Evening star., 1914-12-30
RULES SSAT|SFA FACTORY
Foot Ball Experts See No
Reason for Change in Game.
IS UNDERSTOOD BY PUBLIC
National Collegiate Athletic Asso-
citation in Session at
Chicago.
IS UNDERSTOOD BY PUBLIC

Cd1CAGO, DeCeInDeT oo- Aheie "a
little likelihood Of any important change
being made in the foot ball rules Tor
next season, according to opinion ex-
pressed here yesterday at the ninth an
nual convention of the Collegiate Athletic
Association. Minor changes in foot ball
rules made last year were included in
the report of the foot ball committee
presented by Dr.. H. L. Williams of Min
nesota, but no suggestion OF material
change in the rules next year was made,
and the general belief Of the many col
lege men present was that no important
changes would be made when the college
foot ball rules committee meets next Feb
ruary.
Walter Camp of Yale attended the
conference and discounted any idea of
material change In the foot ball rules.
1.-The present rules have developed game
which allows full scope for individual
excellence in the player" he said "They
are we'll understood by the public, they
are thoroughly understood by the play
ers and the sporting writer's have grasped
their every detail. Under those circum-
stances there seems to me to be no good
reason for any material change"
The report of the committee on foot
ball fatalities. showing that only one
Of the thirteen deaths accredited to foot
ball in the past year was of trained col
lege player was accepted, but the recon-
mendation of the committee that it be
discharged from further consideration was
disregarded, and instead the executive
committee was empowered to consider
the advisability of extending the work of
the fatalities committee to include deaths
from all forms of sport, including hunt
ing, canoeing, swimming, base ball and
skating, so that definite defense might
be made to the charge that foot ball is
brutal sport
"One of these deaths among the boys,
DR.. Ehler said. occurred as the result
arm suffered in a game So far as can
be learned, this boy was the only well
trained and fit athlete Of the ten nom
college men who have died from foot ball.
Should Be Physically Fit.
"The results of last season only en-
phasize that which all college men
have insisted upon from the first-that
no one should participate in foot ball
who is not physically fit in every re-
spect, and then. only after he has had
proper training andNhas learned to ad-
just himself to the conditions arising
form the game"
DIR. Ehler said it was a cardinal prin-
ciple In college athletics that no stu
dent should be permitted to participate
In foot ball or any other. competitive
athletics without a preliminary medical
examination to protect the individual
against unsupported organic weak
nesses.
Instead of taking foot ball player
and teaching him intelligence. as used
to be the practice. we now take an in
telligent student and teach him foot
ball." said Percy D. Haughton, head
coach of the Harvard foot ball team
addressing the delegates to the confer
ence on the subject of Mental Train
ing in Foot Ball.
formerly weight below the head was
an indispensable quality in a foot ball
player" he continued. Now the col
lege foot ball player Is a man of aver.
age weight, active body and specially
active mind, and the lessons the game
teaches. lessons of self-sacrifice, ODE.
dience and. above all. preparedness. are
being recognized off the campus as well
as in the final game in each college
contest"
Other speakers emphasized the neces
sity of giving educational value to ath.
letics and the advisability of extending
athletic training to every student in.
stead of centering attention on a few.
Progress in Athletics.
Reports from the several districts il
the country where collegiate athletic:
have received much attention were pre-
sented, representatives of Tufts Col
lege. the University Of Pittsburgh
University of Virginia, University o.
Tennessee. Drake University. Rice In
stitute and other colleges giving ac
counts of the progress of intercollegi
ate athletics in their districts.
Foot ball coaches took advantage O.
the conference to arrange schedules
Representatives of the Big Four IL
| western college athletics sought t,
prepare the November schedule fol
| illinois, Chicago, Minnesota and Wis
| consin. An agreement was made fo
q game next year between the Uni
| versity of Nebraska and Notre Dam,
| at Lincoln, to be followed in 1915 b,
q return match at Chicago.
Prof. c. w. Savage OF Oberlin Col
lege discussed The Professional Yer