Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-24
AMATEURDEF|N|T|ON
international Olympic Commit
tee Reports on Subject.
FAILEDTO REACHSTANDARD
Still Working on the Point to Have
an Amateur Defined to Cover
All Glasses.
FAILEDTO REACHSTANDARD

NEW YORK, July 23.-For couple OF
years or SO the universal definition of an
amateur has been troubling the interna
tional Olympic committee, and it has de-
voted a lot of time to the framing of an
amateur definition that would suit all
countries and all classes of amateurs
About year ago an English sporting
paper invited the opinions of men inter-
esteJ in amateur sport and it published
the opinions of long string of authori-
ties. All this matter was turned over to
the international Olympic committee, and
it formed subcommittee to take charge
of the question and report within a year
This repuort was read at the recent
meeting of the international committee at
Luxembourg by Theodore A. Cook, rep
resenting Great Britain The failure to
reach common standard in no way
discouraged the members of the COM
mittee, who are determined that it must
come, and some day there will be a deh-
milton of an amateur that Will conform
to all classes. AS sort of beginning
with that end in view the international
Olympic committee in accepting Cook
report selected two sports for discussion.
1t was decided that France should have
the task Of defining an amateur fencer
and England should draw up the dehnl-
ton of the track and field amateur.
X X *
Following is the report:
IL Many of our best racing men,
members of the jockey club, and others,
and many of our best yachting men,
members of the royal yacht squadron
and others, habitually receive money
prizes and pay professionals to help
them win their races. But II they FOL
lowed a similar course of action in the
case of athletics. lawn tennis, swimming,
etc. they would be debarred from COM
z1,1 ion g
these sports
80 In athletics a man who has COM
peted against a professional loses ipso
facto his amateur status. whereas IN
golf, in racing. in court tennis Ueu fue
paume), in cricket and some other sports
tail no penalty.
80 In some sports, such as rowing, it
has only been found possible to hold out
against the increase of PROFESSIONALISM
by making the amateur definition eX-
tremely rigid The Amateur Rowing As
ISOLATION probably recognizes that this
rigidity necessarily limits the scope OF
its competitions, but 1t might with
justice argue that the laXlty INTRODUCED
into certain other sports has produced
evils which make them both unrepresent-
alive of local effort and useless to fhe
national life. No argument is at present
likely to change this point of view ana
no amateur definition of a simple and in
of the Amateur Rowing Association.
1.-The result of my inquiries is as logl-
cal as it is definite. From general point
of view they prove that universal deli-
milton of the amateur for all sports -
at present impossible. In their special
application, however, to our own task
and to the Olympic games they are not
of so negative a character, for they go TO
show that when an athlete Is entered lor
a particular event by his national asso-
citation governing the sport in which that
event forms a part his amateur status
can be fairly guaranteed by that assocla-
ton and will be accepted by competitors
of his own nationality. 1t must be our
task go to unity the ideals OF the great
associations controlling sports IN al
countries that the entry guaranteed by
one such association shall be accepted
by all associations governing the same
sport in all countries.
$50 far this task only reached its first
stage when associations in other coun-
tries accepted for the purpose OF tne
Olympic games of 1908 the amateur def
milton of the association controlling each
particular sport in the United Kingdom.
In several cases the Swedes will be using
in 1912 definitions which are either eX-
actly similar to those of 1908 or i'm
proved by wider experience in certain
forms of sport In 1872 at Stockholm, as
in 1908 in London, the great associations
of all competing countries VIII be ac-
cepted for the purpose of the Olympic
games of 1872 the amateur definitions put
forward by the country in which the
games are held. The same process will
be repeated in 1916. And, obviously,
since all are animated by the same gen.
erai principle, we shall all gradually ar
rive at a series of details tending to be-
come more and more similar and less
and less numerous. But at the present
moment haste in any detail or eXces
sive rigidity in any attempt at unifica-
ton can only result in offending those
associations which we may, perhaps.
guide and support, but to which We can
never issue definite orders.
1.-The international olympic committee
NAV we'll lend some practical and useful
aid to this slow but sure development
SO that the result of the efforts inspired
by Count Bertier de Sauvigny's report
shall not be sterile. What then can we
do? / venture to make two suggestions:
81 In one country We can try to per-
suade two three or even four associations
to accept the same definition of an anna
teur for the sports they control We can
ask B, c, ID and E, for example, to
state their objections to AS definition
after this definition has been reduced to
its most elemental form. These objec-
tons we may gradually endeavor to over
come by argument and experience until
one country at least can say that for the
same.
"2 We may also endeavor to secure
the definition of an amateur. such, for
instance. as one of those definitions ac-