove how a man who 
 lives a temperate life and takes care of him- 
 self will continue in the full possession of his 
 physical faculties and prowess for a very con- 
 siderable period of years. But boys should 
 remember that for every success there are 
 hundreds of failures. In fact, in baseball prob- 
 ably it is more true than it is in any other 
 line that the proportion of failures is large. 
 More than that, following baseball as a means 
 of livelihood does not fit a boy for any other 
 work. As a matter of experience, it is rather 
 the reverse of this. A boy who has played 
 baseball well enough to reach the point where 
 he can earn a little money at it, finds after a 
 season or two that he has not improved him- 
 self in any way in preparation for any future 
 work save that of baseball. 
 
 I am going over all this in order to be sure 
 that the readers of this book will appreciate
 
 212 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 fully that to sacrifice other things, studies or 
 work, to this particular mania, is the height of 
 folly in ninety-nine boys out of a hundred. In 
 fact, I think it is in nine hundred and ninety- 
 nine out of a thousand. Other kinds of work 
 prepare a boy to go into many kinds of busi- 
 ness. He learns in any office or store business 
 ways that prepare him, no matter what his 
 shift may be later on, but baseball in local 
 aggregations and minor class unfits a boy for 
 other more serious work. This is not to say 
 that a boy should not play baseball, and play 
 it to the very best of his ability and try for 
 his school or local nine; play all he can in his 
 spare time; perfect himself; become a star, 
 if possible; but it is to say that he should not 
 let this sport interfere with his studies or with 
 his regular work, and that he should xegard it 
 as of less importance than these matters, and 
 should endeavor at all times to appreciate 
 fully what the difference is, and if, perchance, 
 he develops into a star in spite of not regard- 
 ing his baseball as the main object in life, he 
 will have secured other education and experi- 
 ence to fall back on when his star begins to 
 set.
 
 DANGERS OF BASEBALL AS A PROFESSION 213 
 
 We don't hear much about the old-timers 
 who have dropped out. Once in a while, a 
 man has made such a mark that the news- 
 papers follow him in his later career, but when 
 they do it is rather apt to be a sad story. 
 The case of "Rube" Waddell is one in point. 
 Here was one of the best League pitchers; a 
 man whose name was known by every fan 
 throughout the country. It was known that 
 "Rube" was dying slowly but surely, and that 
 the end was coming nearer and nearer. Some 
 of the advice that "Rube" gave to young 
 players under these conditions was forcible, 
 and it is hoped will be effective. He spoke 
 most strongly against cigarettes and alcohol, 
 and warned all young players to let them 
 alone. "Rube" was a big, strong fellow, but 
 tuberculosis got hold of him, and in April, 
 just at the time when baseball interest was 
 beginning to stir, he passed over into the 
 great beyond. 
 
 But "Rube " was only one of many, and the 
 many are those whose names no longer appear 
 in the newspapers and who are practically 
 forgotten until perhaps a death-notice brings 
 them to the front once more. Some of them
 
 214 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 are men who were successful for a few years; 
 others are those who ran on somewhat longer, 
 but in the end nature will have its way. A 
 baseball-player when he nears the forty mark 
 may expect that his last time at the bat is 
 coming very soon. Hence, boys, do not view 
 with too eager and envious eyes the hero of the 
 diamond, and do not be deceived into the 
 belief that it is worth while sacrificing more 
 tangible pursuits to become one of them. 
 Those who do come to the top are products 
 of brain, eye, muscle, nerve, patience, and 
 pertinacity, and in a great many cases the 
 same qualities put to work in another line 
 would have proved equally effective not per- 
 haps in drawing such a large salary, but in 
 preparing the way for a salary that should 
 last a great many more years. 
 
 It is the development of these qualities that 
 counts, no matter what the later pursuit may 
 be, and it is certainly a fact, proven time and 
 again, that it is the hard worker in any line 
 that usually comes to the top, although the 
 brilliant performer may stand in the lime- 
 light temporarily.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF COACHING 
 IN BASEBALL 
 
 IT is worth while to devote a chapter to 
 one of the most important features of base- 
 ball, namely, the coaching. This applies not 
 only to the instructions given, we will say, by 
 a manager in the league teams, or by a coach 
 in college or school teams, to all the members 
 of the squad, but also to that side of baseball 
 which deals with the instructions from a fel- 
 low player to the men on bases when the side 
 is at the bat. 
 
 In a way, all the preceding chapters have 
 dealt with the first part of this question, 
 namely, the instruction given teams by man- 
 ager or coaches. Here there is one all-impor- 
 tant fact to remember, and it is the rock upon 
 which more hopes have been shattered and 
 gone down than any other. A manager or 
 coach must not sap the initiative the indi- 
 vidual thinking qualities of his players. If he 
 
 215
 
 16 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 does, he makes mere automatons of them, 
 and such a nine, although it obey the pulls 
 on the strings, can never hope to reach the 
 highest standard of baseball excellence. It 
 is the nine that can obey instructions, but 
 composed of individuals each one of whom 
 is quite capable of thinking for himself, that 
 will eventually win. 
 
 If a manager or coach starts out, however, 
 to make the man do all the thinking for him- 
 self, he oftentimes finds that his men are slow 
 to progress. What he should do is supple- 
 ment that thinking, encourage it, do every- 
 thing he can to set it in right channels, and 
 then put it up to the man himself. There are 
 times when it is well worth while for the 
 manager or coach to tell a man going to bat 
 what he wants him to do. On the other 
 hand, if a man at the bat is all the time look- 
 ing over to the bench to find out what new 
 instructions he is to get, his batting average 
 will certainly go down and his effectiveness as 
 a member of the nine be lost. The same is 
 true in every department in the game. 
 
 In the school and college nines this element 
 of developing individual initiative is even
 
 COACHING IN BASEBALL 217 
 
 more important than in the professional ranks, 
 for in the latter men have served a pretty 
 hard schooling already before they reach their 
 positions, and as their salary and livelihood 
 depend upon their effectiveness, they natu- 
 rally keep their wits pretty well sharpened to 
 the main chance. The school or college organ- 
 ization may, on the other hand (and there 
 have been plenty of instances of this), drift 
 into a way of leaning upon the coach to such 
 an extent that they are absolutely flabby, and 
 can neither think nor act for themselves in 
 any emergency. This hurts them, both as 
 baseball-players and as coming men as well. 
 To take up the other side of the coaching 
 that is, the instructions given by a fellow 
 player or an appointed man to the base-run- 
 ners. There is a coach allowed over at first 
 base and at third base, restrained by certain 
 lines so that he may not approach too near 
 the diamond. Now, first let us see what are 
 his legitimate technical duties and how he 
 should perform them; then we will consider 
 some of the other phases of the position. In 
 the first place, take the man on the right, 
 or occupying the position behind first base.
 
 218 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 Until the batsman has actually reached first, 
 his duties are limited to just one thing, 
 namely, perhaps urging the man after he has 
 hit the ball and is coming toward first, to run 
 or run it out. But instantly upon the man's 
 arriving on first, his duties multiply. If the 
 man has made a hit that offers any possible 
 chance of turning it into two bases, the coacher 
 is the man to tell him what to do, so that he 
 may be able to act instantly without lessen- 
 ing in his speed and go on and perhaps make 
 an additional base which the slightest hesita- 
 tion would lose. But suppose the man has, 
 however, arrived at first on a single with no 
 chance of going farther. From the moment 
 that the ball is hit the coacher must know 
 where it is. Who has not seen a good single 
 made and the runner reach first base, the 
 pitcher turn back and get ready for his de- 
 livery, the runner step off and the first base- 
 man calmly pull the ball out from under his 
 arm and touch him out? The best league 
 players have been caught by this trick, as old 
 as the hills, and it is the duty of the coacher 
 to know where that ball is every instant and 
 to keep his runner posted. A motion made
 
 COACHING IN BASEBALL 219 
 
 by the first baseman to return the ball to the 
 pitcher and then holding the ball, is another 
 common trick which should be looked out for 
 at all times. The next duty of the coacher is 
 to interpret the signals of the batsman as to 
 going down, so that the runner is ready for 
 the hit-and-run play or any other trick of the 
 game. 
 
 Should there be a partially passed ball, the 
 coacher must be able to tell his runner whether 
 to go on a try for second or go back. 
 
