Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-24
GRlLLS SPORT
OF STUDENTS
HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL is
OPPOSED TO ATHLETICS
SAYS PRESENT SYSTEM HARMS
THOSE WHO PARTICIPATE
Meeting of Teachers Institute Scene
of Severe Arrangement of Modern
Physical Culture Training
in Schools

school athletics were veheue iuy de-
nounced yesterday afternoon in an ad-
dress delivered by f. d. Wagner prin-
cipal of the Ventura high school, in
the auditorium of the Olive high
school at the first meeting of the high
school teachers of South California
held during the present institute.
The subject of Mr.. Wagner's address
was Effect of Athletics on Char
acter," and although he was rather Sc
we're in his accusations against ath-
letes of the different high schools and
colleges when he said that many of
them committed forgery, assault and
battery and many other crimes to
bring victory to their school, his read
ing was very interesting. He said in
part:
play in its many forms has ever
been recognized as most potent fac
tor in the development of strong,
sturdy characters The tendency in re-
cent years has been to overes innate
that value Of play as a force for good.
Physical activity has come TO be re-
garded as the character making force.
eff all the claims made for athletics
were true at all times and under all
circumstances and if athletics will do
for all students as is claimed, then
the teachers had better desert their
class rooms for at least half the school
hours and devote at least half their
souls energy to one or more forms of
physical training. Teachers should
not be hired so much for their schol-
astic training as for their ability to
play"
MIR. Wagner called the attention of
those present to the scenes in San
Francisco after the big games between
Berkeley and Stanford. Follow the
athlete and his companion to the dens
of vice and crime and then tell me
Is play a school of ethiCs?'
"Sordid motives have degraded play
into a means of advertising business.
High schools and college students
spend precious school hours in prac-
ticing school yells and IN holding
school rallies, all for the sake of maxi
ing a big showing in an interscnolastlc
Z combat. The hard-earned cash of
parents is used to defray expenses in
going TO and from games, in buying
pehnants, pins. ribbons-and what for?
Simply for the advertising that comes
from such efforts.
Must Obtain Results
coaches have been hired and paid
with the same end in view. The hire
ling is obliged to make his team come
through regardless of the damage done
to the health or morals of the team or
of the individuals taking part in the
contests. A careful study viii prove
that a large percentage of young wom-
en- and men close their high school
career with some organic weakness
brought on by the excessive strain anu
excitement of interscholastic contests.
Now any system of play or sport that
weakens the body, that sacrihces our
young people on the altar Of school or
community, that handicaps them in the
race of life for the temporary glory
of a coach or a town or school is
harmful in the extreme and needs TO
be redeemed from the commercialism,
the greed which now results in ugly
interscholastic COmbats and deadly IN
terscholastic rlvalIies.
1T speaks not at all well for the
wisdom or ingenuity of the teachers
and principals and superintendents of
our schools to admit by iuaction or
otherwise our inability, our utter help
lessness to bring the blessings of
wholesome play to every pupil, every
student in our schools from the kin
dergarten to the university.
with interscholastic contests elm
mated or greatly restricted, with the
removal of artificial stimuli that slim
ulates the few only, with the develop
ment of a spirit OF cooperation as well
as q spirit of competition, with an en-
larged conception Of the teachers op-
portunity, with the interest and help
of all actively patriotic students and
with the awakening of those VINO are
not now alive to their duty We shall
see the dawn Of a new era in athletics
an era when the body and tn soul
will be considered of more worth than
all of the achievements, all Of the We
tories and all of the trophies Won on
the athletic field"
Owing to the absence Of Charles II. !
Covell, who was to have followed Mr. |
Wagner, Mr.. Leroy d. Ely of Pasa- !
dena opened the discussion of The sub !
ject While Mr.. Ely believes in the !
abolition of athletics TO a certain eX-
tent, he does not go S far as did Mr. |
Wagner. He believes ii is better for
a college man to be on football team |
for ten weeks and not be able to smoke |
or drink for that period of time than
to keep him out of athletics and let |
him drink and smoke for thirty-siX |
weeks or more.
Mr.. Ely also brought out the fact |
that when q student does not have TO (
appear at football, baseball or on the |
track for practice he is playing pool |
in one of the downtown pool rooms |
(Which is better he said, to have 4
this same student on the teams or have /
him playing poole" 1t is fact" said |
Mr.. Ely, THAT a high grade of schol- |
arship is attained by those participate |
ing in the athletics Of the schools"
Other speakers on the program were |
E. l.. Hardy p. w. Kaufman, II. Q. |
Williams, David Durchan and Or. ,
Louis NJ. Termau.
Sounds Optimistic Note
An optimistic note was sounded by |