Athletic Sports (extract)

The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man athletics approaches a higher standard the time required for development is necessa­ rily lengthened. For this reason those who are naturally strong and vigorous, or who have inherited or acquired the qualifica­ tions requisite to success in a given sport, are in great demand. The college clubs look to the academies, the academies to the schools, the schools to homes and firesides, to furnish candidates for athletic honors, while many of the city clubs are eager to absorb members from any source that is capable of supplying them with good athletic material. (v.) By depriving the non-athletic class of every incentive to physical exertion. So long as accomplishing a feat, winning a prize, and breaking arecord, are the only objects of systematic physical training, aman who lacks the requisite qualifications of a suc­ cessful athlete is likely to despair at the outset. Ask the members of any athletic organization why they do not take an ac­ tive interest in the sports their club is sup­ posed to foster, and you will be told that the standard is too high for them, that they cannot spare the time for practice, or that they are too light or too heavy, and would not be a credit to the club. In our colleges few men practise run- 8