 But if the first-base coach has important 
 duties, what shall one say of the man over 
 behind third, for that is the position of the 
 most vital interest to any nine that wishes to 
 win games. A man to act as coach over at 
 third must be a real student of the game, and 
 a man who knows just when to take a chance 
 and when not to. It should be remembered 
 that when a man gets as far as crossing third 
 he becomes a mighty valuable asset toward 
 scoring possibilities. He is two points further 
 advanced than the man on first, and the loss 
 of him over at third is therefore far more 
 serious. Think how often it has taken a 
 sacrifice and a hit to get this man from first
 
 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 to third, and some idea can be had of his 
 value. As soon as a man leaves first on his 
 way to second he passes out of the hands of 
 the first-base coacher, in a general way, and 
 comes into the hands of the third-base coacher. 
 True, if he stops on second then both these 
 men watch second and short to warn him in 
 case the pitcher or catcher throws to second 
 to catch him. But when he comes around 
 second, full tilt on a hit, it is the man at third 
 who is going to tell him what to do next 
 whether to hold third or go on home with that 
 run that is so vitally important, and here 
 comes in the judgment of the third-base 
 coach. He must know just what kind of a 
 single will put a man home from second; he 
 must know how fast that man on second is 
 able to run, and he must calculate to a nicety 
 all these factors, as well as the position of the 
 fielder who gets the ball. With some men it 
 is intuition, and they are the men who make 
 the best coaches. After all, their intuition is 
 a developed understanding, but they get quick 
 action. The study of this coach in position 
 will well repay any boy in his future baseball. 
 Now, before closing, just a word on some
 
 COACHING IN BASEBALL 221 
 
 of the illegitimate supposed duties of the 
 coach, and my advice to boys is to let them 
 entirely alone. First is his endeavoring to 
 steal signals of the other side by watching the 
 catcher's hands, and the second is endeavor- 
 ing to rattle the pitcher or other players on 
 the opposing nine by calls or comments. 
 These are not a proper part of baseball, and 
 while they may take the fancy of the crowd 
 at times at professional games, they have no 
 part in school or college contests.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 WINTER SPORTS 
 
 ICE-HOCKEY 
 
 A BOY should have sport of some kind the 
 year round. He should not "hibernate" in 
 the winter. 
 
 No one who has not been out to the Pacific 
 coast can realize the advantages that the 
 boy athlete, as well as the athlete of maturer 
 years, has in the fact that sports may be con- 
 tinued there almost uninterruptedly through- 
 out the entire year. It is probably this fact 
 that is leading to the development of the 
 stars in all lines of sport that are coming from 
 the Pacific coast. Tennis-players, track ath- 
 letes, baseball men and, in fact, all represen- 
 tatives of sport now realize the quality and 
 caliber of coast players. The writer made a 
 visit to the shores of the Pacific, going from 
 San Francisco up and down, covering the en- 
 tire coast as far south as Pasadena and as far 
 north as Vancouver, and has found sport of 
 
 222
 
 WINTER SPORTS 223 
 
 all kinds in a remarkably high state of devel- 
 opment. Football can be played out there 
 much later than here. In fact, a great game 
 is always played on New Year's Day. The 
 two universities, California and Stanford, a 
 few years ago adopted the Rugby game, and 
 several of the schools followed their lead. 
 Others, notably Behnont, which had the ad- 
 vantage of the former Harvard coach, William 
 T. Reid, Jr., continued playing the American 
 game. The University of California, how- 
 ever, soon returned to the American Intercol- 
 legiate, and in addition to these schools and 
 universities there are hundreds of boys round- 
 about San Francisco, from Vallejo down to 
 the Presidio, who are playing the American 
 game, and playing it with remarkable facility. 
 They adopted all the new rules, and are mak- 
 ing the most of the forward pass. The writer 
 had the opportunity of seeing a team whose 
 only chance for practice lay in working by 
 electric light in the evening, develop such a 
 game through constant drill that they were 
 able in a match contest to defeat a team from 
 the soldiers which outweighed them six or 
 seven pounds to the man. In one period out
 
 224 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 of four forward passes they made every one 
 effective. Farther north the American game 
 is played exclusively, and there are first-class 
 teams from the universities and schools. A 
 boys' high-school baseball team also made a 
 very extended tour to Australia and else- 
 where, and were most hospitably entertained. 
 These boys carried the respect for American 
 manhood into many sections, and were roy- 
 ally treated. 
 
 Boys of this country who have not the facil- 
 ities granted in the climate of California must 
 bear in mind that during the winter seasons 
 there is still plenty of sport by means of 
 which they may perfect themselves for the 
 work of the open season. Referring back to 
 our earlier chapters, the boy should remember 
 by cold baths and outdoor exercises whenever 
 possible to keep his condition throughout this 
 season, so that when spring comes he may be 
 fairly fit for the beginning of the baseball sea- 
 son and track work. There is some compen- 
 sation in the cold weather, for it brings in 
 new sports of a nature which the Pacific coast 
 boy has no opportunity to enjoy. First 
 among these probably stands ice-hockey. In
 
 WINTER SPORTS 225 
 
 many of the schools, such as St. Paul's, of 
 Concord, this is a very highly developed 
 sport, and this school alone turns out more 
 effective skaters than almost any other. The 
 game is a good one, but has of late taken on 
 some of the objectionable roughness that 
 leads to complications. Any one who has 
 seen the most expert of Canadian teams play 
 this game has a chance to realize that it is not 
 roughness which wins matches, but skill, and 
 this should be borne in mind in all the coach- 
 ing and playing. The first requisite for a 
 good hockey-player is ability to skate well. 
 The next is good judgment, and these two 
 combined go far to perfect any boy in this 
 sport. It is not necessary for him to be big 
 or powerful. Some members of the team 
 may to advantage carry considerable weight 
 and strength, but there is always a place for 
 the active, clever, fast skater who keeps his 
 wits about him, knows every moment where 
 his comrades are, and can take advantage of 
 any weakness on the part of his opponents. 
 For the development of this sport a rink is 
 not necessary, although the college champion- 
 ship games are mostly played in these enclosed
 
 226 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 places. In fact, the very best practice of all 
 is, from the outdoor exercise, on open ponds 
 or lakes, and it is surprising how simple it is 
 to develop a small pond by flooding a field 
 after banking up when the frost has once got 
 the ground well set. In this sport practice is 
 the great essential, and team practice very 
 vital. It is not necessary always to have the 
 entire team on hand, for three men together 
 may get excellent practice in passing the puck 
 and learning to shoot, as well as to dodge, on 
 a surface that would be altogether too small 
 to play a regular game. 
 
 The equipment consists of a good hockey 
 skate and a stick. The goal -tender needs 
 shin-guards, but apart from this and heavy 
 winter gloves there is very little necessity of 
 purchasing articles for the sake of the game. 
 Two stones set up on the ice will serve for 
 goals, and it is not absolutely necessary even 
 that a player should have the traditional 
 hockey-skate, although this is undoubtedly an 
 advantage. Condition is of prime importance 
 in hockey, for a fast game will try the wind 
 and endurance of any skater. In some sec- 
 tions of Canada the game has grown very fast
 
 WINTER SPORTS 227 
 
 and furious in championship, and the writer 
 saw one season a Winnipeg player whose 
 equipment would startle even the most radi- 
 cal opponent of football. He wore steel pro- 
 tectors over his ankles inside the shoe, shin- 
 guards, and protectors on his upper leg. 
 Then he wore under his jersey a sole-leather 
 cuirass, or jacket, which reached up to his 
 neck, while he had gauntleted gloves, a nose- 
 guard and a head-gear! But it is by no 
 means necessary that this sport should be 
 carried by extreme body-checking to any 
 such state as to make such equipment for 
 protection necessary. Rule-makers may take 
 up this proposition, as they have in football 
 and basket-ball, and another sport may be 
 continued in a reasonable and sane manner.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 MORE ABOUT WINTER TRAINING 
 
 MANY times I have been asked by boys in 
 the preparatory schools just what the winter 
 training for athletes in the universities is, 
 and perhaps a description of the work at a 
 big university will be of interest and benefit 
 to the readers of this book. It will also be a 
 great aid to those who desire to condition 
 themselves for later military service. 
 
