Evening star., 1928-10-29
BY BOB ZUPPKE.

NFoot BAH Coacn, university OF 1lunolSJ
y HOULD boys in high school play
foot ball?
When boys ask me this ques-
- ton my answer is, "Yes, pro-
vided the coaching and training
you will receive are the right kind"
We have all heard the explanation,
burned. out in high school," when
some college player fails to live up to
the promise which apparently he dis;
played on the prep gridiron. But I
greatly question the idea that it is pos
sible to burn out" an athlete by per-
mitting him to compete during his high
school years.
There are more plausible reasons
than this traditional one. Some OF the
so-called prep stars who disappoint
their admirers reached maturity earlier
in high school. They were older boys
competing against younger, and in
those years difference in ages means
a great deal In competition.
A Case in Point.
I recall the case of two sprinters
who came to college, one considerably
older, from whom great things were
expected on the strength of his prep
performances, which had overshadowed
the younger athlete. The older lad de-
veloped to a certain degree, but he Gid
not do as well as the younger, so 1t
was said that he had burned himself
out"
But both had trained and competed
to an equal extent. The fact was SIM
ply that the younger boy matured later.
The older athlete had not used himself
up, but rather had reached the peak
of his possibilities.
Can a boy hope to make good in
university foot bali who has never
played in high school? Yes, 1t Is pos
Sible, but he will be under considerable
disadvantage in mastering technique,
which has come to be second nature
to most Of his rivals. When golfer
steps up to the tee and swings you
can usually tell whether he has played
all of his life or started after he was
% years old.
Still, there are exceptions. recall
Shorty" Drayer, one of our tackles in
1921, who hardly knew what foot ball
looked like when he reported for prac-
tice. It took lot of work to pohsh his
playing, but if he could have competed
more than one season / believe that
he would have become known as one
of the best tackles In the United States.
If the boy who has had no foot ball
experience has competed in other
sports he will take to foot ball better.
Kes Deimling, one of our ends Last
season, had never played until his
junior year, but his basket ball ex-
perience dating back to high school was
Of great value.
But don't mistake my meaning-it is
far better to play foot ball in high
school,
Has the high school foot ball team
as much ability to learn as the varsity?
Some coaches make this statement, but
disagree with them. You see
coached prep teams for seven years and
perhaps have had more experience with
them than most university coaches.
You can teach a high school team
the same brand of foot ball as a coll
lege team. A 16-year-old boy can learn
the game as well as 19-year-old. The
difference between the teams Is few
years, speed, strength and the degree
Of ability to execute, all of which are
naturally with the older athletes.
Few Serious Injuries.
Most Of the injuries in foot ball are
surface bumps. My experience has been
that there were fewer injuries in high
school than college foot ball. The
preps don't tackle each other so hard
and their bodies are pliable. The big
ger boys are often comparatively soft.
In 1910 took the Oak Park High
School Of 16 players, averaging 1914
years in age and 146 pounds in weight,
west to play Wenatchee High School,
Washington, and Washington High
School Of Portland, Greg. At one of
these games the crowd yelled. Take
home the kindergarten" but we won
both games, which were played within