The New York herald., 1921-10-25
FAYORS AMERICAN
TRAINING METHODS
Oxford Cambridge Sprinter
Points Out Reasons for Su-
pcriority in Athletics.

American methods in athletic training
and organization are very favorably CONF
nented upon by Harry Abrahams, men,
Der Of the Oxford Cambridge track team.
In an article In the Field of London this
month. Unlike n number of British
critics of the past, Mr.. Abrahams, who
competed as a sprnter and broad jumper
against the HarvardYal and the
Princeton-Ccrnell squads last July, as
serts that the American practice of maxi
Ing scientific study of athletics ought
to be followed by the British as the
surest road to success in that branch of
sport.
Introducing his article with observa-
tions on the extraordinary popular in
est in athletics In America, Mr.. Abra-
hams says:
The two factors which account for
American superiority are organization
and training. The first of these resolves
itself under two heads--as 1t affects the
public and the athletes themselves. The
popular interest in athletics in America
is extraordinary. In England we are
used to large football crowds, but our
championships are in comparison but
sparsely attended.
I'm America track athletics ranks as
one Of the most popular Of sports |;
hence enormous crowds and large
gates 1t Is not so much that the
American man In the street is in
herently more Interested in sport than
the Englshman: It is primarily because
the newspapers there compel him TO take
an interest Each tiny local paper has
a full page devoted TO sport. The pub
licity which the oxford and Cambridge
team was given In the States was as
tonishing. In towns over q thousand
miles away the daily progress of the
teams was discussed and commented
upon.
1T can easily be seen that the flnan-
cial support Is never lacking for atl-
Ietics, and this, coupled with the fact
that the funds for ali sports are pooled,
insures the success Of each and every
branch from tile fins ncial point of view.
Though it is possible to overestnate
the importance Of this. the financial side
of athletics, Il must nevertheless be OBJ
served that a club with a large bank
balance posse sses many advantages in
the shape of being able 10 purchase best
materials and afford first class coach.
And here we come right up against the
main difference in English and Ameri-
can sport. 1t is not in the least unfair
to say that in England there are no
real coaches. One or two men there
are. here and there. who know just a
little about this or that event, but there
is no one who knows how to train a
team scientifically. 1t is the scientific
training that makes all the difference.
with training in the sense of study
ing the intricacies of an event such as
hurdling or high jumping for example.
we have a great deal to learn from our
American friends. 1t is this training,
this systematic study of the science of
the event. in and through which the
Americans prove themselves so vastly
superior.
"Our inferiority In athletics simply
exists because we will not take enough
trouble. II Is because we do not know
enough about the scientific side of ath-
letics. There are those who say that
the American make too much of a
business OF athletics Let them realize
that anything that Is worth doing Is
worth doing we'll We disagree with
some Of the American ways of looking
at things. but we have much to learn
from them. They certainly find out the
most profitable way of doing their events
and teach IL to all their athletes. We
are content to muddle through somehow
and enjoy ourselves We could still en-
Joy ourselves and yet excel in fact eff
cheney would probably increase the en-
toyment"