 Formerly, there used to be a considerable 
 hiatus between the end of the football season 
 and the taking up of indoor winter work in 
 preparation for the spring sports. In most of 
 the universities there is a ball, promenade, or 
 dance, by whatever name it may be called, 
 in midwinter, and as this usually comes along 
 about the middle of January, it used to be 
 the fashion for all the athletes to enjoy a period 
 of rest from the end of the football season un- 
 til after this festivity, and then take up in- 
 door work. Nor was this an unmixed evil, 
 
 228
 
 MORE ABOUT WINTER TRAINING 229 
 
 as it is really rather hard on a man to train 
 rigorously the year around without a break. 
 Now by this I do not mean that a man is 
 better for breaking training in the sense of 
 smoking, drinking, eating inordinately or 
 anything of that kind, but that some change 
 in the variety of his food and some let-up in 
 the severity of his continuous exercise is not 
 a bad thing. However, nowadays the athletic 
 interest is so stimulated that, as a college pro- 
 fessor once put it to me, "there is no longer 
 any closed season for athletics." 
 
 Almost at once after the Thanksgiving re- 
 cess, the basket-ball men are called out and 
 begin to do their work in the gymnasium. 
 The soccer-players are still out-of-doors and 
 continue their good sport. The swimming 
 team and wrestlers get to work very early in 
 the gymnasium, so that we have the basket- 
 ball men at work on their floor, the swimming 
 men at work in the pool, and the wrestlers 
 taking their turns on the mats. Then there 
 are the squash-courts, indoor tennis-courts, 
 and, where they have the opportunity, hand- 
 ball is played. 
 
 In the sport which has already been com-
 
 230 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 mented upon, namely, ice-hockey, practice 
 cannot, of course, begin for those who are 
 not fortunate enough to possess an indoor 
 rink with an ice-making plant until the 
 weather turns cold enough to freeze the lakes 
 and ponds. Boys located near a big city 
 where there is a rink with artificial ice could 
 enjoy this sport soon after Thanksgiving. 
 The rowing men, baseball men, and the track 
 men generally get to work directly after the 
 winter recess that is, soon after the first of 
 January, and with perhaps a few days' let-up 
 at the time of the promenade, continuing it 
 steadily until they get out-of-doors and then 
 on until the season closes the track men the 
 first of June, the baseball and crew men the 
 first of July. This makes for the latter two 
 six months of pretty strenuous training, and 
 five months for the track men. The baseball 
 and track men make use of the cage, where 
 one is available, and at many universities 
 now the cage is a very important structure. 
 The one at New Haven has a good dirt floor 
 and has curved board runways at the corners, 
 so that the track men can really get excellent 
 actual practice in running. The ventilation
 
 MORE ABOUT WINTER TRAINING 231 
 
 is good, and the composition of the dirt floor 
 is such as to make it useful both for track and 
 baseball men. The latter can get admirable 
 practice in this cage in the way of fielding 
 balls, throwing, and, to a certain extent, bat- 
 ting, although the light in the cage is always 
 quite different from that outside, and there 
 is some question as to the value of batting 
 practice under these conditions. The crew 
 men may work either in a tank, providing an 
 artificial duplication of actual rowing condi- 
 tions, or with the machines that is, pneu- 
 matic machines. The former, tank rowing, 
 has been experimented with a great deal, and, 
 if one could only duplicate the actual condi- 
 tions, would be of the greatest value. Un- 
 fortunately, no amount of experimenting has 
 ever seemed to quite solve the problem. The 
 Syracuse tank comes, however, very near to 
 this. Seats placed in the middle of the tank 
 can be made to duplicate the seats in the 
 boat without any trouble, and the oars are 
 the same, but the water, being confined, is 
 very dead, and as the boat does not move 
 but is fixed, the pull that one can get with 
 an oar-blade is something enormous. To
 
 232 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 solve this difficulty plans were made to have 
 the water moved by a wheel so that there 
 was a constant current flowing with the stroke. 
 Other plans were to cut holes in the oar-blades 
 so that the water came through the blade. 
 None of these plans, however, have seemed 
 to quite duplicate outside conditions, and 
 there is a shift about every two or three years 
 from tank rowing to pneumatic and back 
 again to tank. Which is the better, no one 
 has yet been able to determine finally. 
 
 Now in addition to all these regular sports, 
 there are, of course, men who exercise on 
 various apparatus in the gymnasium and who 
 thus keep themselves in fair physical condi- 
 tion throughout the winter. It should, how- 
 ever, be borne in mind that games are better 
 than apparatus and in outdoor air far better 
 than those within four walls. Probably in a 
 university the size of Harvard or Yale three- 
 fourths of the men take pretty regular and 
 constant exercise through the winter. 
 
 There are three main things to be borne in 
 mind in indoor exercise. The first is the 
 problem of ventilation. Of course it is im- 
 possible to get as much fresh air as one has
 
 MORE ABOUT WINTER TRAINING 233 
 
 out-of-doors, and the result is that there is 
 some deficiency in the revivifying power of 
 oxygen, and consequently the exercise is not 
 really as beneficial as out-of-door work. The 
 second point, and one intimately connected 
 with the first, is that a man or a boy should 
 bear in mind that he cannot do as much work 
 without exhaustion under indoor conditions. 
 
 The third is the increased liability to catch- 
 ing cold and therefore getting stiffened up. 
 Perspiration is more freely induced and the 
 pores of the skin do not respond as actively 
 in the natural closing process, and hence an 
 indoor athlete must be more careful to get his 
 bath and rubdown promptly, for there is 
 nothing more dangerous than to exercise in- 
 doors and then stand near an open window 
 and thus cool off suddenly.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 WRESTLING AND BOXING 
 
 ONE of the best of indoor sports for general 
 development is that of wrestling, and it re- 
 quires very little apparatus. 
 
 Every boy knows that from the time he is 
 old enough to recognize other boys he has, at 
 the same time, faced the fact that boys will 
 always have certain trials of strength usually 
 resulting in wrestling. For the most part 
 these boyish encounters have no definite rules 
 governing them, and hence it is well as the 
 boy grows up to have him realize that there is 
 a method in this sport, and that there are 
 certain rules governing it which insure to 
 each contestant fair play and no favoritism. 
 Such rules are carried out by the wrestling 
 instructors in camps and stations. There are 
 some half-dozen or so recognized styles of 
 wrestling, the most familiar being " catch -as- 
 catch-can" and "Graeco-Roman." There are 
 also various others as "collar-and-elbow," 
 
 234
 
 WRESTLING AND BOXING 235 
 
 "side hold," and those known by localities, 
 "Devonshire," "Cumberland," "Westmore- 
 land," and the like. Then there are various 
 foreign styles, the most well known being 
 the Japanese "jiu-jitsu" and "sumo." Of all 
 these forms "sumo" is probably the highest 
 grade. It differs from all other forms of 
 wrestling and is regarded as a high calling in 
 Japan. A representative of sumo wrestling 
 visited this country not long ago, and gave ex- 
 hibitions with his assistants in various places, 
 one of these exhibitions occurring at the Yale 
 gymnasium. Hitachiyama was a giant in 
 physique and must have weighed in the neigh- 
 borhood of three hundred pounds. His as- 
 sistants were lighter but well-built men. He 
 wrestled with them individually, and then 
 finally took on all three at once without seri- 
 ously incommoding himself. Furthermore, 
 during the entire exhibition, which lasted 
 some three hours, he disdained altogether the 
 chair that was provided for him, and when 
 resting simply squatted on his heels in the ap- 
 proved Japanese fashion. 
 
 Sumo consists of a bout in a 30-foot ring, 
 made by drawing a circle on a mat. The two
 
 236 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 wrestlers face each other, squatted on their 
 heels, with their clinched fists on the mat in 
 front of them. This is usually preceded by a 
 religious ceremony. They then lift one fist 
 and then the other slightly off the mat, but 
 the bout does not commence until both 
 wrestlers have taken both hands up. Then 
 the bout commences instantly. The object 
 of the wrestling is to force the opponent to 
 touch any part of his body save his bare feet 
 (for they wrestle barefoot) to the mat, or to 
 push him outside of the 30-foot circle. Either 
 one of these constitutes a fall. None of the 
 Yale men undertook to wrestle with Hitachi- 
 yama, but they did undertake the contest 
 with his assistants, the understanding being 
 they would wrestle one fall sumo and a second 
 fall American catch-as-catch-can. The Japs 
 had not the slightest trouble in disposing of 
 even the heavy-weight Yale wrestlers in sumo 
 at the rate of about a fall every few seconds, 
 for the Americans were unable to keep their 
 hands off the mat after once started. On the 
 other hand, in the American catch-as-catch- 
 can the Japs betrayed their manifest profi- 
 ciency, but were not powerful enough to over-
 
 WRESTLING AND BOXING 237 
 
 come the greater strength and skill of the 
 Yale contestants. 
 
