The Washington times., 1933-04-14
900 TURN OUT
FOR ATHLETIC
EVENTS
BY HARRY COSTELLO

WOEucu dI0 44Q1NANudAASOOI CNCL
in sport.
Evidence substantiating this
claim is offered by goods Of the
George Washington University.
who openly profess a preference
for individual" sports over
group" or team" sports.
Tennis, swimming, golf and
riding stand first with G. W.
women. Basketball, which has
been one of the most universally
popular sports for years, ranks
high, but remains below the "in.
dividual" sports in popularity at
G.. w.
Male students may well take a
leaf from the athletic knowledge
book of female students. The
notable trend today to train for
leisure-time activity in physical
education is more clearly and
more sensibly reflected in women'S
activities than in mems. "1ndi-
vidual" sports are the most prac.
ticable for use in postgraduate
days. Group" or team" activi.
ties in postgraduate days are
well-nigh worthless, in the light
of practice as opposed to theory
About 500 women Of G. w.
participate in athletics at the
Colonial School. Three types Of
competition in three seasons of
the year are conducted for G. w.
goods, but the individual woman's
wants guide the teaching and
supervising activities Of Miss
Ruth Atwell and her staff, con-
sisting of Miss Agnes Rodgers,
Miss Helen Lawrence, Miss Ruth
Aubeck and Mrs. Helen Taylor
Hanford.
Intramural Competition
The first type of competition
is called intramural. It is COM
petition between sororities. The
second type is interclass. It
involves women from different
classes in the university. The
third type is a form Of inter-
collegiate competition, but far
different from the intercollegiate
sport of men. Illustrating the
latter point: G. w. women COM
peted against those of Hood
College in field hockey, soccer,
archery, tennis and volley ball in
the same meet last fall.
While competition is accepted
by G. w. women as seasoning for
their athletic endeavors in college,
they are today laying the foun-
dation for leiSure-time activities
in postgraduate days by develop
ing a love for the individual"
sports, fine buoy to tie ones
boat to, when the Importance of
health is considered.
At G. w. the pupil appears to
want to learn what the teacher
wants her to learn, proof suf-
ficient that efficacy marks the
methods employed by the teach
ing staff.
Rythymic ..:ancing seems to
rate high with women students.
Among the regular activities,
probably the ones ranking low.
est are baseball (soft BALD, track
and field, gymnastics and ap.
paratus work, which explodes
what may be termed the we'll
known Mildred Babe" Didrick.
son theory that women "just
love" track athletics.
Urban Atmosphere
While the atmosphere in which
G. WIS women practice daily
athletics is n cessarily urban, the
results (probably due to the care
exercised in preparing athletic
prograns) are those obtained at
women's colleges where few, if
any, diStracting influences mark
the years passing.
There are numerous interesting
and instructive features over
looked in this survey of athletics
for women at G. w., but in i'm
portance these factors fall far
short Of the dominating one,
which is that women at G. w.
prefer individual" sports-ten-
mis-, golf, swimming and riding
to group" or "team" games,
such as basketball, soccer, field
hockey and baseball.
It is quite obvious to the
observer that women students
accept health and physical fitness,
training for leisure time, sports
manShip, motor skills, muscular
coordination, health knowledge,
recreation, interest and greater
love for sports as the objectives
Of their physical education course
at G. w.