Athletics and Football (extract)

INTRODUCTION xvi i pen to attempt any history of athletic sporttshe; follovv- ing pages will, I am sure, contain records attractive both to the athlete andthe public, of those who, in years gone by and down to the present time, have excelled on the road, the turf, and the running-path. I wish for a few moments to regard the subject from the point of view of the consideration of the advantages to be gained in the practice of athletics, and, secondly, to make a few suggestions as to the best mode in which these advan­ tages may be increased so as to be of still greater utility and benefit. We are brought face to face in England, andother populous countries, with the difficult problem which is called into existence by over-population, andthe utter absence of space and opportunity forthe youth of the present day to find sufficient scope for his energies. The tendency to crowd into the curriculum boof th school and college alarge and ever-increasing number of subjects has rendered the strain of education far heavier than in times gone by, and this tension will certainly increase. In old days, when a fair grounding in Greek and Latin, or a moderate knowledge in mathematics, wasa sufficient preparation for almost any profession (the bril­ liant few being left to excel in those subjects bythe sheer force of their natural abilities), thceulture of the body and the simultaneous development of physical and mental strength were of less importance, or at any rate their value was less recognised. I need scarcely remind those who lead these pages that, thirty years ago, it was the exception for a senior wrangler or a senior classic to a