 But to return to the usual fashions in this 
 country. Catch-as-catch-can, as its name in- 
 dicates, is the ordinary form of wrestling for 
 boys who indulge in rough-and-tumble forms, 
 except that it has different rules as to what 
 constitutes fair play and what constitutes a 
 fall. These may be summed up as follows: 
 
 Two shoulders touching the mat or ground 
 constitute a fall. 
 
 Flying falls do not count. 
 
 Throttling is barred and certain definite 
 periods are usually arranged for. The ring is 
 usually twenty -four feet square. It is allow- 
 able to seize the opponent in any fashion, bar- 
 ring throttling, and the match is usually 
 mostly contested on the mat that is, with 
 the two wrestlers down and each struggling to 
 force both of the two shoulders of the other 
 man to the mat. 
 
 In Grseco-Roman instead of sparring for a 
 hold and being allowed to seize the legs or 
 take practically any grip, the wrestlers only 
 take hold from the head, not lower than the 
 belt or waist, and each wrestler may grasp
 
 238 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 his own wrist, but is not allowed to interlace 
 fingers or the like. The shoulders touching 
 the ground simultaneously constitutes a fall. 
 
 In collar-and-elbow the men wear coats or 
 jackets of canvas, so made that they may be 
 satisfactorily grasped at the collar and elbow 
 by an opponent. In catch-as-catch-can and 
 Graeco-Roman wrestling the contestants wear 
 stockings or sandals or go barefoot. In col- 
 lar-and-elbow they usually wear rubber-soled 
 sandals. 
 
 In collar-and-elbow when a man breaks 
 his hold to save himself he forfeits the fall. 
 A fall consists of two hips and one shoulder 
 or two shoulders and one hip striking the 
 mat simultaneously. In Devonshire wres- 
 tling men usually wrestle in boots or shoes, 
 and any man falling on his knees or putting 
 out his hand to prevent a fall loses the fall. 
 Here again two shoulders and one hip or two 
 hips and one shoulder striking the mat or 
 ground constitute a fall; but the fall must be 
 clean, no part of the opponent's body touch- 
 ing the ground before the fall. This is en- 
 tirely different from the catch-as-catch-can, 
 where most of the wrestling is done on the mat.
 
 WRESTLING AND BOXING 239 
 
 In Devonshire wrestling the hold is by the 
 jacket, and catching by the legs or waistband 
 is a foul. 
 
 In Cumberland and Westmoreland the op- 
 ponents stand up facing each other, each 
 placing his chin on opponent's right shoulder, 
 and each grasping the other around the body, 
 placing his left arm above the right arm of 
 the antagonist. When both men are thus 
 ready the wrestling starts, and, kicking alone 
 barred, they are allowed to use every legiti- 
 mate means to throw each other. Either 
 party breaking his hold while the other still 
 retains his hold loses a fall, and if either man 
 touches the ground with his knee or any 
 other part of his body, though he may still 
 retain his hold, he is the loser. If both men 
 fall to the ground, the one who strikes first or 
 who falls under the other is the loser; but if 
 they fall side by side at the same time it is a 
 "dog fall," and must be wrestled over again. 
 
 In the side hold each man takes hold of 
 his opponent's belt with his right hand and 
 grasps with his other hand the opposite hand 
 of the opponent. The men toss for a choice 
 of holds. A fall consists of striking on the
 
 240 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 back fairly on the ground, or breaking the 
 hold, but the contestants may drop on one or 
 both knees and rise again, but may not seize 
 the legs. The men should be in stocking feet 
 or light sandals. 
 
 The preparation for taking up wrestling 
 consists in securing a mattress or mat of some 
 kind. Two or three can be placed together 
 with a strip of canvas over them. The space 
 occupied ought to be about twenty-four feet 
 square, but less will answer. 
 
 There is no kind of wrestling described 
 above that may not be attractive to boys and 
 may not be indulged in with benefit. 
 
 BOXING 
 
 Boxing, too, is an excellent sport. In fact, 
 in camps and stations during the war this 
 sport furnished the most general competition 
 of all. In addition to this it was found to be 
 the best method of teaching and demonstrat- 
 ing bayonet fighting that could possibly be 
 devised. For that reason it should become 
 more standardized and practised in school 
 and college. It is capital exercise and a 
 good developer of wind and muscle, as well
 
 WRESTLING AND BOXING 241 
 
 as of quickness and agility. Here are some 
 good rules for its government: 
 
 Section 1. In all boxing competitions the ring shall 
 not be less than 16 feet nor more than 24 feet square, 
 and shall be formed of posts and ropes, the latter ex- 
 tending in triple lines, two, three, and four feet from 
 the floor of the ring. The floor of the ring shall extend 
 beyond the lower rope for a distance of not less than 
 two feet. Posts must be properly padded and padding 
 on floor shall be not less than one-half inch in thick- 
 ness. 
 
 Section 2. Competitors must box in regulation ath- 
 letic trunks, reaching to the knee, in shoes without 
 spikes, or in socks, and use boxing-gloves not less than 
 five ounces in weight. 
 
 Section 3. Classes to be: 115 pounds and under; 126 
 pounds and under; 136 pounds and under; 145 pounds 
 and under; 158 pounds and under; 175 pounds and 
 under; and over 175 pounds. 
 
 Section 4. An athlete who fails to compete after 
 entering an event shall be required to furnish a satis- 
 factory excuse for such failure or render himself liable 
 to censure or suspension by the athletic committee. 
 Any athlete who weighs in and then fails to compete 
 without an excuse satisfactory to the athletic commit- 
 tee, shall be suspended for a period of one month. 
 Competitors shall weigh in within three hours of a 
 contest. Weighing in shall cease in each class when 
 the drawing for bouts in that class commences. Com- 
 petitors shall sign their names to a weighing list upon 
 weighing in and whenever demanded by the referee.
 
 242 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 Section 5. The boxing committee shall prepare an 
 official list of competent boxing officials to serve as 
 referees, judges, weighers, timers, announcers, and clerks 
 of boxing. All tournaments must be conducted by 
 officials selected from this official list. 
 
 Section 6. In all competitions the number of rounds 
 to be contested shall be three. The duration of rounds 
 shall be limited to one and one-half minutes each in- 
 stead of three minutes. The interval between each 
 round shall be one minute. The referee may order one 
 additional round as provided in Section 9. 
 
 Section 7. A competitor failing to immediately 
 respond to the call of "time" at the beginning of any 
 round shall be disqualified by the referee and the bout 
 awarded to the opponent. 
 
 Section 8. Immediately before the contest, com- 
 petitors who have weighed in shall draw numbers to 
 determine the bouts they take part in. The contest 
 to be as follows: Have the first preliminary round to 
 reduce the number of competitors to two, four, eight, 
 sixteen, and so on. (Thus, if there are three competi- 
 tors, have one preliminary bout to reduce to two; if 
 five, have one bout to reduce to -/our; if six, have two 
 bouts to reduce to four; if seven, have three bouts to 
 reduce to four; if nine, have one bout to reduce to 
 eight; if ten, have two bouts to reduce to eight; if 
 eleven, have three bouts to reduce to eight, and so on.) 
 In all drawings where Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on 
 are drawn, Number 1 competes with Numbers 2, 3, 4, 
 and so on. When the class is brought to a multiple of 
 2, 4, 8, or 16, the contest proceeds regularly to the final 
 bout. The winner of the final bout receives first prize, 
 and the loser receives second.
 
