The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-09-01
Sports
TO DIRECT ATHLETICS
IN CHINESE COLLEGES
Celestial Government Appoints
American to Promote
Sports.

Frank ?. Beal, who graduated from
Occidental College in 1907, has been
appointed by the Chinese government
athletic director for the government
schools in Chilli province. Beal has
already started for the Orient and will
take up his work early in September.
There are about fifteen colleges in
Chilli province and Beal VIII coach
the athletic teams of all of them. His
headquarters will be at the University
Of Tien-Tsin. This is a school with
about 1000 students There are five
other government schools in TienTsin,
each of them teaching some special
branch OF education. There is a normal
school. an agricultural school and other
technical schools.
All Of these colleges with the prepar-
atory schools in the province are in
cluded in an athletic league, known as
the Tien-Tsin Athletic Association. Reg
ular schedules are played between the
schools of this league. Nearly all the
games Of the average American college
are PLAYED. Association football, ten
mis-, track, basketball and baseball have
their seasons and are all played in much
the same manner as III the United
States.
Athletics in China is practically a
new thing. The Chinese are very much
opposed to exercise for its own sake.
Their struggle for existence gives them
all the exercise that they think they
need. Among the Chinese students it
has always been considered undignifed
to take any unnecessary physical eXer-
else But within the last six years their
views on this matter have changed
radically.
a Y. NJ. c. A. secretary, named Rob
ertson, introduced American athletics
into China about six years ago. 1t
started first in the Y. NJ. c. A. school,
but was later taken up by all the col
leges, and today nearly every institu-
tion sends its teams to compete at the
meets which are held in every province.
Great enthusiasm has been developed,
and this is somewhat surprising when
the stolid nature of the oriental IS
taken into consideration.
"Dike' Chaplin, who for many years
was the star two-miler for Occidental
and Princeton, and who has until re
Gently engaged in athletic and religious
work in Puo Tingfu, attended the last
track meet at Tien-Tsin. The team he
coached did good work at this meet.
The Tien-tsin meet was much the
same as any other meet. The men wore
their college colors and regulation uni
forms. The regular events OF track
meet were run off The records were
not as good as made by American col
legians, but as they had only been at
the game a short time they did remark
ably well There were more than 100
entries in the meet and every event was
hotlv contested. Lu Chi Chun won the
half mile in 2:29, this being the record
for the province. After the meet was
over, the winning athletes were award
ed medals by the government. While
the prizes were being given, the ath-
letes were cheered by their rooters IN
| real college style.
The Chinese government is taking
great interest in these athletic contests
placing coaches in all of the provinces
and spending large sum of money an
nually along this line. At the Tien Tsin
| very interested spectator. He attend
| ed with all the pomp and ceremony that
| he could muster. His bodyguard and
heralds were with him. Whenever an
| athlete pleased him with his perform
ance, the viceroy rewarded him by pre-
senting one of his pictures to him. This
was given in addition to the other
| prizes and was considered d high trib
ute to the athlete and to the college
| that he represented.
| The Chinese authorities believe that
| the athletic work is raising the physi
| cal and mental power of the students
! They are coming TO be firm believers il
! the gospel of good, healthy exercise
| The class of men that they are choosing
to do this work is making it all the
more beneficial. The Chinese officials
! hire all their coaches through the y