The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-04-02

4 tinction and at least a half dozen otner!
have been second and third choices
and honorable mention. and the indi
cation is that this number will con
! stantly increase.
Then there is basket ball which alst
i has strong appeal for our people. A,
vet there is no recognized authority
1 rating CoIored basketball players each
year. as in football and track. So we
/ are not justified in comparing the rela
] tive merits of the Colored basketball
| players with those of the white. How.
ever, we have had many representatives
of the college and university teams OF
| the country who have been recognized
as stars on their respective teams. In
addition to this, we are represented
by entire teams both in our southern
schools and by athletic clubs around
New York, Atlantic City, Philadelphia,
Washington, Pittsburg, Kansas City
and Des Moines, Iowa.
Another sport of which we do not
hear so much but in which many of
our people are finding much pleasure
and enjoyment, is tennis. This year
for the first time, Colored tennis players
of the country have been officially
rates. Washington, d. G. seems to lead
inthe number of people engaged in this
sport and in the amount of enthusiasm
shown, however, there are other cities
having tennis clubs ranking very high,
among which are Los Angeles, Kansas
City, st. Louis, Chicago. Boston, Spring
field, Mass, and in New Haven, Conn.
AS for baseball, since it is profess
,sional SPORT, and our reputation as
baseball players is so well recognized,
the writer feels that it is superfious
to dwell at length on this subject. One
of the outstanding features is, that
beginning next year We will have an
organized Colored league The circuit
as yet has not been definitely decided,
but st. Louis, Detroit, Kansas City and
Philadelphia. SO much for professional
baseball AS for amateur baseball
there are but few towns that do not
boast Of team. All OF the southern
colleges are represented by excellent
teams, and as members of teams repre-
senting the Northern colleges and uni
versities, the Negro has been very
| important factor. ...-- IS,
The aforementioned sports are those
| which have the largest following and
| in which the largest number of oul
| athletes have competed However, ii
association football, rugby, La Crosse
hockey, intercollegiate wrestling ant
boxing, we have had representative:
and very often champions.
i In fact there is no athletic sport OF
which l have knowledge, in which the
| Negro has not proven himself highly
]! proficient, unless it is golf, and it il
possible that we will have Nationa
representatives in this sport in thu
i future.
AS the reader will see, we do not at
tempt to do more than give a resume
of Negro athletics as whole. We dc
not claim to cover the field in its abso
lutte entirety. It is the purpose of thu
| writer, in future articles, to bring tt
our readers knowledge of individual
athletes and their records, also the
work Of the Southern colleges and ath
lctic clubs throughout the country. w.
shall also make mention Of some Of
our peple who have been prominent
in the fostering and development Of
Negro athletics and of the very liberia
encouragement given by the amateur
athletic union of the United States
Charles P. Howard, Des Moines, Iowa