 WRESTLING AND BOXING 243 
 
 Section 9. The manner of judging shall be as fol- 
 lows : There shall be two judges, stationed on opposite 
 sides of the ring, and a referee in the ring. At the end 
 of the bout each judge shall write the name of the 
 competitor who in his opinion has won, and shall hand 
 same to the announcer. In case the judges agree, the 
 name of the winner is announced, but in case the judges 
 disagree, the announcer shall so inform the referee, 
 who shall thereupon himself decide. If the referee 
 is in doubt, he can order a further round, limited to two 
 minutes. If the judges then fail to agree, the referee 
 must decide in favor of one of the contestants. 
 
 Section 10. The referee shall have power to caution 
 or disqualify a competitor for any infringement of 
 rules, and to end the round in the event of either man 
 being knocked down. The referee, however, shall not 
 count over a competitor who has been knocked down. 
 If such knockdown, in his opinion, shall incapacitate 
 the competitor from continuing, the referee must stop 
 the bout and announce the winner. 
 
 Section 11. The decision of the judges or the referee, 
 as the case may be, shall be final. 
 
 Section 12. In all competitions the decision shall be 
 made in favor of the competitor who displays the best 
 style and obtains the greatest number of points. The 
 points shall be : For attack direct clean hits with the 
 knuckles of either hand on any part of the front or 
 sides of the head or body above the belt. For defense 
 guarding, slipping, ducking, counter-hitting, or get- 
 ting away. Where points are otherwise equal, con- 
 sideration to be given to the man who does the most 
 leading off.
 
 244 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 Section 13 (very important). The referee may dis- 
 qualify a competitor who is boxing unfairly, by kick- 
 ing, gouging, or hitting with the open glove, hitting 
 with the inside or butt of the hand, the wrist or elbow, 
 hitting or catching hold below the waist, hitting when 
 down (one knee and one hand or both knees on the 
 floor), striking an opponent on the back of the neck 
 or on the spine or over the kidneys, holding with one 
 hand and striking, butting with head or shoulder, hit- 
 ting in the clinches, wrestling, or roughing at the ropes, 
 using offensive and scurrilous language, or not obeying 
 the orders of the referee. 
 
 Section 14. Any athlete who competes in a boxing 
 contest of longer duration than provided for in these 
 rules shall be suspended for such period as the athletic 
 committee shall decide. 
 
 Section 15. Nothing shall be used for the protection 
 of the hands and wrist other than soft cotton bandages 
 of not more than three thicknesses and not more than 
 two layers of tape back of the knuckles, hard bandages 
 or substances of any kind being prohibited. Bandages 
 are subject to approval of the referee. 
 
 Section 16. In the event of any questions arising 
 not provided for in these rules, the referee shall have 
 full power to decide such questions and also interpret 
 the rules.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 
 
 THERE is a far better knowledge nowadays 
 regarding the evil of "suddenly breaking 
 training," as it is called, and those who have 
 been exercising as vigorously as they have 
 been called upon to do should remember that 
 the wise plan is to let down gradually. Of 
 course, after the final game, it is only natural 
 that the boy should want a rest temporarily, 
 and it does not hurt him at all to put in a few 
 days of relaxation so far as violent muscular 
 exercise is concerned. He will do well to 
 make up for some of the arrears which possi- 
 bly worrying over an important contest have 
 brought in its wake. Plenty of good sound 
 sleep is the best rejuvenator in that respect. 
 Nor because a boy just at the time of the 
 great contest of his year does worry a little 
 should parents or others consider that unfor- 
 tunate, or charge it up as a detriment to the 
 sport. A boy should have his ambitions and 
 a strong desire to win and to do the very best 
 
 245
 
 246 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 at everything to which he puts his hand or 
 mind. If he does not have such a disposition 
 he is not likely to make any great success of 
 American life as it is to-day. But he cer- 
 tainly should throw off that condition after 
 the contest, and two or three days of interest 
 in other subjects, and good sleep, should find 
 him normal again. 
 
 It is at this period, however, that a boy 
 should think for himself, and he will be wise 
 to understand that he should go on with his 
 general athletic development, even though 
 not spurred to the extreme by the thought of 
 competition. Now is also the time to apply 
 himself more vigorously than ever to his 
 school work, but at the same time in his play 
 hours to take good, vigorous exercise, and on 
 his holidays good long tramps which leave 
 him in a condition to put in nine or ten hours' 
 sound sleep at night. He will be fitting him- 
 self for his winter pastimes by doing this and 
 getting ready for the skating season, with its 
 hockey and, perhaps, also, in the winter, 
 basket-ball. Just a word of caution about 
 this latter. It is usually played in gymnasi- 
 ums where the air is not always the best, and
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 247 
 
 where it never can be as good as the outdoor 
 air. A boy may safely play it, however, if he 
 gets enough out-of-doors besides this, but if he 
 stays indoors all day at his work, and then 
 relies entirely upon an hour of basket-ball in 
 the gymnasium in the evening, he is making a 
 mistake, and he will sooner or later find it 
 out. Basket-ball is an excellent pastime, and 
 played out-of-doors nothing can be said 
 against it, but many a man taking it up as 
 his only exercise for the winter has found, 
 much to his surprise, that late in the season 
 he feels seedy and lacks that vigorous feeling 
 of health that should come to the normal boy 
 who is taking proper care of himself. This is 
 caused by two things: First, the lack of suffi- 
 cient oxygen in the air of a gymnasium, and, 
 secondly, by the usually rather warm condi- 
 tion of that air, which causes more profuse 
 perspiration than is really needed or is advan- 
 tageous. [The rules of basket-ball are too 
 long to reprint here, but most boys are familiar 
 with them.] 
 
 For these reasons, hockey out-of-doors is a 
 better builder-up. Rink hockey has some- 
 thing of the same objection as basket-ball, al-
 
 248 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 though not so marked, as the air is colder 
 and there is usually more of it with a greater 
 admixture of the outside atmosphere. Many 
 boys do not have the opportunity to play 
 these games in the winter, but every boy has 
 a chance to exercise in some way, and plenty 
 of skating and coasting will keep the average 
 boy in first-class condition. And let him re- 
 member never to give up the instructions at 
 the beginning of this series of articles relative 
 to his morning plunge and drink of fresh 
 water, and keeping his mouth and body clean. 
 A certain amount of indoor gymnasium work 
 may be taken on, provided, as stated in the 
 case of basket-ball, that he does not, in view 
 of the fact that he is exercising in the gymna- 
 sium, go without some kind of exercise daily 
 in the open air. As to what the boy may do 
 in the gymnasium, it is always well to adopt 
 some definite plan because that will keep his 
 interest up. If he feels that he is developing 
 himself for some one of his special sports, it 
 will enable him to do better work, and cer- 
 tainly will have the effect of making that 
 work do more for him. 
 
 The general setting-up exercises may be
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 249 
 
 practised as well in his own room with the 
 windows open as in the gymnasium, and there 
 are several of these that are of great benefit 
 not only to the boy's carriage but his ability 
 to perform the work in his other sports. 
 These setting-up exercises are of various kinds, 
 but a list of them will enable the boy to 
 make a selection, not doing them all, perhaps, 
 but picking out various ones and taking five 
 minutes a day at some of them. 
 
 First, let him stand erect with his heels 
 together, and then, bending the knees and 
 lifting the heels, go down, still keeping the 
 body in an upright position until he touches, 
 or almost touches, his heels, coming up again 
 into an erect posture. 
 
 Then let him stand with his feet somewhat 
 more widely apart, extend his arms at right 
 angles to his body with palms down, and then 
 turning at the hips, and at the same time 
 letting the body come forward at the hips, put 
 the fingers of one hand to the ground, or to 
 the floor, keeping the other arm extended up 
 into the air; then let him reverse after com- 
 ing into erect position again and let him 
 touch the ground with the fingers of the
 
 250 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 other hand, bending alternately first one knee 
 and then the other. It will be found when 
 he thus swings forward and puts his right 
 fingers to the floor he should bend his right 
 knee, and reverse this, bending his left knee 
 when he puts the fingers of his left hand to 
 the floor. 
 
 Then let him stand erect once more with 
 his arms straight by his sides, then gradually 
 raising the arms, take a deep inspiration until 
 they are once more horizontally extended 
 from his body; then let him let them down 
 by his sides and slowly let the air out of his 
 lungs. 
 
