Athletic Training

166 ATHLETIC TRAINING preventable causes. Football is a strenuous game, I know, but under the new rules, and ·when men are properly trained, the possibil– ity of injuries is reduced to a minimum. I have always contended that with the super– vision football receives at the big universi– ties it can be played with virtually no serious risk. In proof of this let me point to the fact that there has never been a fatal injury among the thousands of men who have played the game at Harvard, Yale, Pennsylvania, Prince– ton, and Cornell. The few fatal accidents, as well as nearly all the serious injuries which can be traced to football, are due to negli– gence on the · part of players and coaches. The most prolific cause of injuries is that players will participate in games without suf– ficient · training or when in an injured condi– tion. I have always avoided accidents by refusing to let a boy or young man play un– less -he was thoroughly trained and free from minor injuries. Another frequent cause of in– juries is the practice of letting immature boys play against teams out of their class. Such meetings. are certain to result in injuries, and from my experience I know that practically