The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-01-02
COSKEY BOOSTS BOXING AID TO
 PUBLIC MORALE
A.A.U.Giving Excellent Co- operation to Restore
 "Amateur" Bouts
BY FRANK s. COSKEY State Athletic Commissioner Written for the United Prex)

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 Sports authorities and agencie agree that a complete blackout of sports promotion would be harmful to civilian morale. The experiences gained in the last war and the les sons learned in England during the present war have taught us that there must be no halt in athletic or recreational activities.
 The all-incluSive draft will give the athletic world . stiff blow. It will be up to the agencies in charge of sports to see that this blow is not knockout punch from which there may be no recovery for long time.
 Fortunately, schools and colleges are convinced there should be no curtailment in athletic programs during the war crisis and plans are already under way to solve the problem caused by the depletion in athletic ranks. This will be done by appealing to the large number of youths who, heretofore, have been indifferent to the call of the gridiron, the baseball field and the boxing ring. AS one football coach so ably put it last week: we must go up in the stands for them"
 Interested
 Naturally, as Connecticut's boxing commissioner, I am interested in the continuance of boxing during the war period as a means of re- creation to the public, and as an excellent medium of training for the future soldier or sailor in our armed forces. Boxing had a prom inent part in the training of our armies in the last war and is slat- ed to have an even greater part in the conditioning of the present forces.
 With the sport of boxing 50 close ly allied to military training, every encouragement should be given to the youngsters below draft age to take up the sport. It was with this thought ill mind that I made re- cent overtures to the Connecticut association of the A. A. U. in the sincere hope that we might find 8 solution to the problems that have kept the Connecticut commission and the amateur association so long apart. The encouraging response that I have received from A. A. U. officials is indeed gratifying.
 As commissioner, I have, from the beginning, refused to countenance the hypocricy of the so-called anna teur set-up as found it upon talk ing office. I have brought the paid amateur" out in the open where he belongs, in a special class known as "Semi-pro." Here he may pre- pare for a career in the profeS- sional ranks. properly supervised. and properly paid, I hope.
 The way is now clear to open a field for the bona fide amateur who will be in a position to meet the of the A. A. U. He will be qualified to enter all New England and intersectional tourna- ments- opportunities which are de- nied him now as result of the faulty setup in Connecticut. Our youngsters should not be deprived of the chance for national fame and future rewards as Golden Glove winners.
 Good Matches
 On the professional front. there will be enough boxers in defense work and with dependents to keep the game fairly active. There are plenty of good matches still avail able if the managers and promot- ers can get together. Quality rath- er than quantity is all that is need ed to keep the game on a paying basis for the promoter and on a level for the fan during the troublesome days ahead.
 In addition to this, have every that the military off, cials will be quite generous in granting leaves to boxers in the service for the purpose of compet- Ing in civilian rings. This was the practice during the last war and there is every indication the gov ernment intends to continue that practice in this one.
 On the whole, think the lovers of boxing have every reason to feel optimistic regarding the future of the sport. The game has only to be kept alive until the boys come home again. It is not hard to pre- iict that the end of this war will bring an even greater impetus to the sport than the last one did.