 Once more raising his arms to the level of 
 the shoulders, let him bring his hands together 
 in front of him, and then slowly separate 
 them as he once more draws in a long breath. 
 When his arms are back again on the level of 
 his shoulders, let him, while still holding his 
 breath, bring them down flat against his 
 sides and then let him let the air out of his 
 lungs. Let him then stand some three feet 
 from the wall and, raising his hands once 
 more extended straight out from the shoulders, 
 turn and lean forward, touching the tips of his
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 251 
 
 fingers to the wall, and then by a spring from 
 his fingers push himself back on to his feet 
 once more. He can do this first with one hand 
 and then with the other; and try gradually 
 extending the distance from the wall until it 
 is with difficulty that he can push himself 
 back into balance once more. 
 
 These exercises help the legs, the lungs, the 
 muscles around the waist, and particularly 
 give the boy a well-rounded shoulder. They 
 have the advantage also that they may be 
 practised without any gymnasium apparatus, 
 and if they are persevered in will give almost 
 any boy a good symmetrical development. 
 
 Here is a description of a regular standard 
 "daily dozen" set-up, used very largely in 
 the navy and by aviation trainers, which will 
 keep any boy in good condition when taken 
 in connection with his sports. It is a muscle 
 stretching which creates suppleness and re- 
 sistive force. 
 
 THE DAILY DOZEN SET-UP 
 
 The DAILY DOZEN SET-UP consists of twelve exer- 
 cises which, for ease in memorizing, are divided into 
 four groups of three exercises each. Each exercise
 
 252 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 or movement is given a name, and the names of all 
 the movements of a group commence with the same 
 letter, thus: 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
 III 
 
 IV 
 
 1. HANDS 
 2. HIPS 
 3. HEAD 
 
 1. GRIND 
 
 2. GRATE 
 3. GRASP 
 
 1. CRAWL 
 2. CURL 
 3. CROUCH 
 
 1. WAVE 
 
 2. WEAVE 
 3. WING 
 
 These exercises are not difficult or exhausting, and 
 do not demand great strength for proper execution, 
 but they are designed, both from a scientific and a 
 practical point of view, to give exactly the right amount 
 of exercise to every muscle of the body. They are 
 intended to promote suppleness and especially to 
 strengthen those muscles which are seldom brought 
 into play in ordinary daily life. A conscientious fif- 
 teen minutes a day with the DAILY DOZEN SET-UP 
 will soon do more for a man than any amount of skil- 
 ful physical feats or "strong-man stunts." When 
 one first practises these movements, their effect will 
 be felt on the little-used muscles of the neck, back, 
 and stomach; yet they will not leave the pronounced 
 muscular fatigue which follows the ordinary exercises, 
 and which is of more harm than good. 
 
 Any setting-up exercises should be preparatory; that 
 is, make men ready for the serious work of their day, and 
 in no way exhaust any portion of their vitality. This 
 modern "short-hand" method of setting-up leaves men in 
 an exhilarated condition, and, instead of taking any- 
 thing out of them, prepares the body for any kind of work 
 that is required.
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 253 
 
 Each exercise starts from the position of Attention: 
 
 1. Heels on the same line, and as near each other as 
 
 the conformation of the man permits. 
 
 2. Feet turned out equally and forming with each 
 
 other an angle of about 60 degrees. 
 
 3. Knees straight without stiffness. 
 
 4. Body erect on hips, inclined a little forward; shoul- 
 
 ders square and falling equally. 
 
 5. Arms and hands hanging naturally, backs of the 
 
 hands outward; thumbs along the seams of 
 the trousers; elbows near the body. 
 
 6. Head erect and straight to the front, chin slightly 
 
 drawn in without constraint, eyes straight to 
 the front. See Figure 1. 
 
 The Leader takes a position facing the men, who 
 should be so placed as to give ample rooms! or unham- 
 pered movement. 
 
 Each movement should be executed in time with 
 the orders or counting of the Leader which should, 
 with the exception of the Speed Test, which is a catch 
 exercise, be slow and measured. These exercises do 
 not depend upon snap for their effect upon steady, 
 deliberate strain of the muscles. Any tendency toward 
 hurried, careless execution should be immediately 
 discouraged by the Leader who should, at all times, 
 insist upon uniformity of movement. 
 
 In the following instruction, the preparatory com- 
 mands are in capitals, thus: ORDER. The commands 
 of execution are in italics, thus: Hands. Explanation 
 of each movement is given in parentheses.
 
 254 
 
 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 GROUP I 
 
 HANDS: READY: cross. 
 
 ORDER: hands. 
 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 1. HANDS 
 
 (At cross, arms are extended 
 laterally and horizontally, 
 palms down. See Figure 
 
 2.) 
 
 (At hands, the arms are 
 brought back to a position 
 of Attention close to the 
 sides. See Figure 1. Espe- 
 cial care should be taken to 
 see that whenever, through- 
 out the exercises, this posi- 
 tion is taken as at the 
 completion of each exercise 
 -full control is retained 
 over the arms, and the hands 
 should not be allowed to slap 
 against the sides audibly.) 
 
 (At rest, always return to a 
 position of Attention. In 
 this case there would be no 
 change.) 
 
 HIPS: READY: cross. 
 ORDER: hips. 
 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 2. HIPS 
 
 (At hips, the hands are placed 
 on the hips with shoulders, 
 elbows, and thumbs well 
 back. See Figure 3.)
 
 1. Hands. 
 
 7. Grasp. 
 
 8. Craw 
 (upright position). 
 
 10. Curl 
 (curl position). 
 
 THE DAILY
 
 16. Weave (combination 
 turn and bend). 
 
 17. Win)? 
 (stretch position). 
 
 18. Wing 
 (wii-g position). 
 
 DOZEN SET-UP.
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 255 
 
 3. HEAD 
 HEAD: READY: cross. 
 
 ORDER: head. (At head, the hands are 
 placed behind the neck, in- 
 dex-finger-tips just touch- 
 ing, and elbows forced 
 back. See Figure 4.) 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 The above exercises should be executed but a few 
 times each, being preparatory to the Speed Test. 
 
 SPEED TEST 
 
 In this, the preparatory command, ORDER, is omitted 
 and the Leader gives the commands, Head, hips, hands, 
 etc., in sharp succession, varying them, and occasionally 
 repeating a command in a manner calculated to catch 
 the unwary napping. 
 
 SPEED TEST * 
 
 SPEED, TEST, OMITTING THE WORD "ORDER": hands, 
 hips, head, etc. 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 The length of time devoted to this movement is 
 left to the discretion of the Leader. 
 
 GROUP II 
 
 1. GRIND 
 GRIND: READY: cross. 
 
 PALMS: turn. (At turn, the palms are 
 turned up with backs of 
 * This should be performed with snap and speed.
 
 256 
 
 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 ORDER: grind, 
 one 
 two 
 three 
 four 
 five 
 to 
 ten. 
 
 Reverse, 
 one 
 to 
 ten 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 hands down and arms 
 forced back as far as pos- 
 sible. See Figure 5.) 
 
 (At grind, and in time with 
 the Leader's measured 
 counting, circles of twelve 
 inches diameter are de- 
 scribed with the finger- 
 tips which move forward 
 and downward, then 
 backward and upward, 
 the arms remaining stiff, 
 and pivoting from the 
 shoulders. On the back- 
 ward movement of the 
 circle, the arms should be 
 forced back to the limit. 
 A complete circle should 
 be described at each 
 count.) 
 
 (At reverse, the same process 
 should be gone through, 
 the circle being described 
 in the opposite direction.) 
 
 Ten circles are described in each direction. 
 
 2. GRATE 
 
 GRATE: READY: cross. 
 ORDER: grate, 
 one 
 
 (At grate, and as the Leader 
 counts one, the arms are
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 257 
 
 two. slowly raised, as a deep 
 
 inhalation is taken, to an 
 
 angle of 45 degrees from 
 horizontal, and at the 
 same time the heels are 
 raised till the weight of 
 the body rests on the 
 balls of the feet. See 
 Figure 6. At two, the 
 arms are returned to cross, 
 as all air is exhaled, and 
 the heels are lowered to a 
 normal position. Care 
 should be taken to see 
 that the arms are not al- 
 lowed to drop below the 
 level of the shoulders or 
 rise more than 45 de- 
 grees.) 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 The arms should be raised and lowered ten times. 
 
 3. GRASP 
 
 GRASP: READY: cross. 
 
