The Washington herald., 1922-12-22
RAPID GROWTH
sOF SPORT HERE
: IN FEW YEARS

:: Popularity Each Year, Fig
y 10 ures Show.
-..r
-. By BILL COYLE.
ERE'S the answer to the.
.ss- oft-repeated statement that
? soccer will never gain a
500 % %.sfoothold in the National Capital:
c Fourteen hundred boys, repre-
sixty-seven schools, took
part in the recent elimination
81 championship of graded schools.
= Quite an increase over the zig
'elr ures of 1915, the second year
after the old English game was
in the graded schools
dsaof the District, when 400 boys
LIE from thirty-one schools competed.
Soccer is here to stay and event
y, uaIly will help TO fill out rather
~ skimpy program Of sports in Wash
->9 ington in the winter. True sport
must travel over a long and rough
road before If 10 firmly established
z in this city. but to date 1t has made
i, every grade and il is bound to ride
= on its way to popularity.
III lS SaIe 10 SdN lfldl III i.fVV
sturdy American boys like the game
well enough to play it. the same
number. II not more. will adopt
the sport.
Some skeptical sport followers
win point to the slim attendance
.at the games in Washington in
their argument predicting failure
for soccer here. In America the
attendance at soccer game.
whether it is for a championship or
{ not. is not a criterion of its grow
: ing popularity.
STARS FAIL TO DRAW.
A few years ago the Pullman
Company. of Chicago: the Ben
millers. OF st. Louis. and the Beth
:, lehem Steel teams, rated among the
best in the world. met i'm a series
In the Pennsylvania town. II was
the world series of the kicking
~ sport in Americs. The largest
crowd At any OF the games was
~ 5000 which was considered a
record for the winter pastime in a
- town where IL is rated as a ma jor
; sport.
Washington kids like the game
5Ntt Is plenty rough enough to suit
them and they love to kick the
3eather. II requires speed. endur-
ance and skill. especially in Iaarn-
p, ing to pass the ball with their feet
=. and head. as it is a violation to
u touch the leather with the arms or
legs at any time.
- One of the obstacles standing in
the wsy Of the game here is the
---- tact tha' there are only few
major teams for the boys to watch
jim action to improve their play
n Boys are ''copyists'' in sport. Have
y I'm
? sandlotters have adopted the style
< Of their diamond hero at bat. or in
4 the way they sport their diamond
\ headgear or some other peculiarity?
Well. the young sOccerites have
" no heroes to worslfip or to tI-y to
4 initiate. They must learn the game
4 by practical eNperisnc 4nI h.v
: are doing it. These same boys who
y Fought in the championship tour
E ney this fall will he showing their
(. Younger brothers how il is done
( in a few years.
4 II don't take American boys very
j long TO learn any game This was
proven in the final game of the
Aseries laS' Monday afternoon at
&Is Union Station Plaza.
SERIES GOES FIVE GAMES.
Monroe. winner of last years
Championship was fighting Pierce,
\ runner-up of IN" 1927 series, in the
< -hnal game Of a tourney. originally
= scheduleh to go three games Each
team lad won game and two
= = fnded in a deadlock. so the cham
= nlonship hinged on the result of
the bootins melee. The battle had
rocked into the second extra 10.
minute period. Dusk was threat.
ening 10 end the hostilities In an.
other n0-naciSinn
less than a minute to play before
the contest was to be halted
Here - where quick thinking.
Characteristic of American kids
snatched victory over the op-
posing side and darkness.
The Monroe captain yanked his
goal tender from his job and
placed him on the wing. The
youthful soccer stratesist knew
hat his goal tender was fresher
than any of the other ten boys.
The goal tenders job is to stand
hack there and keep the ball from
passing. II requires skill and
courage to handle the job. but the
=, custodian does not race around the
field like the others.
When the goal tender. Joe OIL
verl Is his name. hoped into the
scrimmage his team mates passed
the ball to him. He started up the
field in the direction of the
enemy's goal. He was fresher
than his rivals and passed the
Pierce backs. When within 25l
yards of the posts he took a chance
at long kick. II was a kick from
the side and got by the Pierce
goal custodian. Forty seconds
later the whistle blew. ending the
game.
That goes to prove that these
Kids know how to use their head
as we'll as their feet.
GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP.
And their sportsmanship. Here's
, an example of it,
When tho vb;StIa hf... rI-.,