Evening star., 1943-06-22
Regarded Vital
ToSo|diers, War
Workers Alike
Value of Athletics,
Once Spurned, Cited
By Naval Officer
BY GRANTLAND RICE.

special correspondent OF The Star.
NEW YORK, July % (NANA) -
In order to get better line on how
Great Britain handles her sporting
arrangement, we looked up oul
young friend 1t. Jock Buchanan OF
Glasgow and the British Navy.
1t. Jock, now over here on official
work, is chunky Scot who knows
and loves his sport, no matter what
the game is. He is just in from
North Africa, the Mediterranean
and few other sections of the
Seven Seas.
III tell you how it is" Jock said
"When the first blitz blitzed us, we
thought we had to give up sport
We tried it. 1t didn't work. So
we picked up about where we'd left
off. Not quite. But not so bad
either. And what a difference 1t
has made to us on the war winning
side.
In the old days in football we
had national leagues with divisions
consisting of the best % teams in
division one-the % next best in di-
vision two-etc. No limits to trav-
cling. OF course, that has been all
changed"
Players Are Shifted About.
THE wartime organization is diff
terent, although we have crowds up
10 100000. Now, our regional leagues
consist of some 20 teams from each
district. All players either are in the
armed forces or defense work. We
have an arrangement where any
player under contract to a team can
play for another team in the new
district where he now lives.
Training is arranged so that the
player trains at the football park
nearest his home or station with
travelling cut to the minimum. This
keeps them in good football shape
Inter-force games and international
games for the Red Cross and other
war funds are extremely popular.
The heads Of the services realize
the great value of football as a
morale builder to the defense
workers, who nearly all average
72-hour week. I don't mean a 40
or 48-hour week. I mean 72 hours.
These welcome the relaxation that
football and racing bring.
Our games are broadcast and
recordings made of the broadcast
and played to our forces overseas.
1t Is what our soldiers, sailors and
myers want. Football games between
the Air Forces and the Army teams
are especially popular.
Great Morale Builders.
The continuance of football and
sport In general has been a great
contributing factor to the high mo-
rale Of the British people.
Il only wish America could realize
how much it has meant. Four years
of wartime football have not reduced
the public'S love of the game. de-
spite the fact that their teams
change constantly and often consist
OF IS per cent of players from other
teams, even bitter rivals.
BY rearranging the competitions
rs above with mutual and free inter-
change OF players, the standards of
play have been lowered very little.
Much new talent has also been dis
covered.
Il have heard rumors here in
America that football will be discon-
tinued at many places. I hope this
isn't so. know how much football
and other games have helped the
war effort in Great Britain. 1t
would be a great pity over here If
the authorities should make such an
iu-timed decision against football,
IN particular. Body-to-body contact
Is a leading essential of modern
warfare, as you can learn from the
veterans who reach from Guadal-
canal to North Africa"