The Washington times., 1931-10-27
FUNDAMENTAL
STRESSED
At NAVY
By HARRY COSTELLO,

I'VE nOCe you nave O"
attention to the fact that the
Navy has inferior football
material. Your revelation comes
to most of the United States
as a distinct surprise. Can
you not enlarge upon your re-
cent writings in The Times
and tell us more or less the
inside of this matter.
"Seven of us, cO-writers of this
letter, and none of US a Navy
man, have been under the i'm.
preston that the Naval Academy
has the best football material
in the Nation. OF course, your
recent articles have caused us
to change our opinions. We
certainly would appreciate
some further inside infOrma.
tiOn."
"The Seven"
Responding to the foregoing
letter, the writer first Of all
desires to state that there is nc
such thing as inside informa
ton" The facts are to be found
at the Naval Academy. There is
not now, and never has been
any effort on the part of Naval
officers or Government authori
ties to hide the facts.
First of all, students who en-,
ter the Naval Academy, very
often arrive at Annapolis at a
very tender age. In an athletic
sense, fully SO per cent of them
are mere babes in arms.
Ostensibly, some Governmental
official. many, many years ago
decided that a male person to
properly develop into a Naval
officer, must enter the academy
not later than his twentieth year
of life. Regardless of the thought
which prompted authorities to set
that age limit, it has resulted
in very few good athletes enter
ing Annapolis.
Fundamentals Mean Nothing
Secondly, coaches at Annapolis
are forced to undertake, with a
very small allotment of time, the
fundamental training of Navy
football teams. While officers
and coaches do not say so, and
probably will not greet such an
assertion with any particular de.
gree of enthusiasm, this funda.
mental training is a protective
measure as much as anything
else.
Most of the youngsters who
step onto Farragut Field as as
pirantS for the varsity do so
armed with a lion heart and a
football uniform. Such terms
as "tackling," BLOCKING"
charging" etc, fundamental
to the yOungster who has won
his spurs with high and prep
school teams, mean little or
nothing to the vast majority of
the plebeS at Annapolis.
In their second year at the
academy, and after absorbing
the spirit of the regiment, they
appear on the field ready for the
task of making the varsity team.
If you were the athletic officer,
or the coach. or the trainer, would
you not start with a green
youngster at the Naval Academy
just the same as the high school
coach starts with the boy who
appears to try out for the high
school varsity?
There hasn't been for many
years at Annapolis full compile.
ment of seasoned players, even
after plebe coaches have worked
on as many as rs first year
youngsters. It takes more than
one football season to teach a
youngster fundamental football.
Some college coaches think it
takes more than four years to do
so, after they see high school and
prep school stars perform once
in collegiate football.
Love The Sea
Many, many youngsters, just
past their twenty-first birthdays
and about to graduate from high
and prep schools. seek to enter
the Naval Academy each year.
They discover. and so do their
fathers, that youngsters of twen-
ty-one cannot enter Annapolis.
Very naturally, all of these
ineligible young men love the
sea and seek to spend their re-
naming days on earth in the
Navy. But, some one in au-
thOrity (many, many years agO)
decided that a boy Fl years old
just cannot make a naval of.
ficer fOu1 years later.
Perhaps the foregoing remarks
will furnish the root of many
ramifications, undoubtedly patent
t. the writer's of the letter
printed in the first paragraph.
Not wishing to disagree with
old-time authorities in the matter,
this writer advances the naive
idea that a boy even % years old
hight enter the Naval Academy