 ORDER : grasp. (At grasp, the position head, 
 
 one is taken. See Figure 4. 
 
 two With head up and eyes 
 
 three front, and in time with 
 
 four the Leader's counting, 
 one, two, three, four, the 
 
 one body is bent forward from
 
 58 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 i 
 
 two the waist, as far as pos- 
 
 three sible. See Figure 7. The 
 
 four body is returned to up- 
 
 right in the same number 
 one of counts and at an un- 
 
 two usually slow one is bent as 
 
 far back as possible from 
 
 the waist, being returned 
 to upright at two. Care 
 should be taken to see 
 that this motion is sus- 
 tained and not jerky.) 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 The entire movement should be repeated five times. 
 
 GROUP III 
 
 1. CRAWL 
 
 CRAWL: READY: cross. (At crawl, the left palm is 
 ORDER: crawl. turned up and as the 
 one Leader counts one, two, 
 
 two three, four, the left arm is 
 
 three raised and the right arm 
 
 four lowered laterally until at 
 
 four the right arm should 
 one be in a position of hands, 
 
 two and the left arm should 
 
 three be extended straight up 
 
 four with the palm to the 
 
 right. See Figure 8. 
 
 Then, as the Leader
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 259 
 
 counts one, two, three, the 
 body is slowly bent side- 
 wise from the waist, the 
 right hand slipping down 
 the right leg to or beyond 
 the knee and the left arm 
 bending in a half circle 
 over the head until the 
 fingers touch the right 
 ear. See Figure 9. At 
 four the position of cross 
 is quickly resumed, and 
 as the Leader commences 
 to count again, the RIGHT 
 palm is turned up and the 
 exercise completed in the 
 opposite direction.) 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 The entire movement should be repeated five times. 
 
 2. CURL 
 
 CURL: READY: cross. (In this movement, at cross, 
 
 the feet are spread until 
 the heels are about 
 twelve inches apart. The 
 left foot remains station- 
 ary, the right foot being 
 moved to accomplish 
 this.) 
 
 ORDER: curl. (At curl, and as the Leader 
 one counts one, two, three,
 
 260 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 two four, the fists and lower 
 
 three arms are bent DOWN from 
 
 four the elbows which are 
 
 kept pressed back, and 
 one the fists are curled into 
 
 two the arm pits. This posi- 
 
 three tion should be reached at 
 
 four three, when the head and 
 
 SHOULDERS should be 
 one forced back very strong- 
 
 two ly, reaching the limit of 
 
 three motion at/owr. See Fig- 
 
 four ure 10. The Leader 
 
 again counts one, two, 
 three, four. At one the 
 arms are extended 
 straight forward from the 
 shoulders, palms down. 
 See Figure 11. At two 
 the arms begin to fall and 
 the body bends forward 
 from the waist, head up 
 and eyes front, until, at 
 four, the body has 
 reached the limit of mo- 
 tion and the arms have 
 passed the sides and have 
 been forced back and (as 
 the trunk assumes a hori- 
 zontal position) up as far 
 as possible. See Figure 
 18. (Note that in this
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 261 
 
 Figure feet are together, 
 which is incorrect, for 
 this exercise.) This is 
 the wing position. For 
 a third time, the Leader 
 counts one, two, three, 
 four, as the body is 
 straightened, reaching an 
 upright position with 
 arms straight forward at 
 three. Cross is resumed 
 &tfour. As the body is 
 straightened from the 
 wing position, a full 
 breath should be taken, 
 the lungs being filled to 
 the maximum as cross is 
 resumed at the comple- 
 tion of the movement. 
 This breath should be re- 
 tained during the curl 
 movement, and exhaled 
 as the wing position is 
 taken. Inhale through 
 the nose.) 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 The entire movement should be repeated five times. 
 
 3. CROUCH 
 
 CROUCH: READY: cross. (In this movement, at cross, 
 
 the feet are spread until
 
 262 
 
 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 ORDER: crouch. 
 
 one 
 
 two 
 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 the heels are about 
 twelve inches apart. The 
 left foot remains station- 
 ary, the right foot being 
 moved to accomplish 
 this.) 
 
 (At crouch, the knees are 
 bent and, with the weight 
 on the toes, the body is 
 lowered nearly to the 
 heels, keeping the trunk 
 as nearly erect as pos- 
 sible. See Figure 12. 
 This is done at one and at 
 two the upright position 
 is resumed.) 
 
 The entire movement should be repeated ten times. 
 
 GROUP IV 
 
 1. WAVE 
 
 WAVE: 
 
 READY: 
 ORDER: 
 
 cross. 
 
 wave. 
 
 one 
 
 two 
 
 three 
 
 four 
 
 (At wave, the arms are 
 stretched straight above 
 the head, fingers inter- 
 laced and arms touching 
 the ears. See Figure 13. 
 Then, as the Leader 
 counts one, two, three, 
 four, a complete circle, of
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 
 
 263 
 
 about twenty-four inches 
 diameter, is described 
 with the hands, the body 
 bending only at the 
 waist. The trunk should 
 be bent as far backward 
 as forward, and as far to 
 one side as to the other. 
 The body should be for- 
 ward at one, to the right 
 at two, backward at three, 
 and to the left at four. 
 The motion should be 
 steady and not in jerks.) 
 Reverse. (At reverse, the same move- 
 one ment should be repeated 
 etc. in the opposite direction, 
 
 i. e., to the left.) 
 
 ORDER: rest. (At ORDER, the body 
 
 should be brought to an 
 erect position, stretching 
 the arms up as far as pos- 
 sible; and at rest, the 
 arms should drop slowly, 
 laterally, to a hands posi- 
 tion.) 
 
 Five circles should be described in each direction. 
 
 2. WEAVE 
 
 WEAVE: READY: cross. (In this movement, at cross, 
 
 the feet are spread until
 
 264 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 the heels are about 
 twelve inches apart. 
 The left foot remains 
 stationary, the right foot 
 being moved to accom- 
 plish this.) 
 
 ORDER: weave (At weave, and as the Lead- 
 one er counts one, two, three, 
 two four, the body is turned 
 three to the left from the hips, 
 four the arms maintaining the 
 same relation to the 
 one shoulders as at cross, un- 
 two til at one, the face is to 
 three the left, the right arm 
 four pointing straight forward 
 (in relation to the feet) 
 and the left arm straight 
 backward. See Figure 
 14. At two, the body is 
 bent from the waist so 
 that the right arm goes 
 down and the left up, un- 
 til, at three, the fingers of 
 the right hand touch the 
 ground midway between 
 the feet. The left arm 
 should then be pointing 
 straight up, with the face 
 still to the left. The 
 right knee must be slight- 
 ly bent to accomplish
 
 KEEPING FIT IN WINTER 265 
 
 this position. See Figure 
 15. At four, the position 
 of cross is resumed and as 
 the Leader again counts 
 one, two, three, four, the 
 same movement is re- 
 peated with the left hand 
 touching the ground this 
 time. Throughout the 
 exercise, care should be 
 taken that the arms re- 
 main in the same straight 
 line, making no separate 
 movement, but changing 
 their position only as the 
 trunk and shoulders are 
 moved and carry the 
 arms along. After this 
 exercise has been thor- 
 oughly mastered, the 
 turning and bending 
 movements made on the 
 counts, one and two, 
 should be combined, i. e., 
 instead of making the en- 
 tire turn, as described 
 above, before bending, 
 turn and bend simultan- 
 eously. See Figure 16.) 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 The entire movement should be repeated ten times.
 
 266 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 3. WING 
 
 WING: READY: cross. 
 
 ORDER: wing. (At wing, and as the Leader 
 one counts one, two, three, 
 
 two four, the arms are raised 
 
 three laterally until they are 
 
 four extended straight up- 
 
 ward at one. See Figure 
 one 17. At two, the arms be- 
 
 two gin to fall forward and 
 
 three downward and the body 
 
 four bends forward from the 
 
 waist, head up and eyes 
 front, until at four, the 
 body has reached the 
 limit of motion and the 
 arms have passed the 
 sides and have been 
 forced back and (as the 
 trunk assumes a horizon- 
 tal position) up as far as 
 possible. See Figure 18. 
 As the Leader again 
 counts one, two, three, 
 four, the body is straight- 
 ened, reaching an upright 
 position, with arms ver- 
 tically extended, at three. 
 At four, the arms are low- 
 ered to a cross position 
 but with palms up and
 
 267 
 
 arms and shoulders 
 forced hard back. Very 
 slow counting is essential 
 to the correct execution 
 of this exercise. All air 
 should be forced from the 
 lungs as the body bends 
 forward to the wing posi- 
 tion, and they should be 
 filled to capacity as the 
 body is straightened and 
 the arms brought down. 
 Inhale through the nose.) 
 ORDER: rest. 
 
