Athletics (British Sports Library)

FOR PARENTS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 31 sixteen and eighteen to the 12-lb. shot. As re– gards hammer throwing, boys should not - be allowed to practise this event at all, not even with an 8-lb. hammer, before they are fifteen. Even up to eighteen years of age boys should practise this sport in the strictest moderation, and only the strongest of them should use the 12-lb. hammer. The full weight 16-lb. hammer and shot are for the use of the strong, mature athlete only. On the whole, I should say that the javelin and the discus are far more suitable to the immature strength of the schoolboy athlete. In all events it is essential that those who are entrusted with the athletic education of schoolboys should see to it that the youngsters are taught the right way of doing things from the very commence– ment. Herein lies Great Britain's best hope of salvation in the fields of international athletic competition. One so often hears it said, in connection with the marking or laying out of grounds for athletic sports at preparatory schools, " They're only little kids, that's good enough for them." That is all wrong. In point of fact, nothing is too good for the most juvenile of athletes. Bad habits, acquired in the early, impressionable years, are the hardest to eradicate afterwards, and the man who will take the trouble will, if he has the genius for imparting his