Bloomington High School, The Gothic, 1909, Page 74

Description:	School AthleticsThere are many persons, otherwise perfectly sane, whoutterly lose their reason when the subject of school athleticsis placed under discussion. Although foot ball is made thechief center of attack, the dissenters urge that base ball, trackand all athletic contests should be abolished, in order that therewards of scholarship may be restored to their proper planeof value, and that campus life be rid of an excitement whichis branded pernicious in the extreme. We who wish to sup-port athletics, willingly admit that reforms in foot ball and re-forms in fair plays should be made immediately; but to rid thehigh school and college life of the rivalry on the gridiron, onthe track and diamond would remove from high school andcollege world one of its most manly, helpful and importantfactors.On the athletic field, strength of character as well asphysical strength is brought to account, while in the classroom character may fall to ruin while brains carry off thehonors, clothed in dishonesty, fraud, and unmanliness. In yourstudy, you may steal the work of a more fertile brain, but onthe athletic field you can not counterfeit. The very strongestinfluence that today is combating the grave evil of socialinequities, false standards and an encroaching aristocracy ofwealth in American college life is athletic training and compe-tition, says Ralph D. Paine.Honesty, daring, courage, loyalty, and endurance havealways been held to be the chief constituents of an admirablecharacter. Every one of these traits are brought to light inthe clean rivalry of school athletics. If the candidate fails ineven one of these, he is rejected, but he is a better man tohave tried even though failure did crown his effort. The incentive is so great that he does not despair but tries and triesagain. Although in the outside world the high school and col-lege student who has the dough may command his littleworld of admirers if his character was weighed in the balanceon the athletic field of manly combat, he would be foundwanting.The motives which animate the young man trying forathletic honors are practically the same that encourage hiselders in their daily strife for existence, first, for the joy of do-ing a thing well; second, of making a success for its own sake,and third, that impelling force of popular favor or what termedreputation. All these things are what keep us drilling awayat the lock of life.All these things are signified in high school and collegelife by the letter which the successful athlete is permitted towear upon his sweater. Did you ever stop to think howsmall is the number of these letters given out? That fact initself is convicting evidence that they are not given away for amere nothing. They stand for sacrifice and toil. They signifythat the wearer has competed with his fellow-students in a raceof manliness and he has stamped the required amount in themint of character. The opposition to interscholastic athletesmake a grave blunder in ignoring these great benefits. Thebearers of these emblems have learned the secret of fightingfor an unselfish cause, lose or win.There is so much manly sentiment in the desire for honorson the athletics field that it would be abominable misanhtropyto snatch the opportunity of stamping the value of his char-acter in the annals of the school, from the enthusiastic studentof the present school work.There is plenty of time for the field and the study roomand the young man can achieve an honorable standing in bothof them. But the opposition will have to make a new youngman to make him believe that honors from scholarship aremore to be envied than those from the field.74
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloom/id/1011
Collection:	Bloomington High School

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