Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-03-27
MORE ATHLETICS FOR YALE.
Policy at New Haven Is to Increase
Rather Than Diminish Sports.

l
Rather Than Diminish Sports.
New Haven, March 27.-The Yale
Alumni Weekly this week in dis
| cussing Harvard's attitude on ath-
letics favors more athletics, new
boathouse, more football elevens
and baseball mines. 1t says:
I'VE look upon the latest phase OF
the Harvard athletic situation as a
purely Harvard matter and as one
that can hardly concern Yale or Yale
policies, except in so far as it af-
fects the relation which Harvard
bears to Yale on the field and water.
No such effort as Harvard is making
to curtail sports is to be made at
Yale, at least, where in spite of COM
mon report to the contrary athletics
and athletic policies do not take up
the major part of the time and
thought of the undergraduates and
of the faculty.
Each university must look upon
these perennial questions of athletic
policy from its own peculiar point of
view and decide them on local
grounds. Thus, for instance. the
athletic situation at Yale unquestion-
ably calls for entirely different treat
ment than that which the Harvard
faculty thinks Is best for Harvard.
Yale does not believe in too much
athletics, certainly not too much in
tercollegiate athletics. Nor Is there
any feeling at Yale that there is too
mu~l intercollegiate athletics at the
present time in her own schedules.
University spirit is unque9tionably
fostered by numerous intercollegiate
contests, athletes have some goal to
work for and the Saturday afternoon
games during the season keep men
in New Haven and away from New
York. Alumni interest and pride
in the university is undoubtedly re-
newed and rekindled by intercolle-
giate victories. What Yale needs is
not curtailment of these not too
many intercollegiate games but a de-
velopment of athletic contests among
the undergraduates themselves and
on their own field.
What Yale needs to-day. and
needs badly is sufficient athletic
equipment 10 make it possible for
less, though not necessarily into in
tercollegiate athletics. We have
never been a strong believer in an
athletic system that develops one
crew, one baseball nine, one football
team. But we do believe thorough
ly in system that will give many
crews and many baseball and foot
ball teams.
There should he at Yale in tho
fall many football elevens, repre-
senting dormitories, classes or clubs.
If American football would be too
severe for the majority of these men,
the association game, now being in
troduced at Yale, could take its
place. In the spring there should be
dozens of dormitory, class or depart
ment baseball mines competing for
the university championship.
"A Start has been made in that
line this year. There should not be
one varsity crew and substitutes
There should be many crews. made
up of men from departments, classes,
eampuses or dormitOries. These
things can come at Yale, but they
cannot come until Yale has an ade-
quate boathouse, enough shells, and
a large enough athletic field for dog
ems of teams to play on during the
season. The present boathouse is so
small that scores of men are turned
away from rowing every year be-
cause of the lack of space for the ex-
ercise.
There are hut three or four
crowded baseball diamonds and foot
ball gridirOns at Yale. This neces-
sarily crowds out of participation i'm
games hundreds of men who
desire to go i'm for them and creates
the one team system, which is not
the best result that should be attain
ed.
"Harvard's radical move toward
the curtailment of intercollegiate
athletics may be quite right for Har-
ward. We do not presume 10 .ques-
ton that fact. But its connection
for Yale is very decidedly in a diff
ferent direction. Yale's very decided
need is not to curtail intercollegiate
contests. II is TO make possible a
wider interest and participation in
athletic games for the large number
of well balanced and all around un-
who are now unable to
participate in them and who are
forced into idleness while varsity
eleyens and crews are developed out