Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-23
SEEK TALENTFOR
OLYMPIC GAMES
England Aroused to Effort to
Redeem Herself From
Last Years Defeat.
Special Correspondence Of The star.


/ LONDON, May II. 1913.
There is great searching of heart in
sporting circles in this country and over
hauling of methods regarding Great Brit
aims position at the forthcoming Olympic
games. to be held at Berlin. The search
for talent has begun. as England hopes
to wipe out the impression made the
| world over by her defeat. at Stockholm
last year. She realizes that in order to
retrieve her position at this great inter-
national trial of skill deliberate organ
ization for the discovery and training Of
athletes is a vital necessity. So she Is
setting about it thus early. and Ameri-
| cans may expect at Berlin to have a
harder job than fell to their lot at
Stockholm. They will. as far as I can
gather from those in charge Of the Brit
every competition.
| l have discussed the subject with sew
| eral people in this country entitled to
speak as experts on account OF their past
| championship achievements. and they
are all IN complete agreement that there
Is raw material in abundance Of the nm
| est quality here, but that British meth
DDS of shaping 1t are old-fashioned
where. indeed. they exist at all.
| For instance. one expert in talking with
me said: 'Mr. Hugh Baxter, captain OF
| the New York Athletic Club. said: You
have some splendid crude material in
your country. but 1t is undeveloped. 1
| consider your sprinters are a joke so Tar
as carriage is concerned BY carriage.
Mr.. Baxter means the proper balance OF
the body. Our sprinters are VIGOROUSLY
deficient in this respect. Watch the COM
petitors at any athletic meeting and you
will find that the majority of them run
| with their heads thrown back and their
L -h a
makes for waste of energy. The arms
should hang loosely down at the side and
| the fists should not be clenched. The
| head and shoulders should lean forward.
The whole body should. as it were. be
falling forward: I mention this merely
as an example Of the lack of scientific
method in the work of our amateurs.
| The reason Is that they are not properly
| coached to run and Jump in the way that
| they are taught to play foot ball and
| cricket.
| Lack of Practice Hindrance.
| "Then. in addition to our haphazard
methods in the sports. We do not practice.
| There is the difficult mastery Of those
Olympic events. of which We are almost
entirely ignorant in this country, such as
javelin and discus throwing. If we are
| to hold our own, recruits for these trials
of skill must be found and put into hard
training. Now is the time to begin. for.
although the Berlin games do not take
place until 1915. three years is the short
est time in which the raw material can
| be worked up to a state Of perfection.
1T is'' he continued, Satisfactory to
know that by purely voluntary effort
serious preparations are being made to
organize British team for Berlin which,
| whether it proves triumphant or not.
shall lack nothing that can be supplied
| by expert coaching and the most careful
| search for talent, regardless OF any class
| distinction.
Two bodies have come into existence
| for this purpose One is the Athletes
| Advisory Club and the other the Field
| Events Athletic Association. OF the for
mer Lord Desborough was president, but
severed his connection with the British
| Olympic Association. feeling the incon-
sistency Of belonging to one organization
and not the other. The office is at present
vacant. but efforts are being made to md
suitable successor. The vice presidents
are Percy Fisher Of the Amateur Attn
| letic Association and j. III. A. Reay, the
| ex-champion hurdler Sir A. Conan Doyle
is president Of the Field Events Athletic
Association.
To Search Country for Talent.
| The object of both associations is to
search the country for talent and to make
Il
nizing that good coaching is the main
want and that athletic clubs have not
the means to pay highly talented instruc-
tors, they conceived the idea of enlstine
| the services Of aid amateur athletes all
over the country who would be willing
| to give a certain amount of their time
| to train promising recruits. for the Brit
ish organizers realize that natural apti-
tude for field sports will avail nothing
! in the absence Of scientific training.
| The Athletic Advisory Club is concerned
not so much with discovering competitors
| for the next games. but with fostering
| the athlete in his most puerle stage. SO
| that a continuous supply may be main
| tanned Thus permission has been OBJ
| tanned to use two of the London parks,
| where any fine evening boys may go and
| try their PAGES before expert judges. The
youngsters are being especially encour-
aged to take up javelin and discus throw
| ing. Efforts are being made to secure
| similar concessions from the parks author
| tiles in provincial towns
Those Assisting Movement.
Among the gentlemen who are assisting
| this movement are Mr.. F1axman, prob
ably the most scientific English hammer
| thrower; Mr.. Henderson Of Oxford. who
| instructs in discus throwing and the
| standing high jump: S. 8. Abrahams, the
old Cambridge blue, for standing long
jump; w. Trip. Private Banks. Athletic
Club. pistol practice; J. E. Fowler Dixon
holder Of the f1fty-mile record, and T.
Palmer, the famous long-distance runner
| Of the eighties, Marathon coaches; l.. F.
Treemer. London Athletic Association
sprintng. and A. B. George (secretarD
| middle and long-distance running, fol-
| which he holds championships. Mr.
George spent five years in America and
two In South Africa, and acquired a val
liable knowledge Of the methods of Brit
aims most formidable competitors. AS
| sistance is offered to any club or school
i and many inquiries have already been
received and answered
from the Advisory Club inasmuch as its
principal function is to recruit compe.
titors for the games Of 1915 Standard
medals are being offered at all athletic
meetings. This means that certain
| standard Is set for different events. and
If the competitor reaches 1t and wins a
| media! he IS worthy of attention as po-
tential Olympic candidate. The club OFF,
| cials will get into touch with him and
| endeavor to persuade him to train seri-
ously. If willing he will be placed under
| the tutelage of one OF the clubs voluntary
| officers and will be given every oppor-
tunity to develop his talent on scientific
lines.
Widens Area Of Chance.
In this way it is hoped to give every
athlete. whatever his position in life a