Evening star., 1932-04-24
LOCAL 'OLYMPICS
LURE SCHOOL KIDS
1000 Next Month to Seek
Evening Star Certificate on
Track and Field.
BY r. ID. THOMAS.

-WO thousand of the worlds
finest athletes will vie fer
the highest possible honorS
this Summer in the great
est of all Olympic carnivals, but
not few in that splendid field
might envy the lot of the 1000
young fellahS now preparing for
the elementary school track and
field championships of Washing
ton.
Nations will acclaim the victors at
Olympia AS in the days of ancient
Greece, glorious mother of the Olympics,
the world still bends willing knee to
the monarch with the crown OF laurel.
This year, at Los Angeles, his strug-
giles will take place within stadium
that cost S5,O00,00O That he and his
rivals might properly be trained. trans
ported in style from all corners OF the
earth and housed and fed for some
weeks, many other millions will be eX-
pended Thousands toll that he may
gather fame and possibly riches.
And what a far cry from all that to
the municipal Fairgrounds Of Wash
ington and the pantalooned army that
shortly will charge over them in quest
of athletic glory!
THE disciples of Hercules at Los An
i geles and the doughty lot Of
Washington youngsters have much
in common, however, and if the ultl-
mate goal truly be glory and the thrill
of conquest, your Olympians are no bet
ter off, and some poor boy by COM
parison.
The Olympic meet to not a few is
Just another set of games. To some,
undoubtedly. the glory of victory is less
desirable than the material fruits
thereof.
But a great experience awaits many
of the triumphant lads in the school
boy contests to be held next month.
Theirs will be the ecstatic thrill that
comes of a first athletic achievement,
a thrill never to be forgotten, no mat
ter how many nor how great the later
successes.
The conuueror returning from
OLYMPIA is no happier his reward no
richer in a fine sense, than that OF the
victorious boy who hastens home with
the glad tidings:
Ma, WON'T
Golly, what a choice morsel of life
is wrapped up in that.
DY way of giving the youngsters a
- "hook-up" with the Washington
Bicentennial Celebration, and at
the same time supplying them with en-
during evidence of their achievements,
The Star has arranged to present each
winner with a first, second or third
place in the coming games with GER
tificate. There will be two sets of GER
tificates. one to be awarded in the di-
visional meets and the other in the
grand finale, that will bring together
in city championship competition those
who distinguish themselves in the pre-
liminaries.
Mere pieces of paper they will be
albeit bit fancily inscribed-those for
the finale will be gold embossed-but
in years to come their intrinsic value
will be as nothing compared with the
value of memories they will help keep
alivel
THERE will be seven divisional meets
i staged on key Fairgrounds, as fol-
lows; May II, Rosedale; May 10,
Bloomingdale May 49, New York Ave-
nue.; May 90 Garfield; May %, Virginia
Avenue: May "a, Georgetown, and May
25, Park View.
Those who place first, second and
third in these will carry on into the city
finals, slated for May % in Central
Stadium.
Every graded school in the District
will have teams in the competition.