Athletic Training

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION :xx1 ger ·that young boys especially will have a tendency to overdo things, to overtax their strength. I have continually been asked by parents and teachers in the lower grades just how much and how severe athletic competi– tion they should allow a growing boy. This is not an easy question to answer. The ideal way for boys under sixteen years of age is to "play at athletics," and I have never en– couraged boys under this age to train for any athletic competition as one generally under– stands training. I do not mean that a boy under sixteen years of age should not compete in track and field events. Such competition will do him no harm, if he is careful not to run too great a distance or engage in other competition of a severe nature. A boy twelve years old or less should not be allowed to run more than ~~O yards, and that not very often. A boy fourteen or fifteen years of age may run a quarter of a mile on .a cinder track, or he may run twice this distance on turf. I say this, not to discourage boys from being athletic, but that their parents and teachers may be sensible in controlling their athletics so that they will run no risks of injuring