The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-01-21
Registration of Youngsters
Means Loss of Present
and Incoming Crop of
Sport Prospects.

Boston, Jan. 21-The bill now be-
fore Congress to make eligible for the
draft army young men who have be-
come of age since June 5, 1917, will
affect college athletics more poig-
nantly than the main CONSUMPTION law
itself.
The passage of the bill at an early
date is assured, and when those who
are designated by its provisions reg
lister, the crop of varsity athletes all
over the country will dwindle.
War Department estimates show
that approximately 100000 men will
become eligible for the draft each
year by passing the 21-year-old mark.
The number of collegians who will be
snapped up in that number is amaz-
ing. Not only will the law serve to
pluck many of the best varsity main
stays who are still left but it will
also serve to keep from entering col
lege young men who soon will be
reaching their majority.
The original conservative measures
caught a plenteous supply of athletes,
and many more entered the navy or
the officers training camps before the
selective service regulations were i'm
pressed on them. 1t is placing the
estimate rather high to say that only
one-third of the real athletes of the
country were left behind in the col
1eges because they did not come with
in the provisions of the original con-
scription bill.
The average age of the college
freshman is 16, but for good and suffi-
cient reasons the age of the freshman
athlete is usually higher than that of
his non-athletic classmate. Athletes
in large numbers go to prep schools
for one year or two years after they
have finished their high school course
in many instances, and most of the
men of reputation who arrive with
the incoming freshman classes are
dangerously near the 21-year old
milestone when they matriculate.
A long war would mean that ath-
letes attaining their majority would
be scooped up with automatic pre-
cision by thed raft when the annual
registration of men who have reach
ed 21 years is in force. What is more,
these youngsters would fall into the
first class, since virtually every college
| AAA|eAA 10 q NCPC41uCIlI dl1lCI ludu OU6
who has dependents. So when the
law is operating it is obvious that ath-
! letes will be eligible for the varsity
teams only for a limited period of
time.
Your young collegian is a fore
| sighted person, however. With his
advance toward the 81 mark inevita-
| Bile, you are not going to catch him
| idling at college, waiting for the day
| to come when he will be drafted.
Instead, you will see him hiking for
| spots where military preparation is
afforded with an idea of preparing
| himself for q commission. For since
! a youngster is exempt so long as he
is under 21, he may well be expected
then to be getting ready for the day
when he is called to the cantonment.
And the best place to prepare for an
army commission is not on a univer-
sity athletic field.
The passage of a new conscriptive
measure means a depletion not only
in the ranks of the athletes who have
reached 81 since June 5, 1917, but
also in the ranks of men who will
be 81 within year or SO. The con-
tinuation of the war will mean that
varsity athletes in the future will be
confined to men who have been ex-
empted and to the very youngest OF
the freshmen.
And the shattered condition of the
football teams of last fall will seem
ordinary compared with the stark ap.
pearance of teams that will staggel
on gridirons next autumn. In per.
feet truth, it may be said of college
athletics that the worst is yet to come
and that it's coming fast indeed.