 The entire movement should be repeated five times.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 CONDENSED FOOTBALL PLAN 
 
 As it is impossible within the scope of this 
 volume to deal in detail with such a matter 
 as the full instructions for coaching that most 
 popular of our fall sports, football, we are 
 giving what will prove the most serviceable 
 advice, namely, a condensed schedule show- 
 ing how to handle spring practice or the pre- 
 liminary practice in the fall. 
 
 GENERAL PROGRAMME FOOTBALL SQUAD 
 
 SPRING OR EARLY FALL FOOTBALL PRACTICE 
 
 MONDAY 
 
 tt Candidates for Back Field. Punting, catching 
 punts, goal-kicking, place and drop kicking ten to 
 fifteen minutes. 
 
 All Candidates for Line. Falling upon the ball- 
 five to ten minutes. Charging five minutes. 
 
 Squad is divided, the backs practising forward pass- 
 ing and interfering (light), while the linemen practise 
 blocking five to fifteen minutes. Backs also work on 
 standing dummy practice, keeping their feet. 
 
 268
 
 CONDENSED FOOTBALL PLAN 269 
 
 Linemen practise "duck walk,"* while the backs 
 practise starting five to fifteen minutes. 
 
 Ends join the squad of backs and practise passing, 
 also work on the standing dummy. Keeping their feet 
 when striking it, while the other linemen practise start- 
 ing five to ten minutes. 
 
 TUESDAY 
 
 Punting, catching, goal-kicking, place and drop kick- 
 ing, while the squad is gathering ten to twenty 
 minutes. 
 
 Backs practise forward passing and interfering on 
 dummy, while the linemen practice breaking through 
 and charging each other five to fifteen minutes. 
 
 Linemen tackle each other and do the duck walk, 
 while the backs fall upon the ball stationary and roll- 
 ing two going after it at once five to fifteen minutes. 
 
 Running down under punts five to ten minutes. 
 
 Running through signals ten to twenty minutes. 
 
 WEDNESDAY 
 
 Same practice as on Monday and Tuesday, while 
 squad is gathering. 
 
 Open field running with the ball and phantom tack- 
 ling ten to fifteen minutes. After first week this can 
 be real tackling with three men in line, five yards apart, 
 for the runner to carry the ball through. 
 
 Backs and ends practise passing and catching, while 
 
 * " Duck Walk." Bend the knees, keeping body straight. Then 
 walk, or rather waddle, along in this position.
 
 270 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 the linemen practise falling upon the ball in competi- 
 tion ten to fifteen minutes. 
 
 Duck walk by linemen five minutes. 
 
 Running through signals ten to fifteen minutes. 
 
 THURSDAY 
 The same programme as on Wednesday. 
 
 FRIDAY 
 
 Punting, catching punts, goal-kicking, and quick 
 place or drop kicking, the same as upon other days. 
 
 Practise falling upon the ball, tackling, and charg- 
 ing, running down on punts, with especial attention to 
 slowing up before reaching runner. 
 
 Short but fast signal practice. Backs kick quickly 
 from close behind line. 
 
 PRELIMINARY PRACTICE DUTIES 
 Detail a man to watch each job, if possible. 
 
 Kicking. Charging. Interference. Catching. Snapping. 
 Quarter Play 
 
 Covering Kicks. Forward Passing. Blocking. Use of 
 Hands. Tackling Backs; Line. Protecting Kicker
 
 ATHLETES' CODE
 
 ATHLETES' CODE 
 
 I SHOULD like to impress upon every boy 
 who reads this book one most important fact, 
 and that fact is this, that the boy is the 
 most promising member of the community. 
 Professor Sumner, that noted social-science 
 scholar, has said that it is almost impossible 
 to accomplish much in changing or improv- 
 ing the man of thirty; that his habits and 
 ways are by that age so formed that it is 
 doubtful whether in the main they may be 
 materially altered. But the younger genera- 
 tion is the promising material, the material 
 from which the structure of the coming so- 
 ciety must be builded. It is that material 
 that may be moulded. And every youth 
 should remember that no amount of labor 
 and care and foresight on the part of his 
 elders can accomplish much except through 
 the willingness and desire of the man him- 
 self to develop, to acquire strength of mind 
 and body, courage, and manliness. 
 
 273
 
 274 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 This same gentleman, Professor Sumner, 
 has supplied a test to which he subjected 
 those who would offer an innovation in meth- 
 ods. When any one came to him with a prop- 
 osition, he asked him three questions: What 
 is it? How do you know it? What of it? 
 That is what each man must put before him- 
 self. 
 
 We wish to have every man in the service 
 or in the school take his athletics in the high- 
 est spirit. He should in the best sense "play 
 the game" fairly, honestly, and earnestly. 
 He begins at the beginning with the sup- 
 position that everything is to be learned; he 
 starts at the bottom, hence it is that when 
 we send the athlete out into the world he is 
 ready to begin the same way, and not expect 
 to know it all, or to aspire to responsible 
 positions without long and earnest work in 
 the form of training. Those who think that 
 the remarkable athlete is spoiled by the 
 adulation of the newspapers and his fellows, 
 say that he expects unusual or undue pre- 
 ferment when he goes out into the world, 
 must, it seems to me, regard him as un- 
 usually in need of brains. He is only sepa-
 
 ATHLETES' CODE 275 
 
 rated from the outside world by the class 
 who went before him, and he has seen the 
 stars of the previous class go out and work 
 immediately as office boys. Can one suppose 
 for a moment that he does not take this les- 
 son to heart and does not fully realize that 
 he must do the same? In fact, he is better 
 prepared by his athletic experience in school 
 and college to take up the drudgery at the 
 bottom than a man who has not acquired 
 exactly that experience in sports in his col- 
 lege days. 
 
 Young men need strenuous games at the 
 time of life when they are fitted for them. 
 Their very virility depends upon this, and 
 the greater their desire for such games the 
 better the signs of their future development 
 in integrity, strength, and masterful pur- 
 poses. But they must not use their powers as 
 bullies and tyrants, and the organized games 
 prevent this. 
 
 Times may change, but not nature. Let 
 not the parent think that his later experiments 
 in diet, in more mature life, mean that there 
 will never be a desire for the same "cakes
 
 276 ATHLETES ALL 
 
 and candy" that he enjoyed when he was 
 young. 
 
 "For lo, the same old myths that made the early stage 
 
 successes, 
 
 Still hold the boards, and still are played with new 
 effects and dresses." 
 
 Nature will always smile at the desire to 
 make the weak youth the popular hero of 
 the young man's world. She has embedded 
 in the marrow of the boy's bones the admira- 
 tion for physical prowess, because she wishes 
 the boy to become physically developed be- 
 fore a great strain is thrown upon his whole 
 mental processes. It is not the physical 
 bravery alone that excites admiration. It is 
 the capacity to overcome the feeling of de- 
 pression that ensues in the face of impending 
 failure. The sound pluck, or call it what you 
 will, that leads the boy or man to fight on 
 heroically when the other side is ahead is a 
 splendid asset, not alone for the man who 
 goes into the service of his country on the 
 battle-field, but also for civilian advance- 
 ment.
 
 ATHLETES' CODE 277 
 
 If one examines into the real facts, he finds 
 that in the days before organized athletics, it 
 was not studies that filled up this gap, but 
 town and gown riots and dissipation of many 
 forms. Athletics teach, also, team work in 
 opposition to individualism and selfish pur- 
 poses, and it is working for others or for a 
 common cause that is necessary for the de- 
 velopment of the best forces in military life 
 and also for municipal and civic life. 
 
 Play fair, but play hard; win if you can, 
 lose if you must, but take a whipping with- 
 out whimpering. Thus, and thus only, will a 
 youth make of himself what we all admire, 
 and what we class as a thoroughbred, and, 
 started right, he will always be a thorough- 
 bred.
 
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 HAY 15 1953 
 
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