Part 28 (1/2)

Purpose of Games

The spirit of camping is too frequently destroyed by over-emphasis upon compet.i.tive games. Play is necessary for the growing boy and play that engages many partic.i.p.ants has the most value. America today is suffering from highly specialized, semi-professional athletics and games. ”When athletics degenerate into a mere spectacle, then is the stability of the nation weakened. Greece led the world, while the youth of that great country deemed it an honor to struggle for the laurel leaf, and gymnasiums were everywhere and universally used and the people saw little good in an education that neglected the body. It is a significant fact that the degeneracy of Greece was synchronous with the degrading of athletics into mere professional contests. What had been the athletics of the people became a spectacle for the people.” [1]

[Footnote 1: Emmett D. Angell in ”Play,” p. 19.]

Baseball League

Do not allow the athletics and games of the camp to become a mere spectacle for the campers. Something should be planned for every boy and every boy encouraged to partic.i.p.ate in the program. Nothing has yet taken the place of the good old American game of baseball. Divide the camp boys into teams. Have a league playing a series of games. The teams may be named after the different colleges or prominent cities or as one camp named the league, the ”Food League” after popular camp dishes, such as: ”Prunes,” ”Beans,” ”Soup,” ”Hash,” ”Mush,” ”Chipped Beef.” It is needless to state that the boys in the league not only had a lot of fun, but the camp paper contained very amusing accounts of the games played.

Arrange a schedule of games and keep accurate records of all games played either in the ”Camp Log” or camp paper. A dinner given to the winning team adds to the excitement of the league's existence. Do not neglect the younger boys; have two ”Midget” teams engage in a series for best two out of three games. Occasionally a game between the leaders and older boys is the exciting game of the season, especially if the leaders are defeated.

The same rule of partic.i.p.ation should govern the athletics of the camp.

Inter-tent games help to develop group loyalty, cooperation, fair play, and courtesy to opponents so desirable.

Groups

In some camps the boys are divided into two groups, those under five feet in height and those over five feet. Events are planned for these two groups. The system of grouping suggested by the School Athletic League, is that of grouping the boys according to physiological rather than chronological age, as follows: Pre-p.u.b.escent boys under 90 pounds.

p.u.b.escent boys or juniors, 90 to 110 pounds.

Post-p.u.b.escent or intermediates, 110 to 130 pounds.

Seniors, above 130 pounds.

The boys are weighed in competing costume. This system is looked upon as being fair and practical.

What to Avoid

The following should be avoided--Marathon runs, sustained effort in and under water and compet.i.tive long-distance running. The longest sprint race should be, for boys, 50 yards, for juniors, 75 yards. No adolescent who is not past the p.u.b.escent stage should run sprint races longer than 100 yards. Cross-country running is beneficial when taken at a slow pace and without compet.i.tion. Every boy should be examined for heart weakness before entering the strenuous games.

The above is the opinion of physical directors from twenty-one different States and may be considered authoritative. This same opinion prevails among most of the experienced camp leaders and workers among boys.

Events

The athletics usually planned for camp are: 50 yard dash for boys; 75-yard dash for juniors; 100 yard dash for seniors; running high jump; running broad jump; pole vault; 8 and 12-pound shot-put; baseball throw and relay race.

Awards

Ribbon awards presented to the winners at a special meeting of the campers aid considerably in fostering the true spirit of clean athletics and wholesome sport and are appreciated by the winners as souvenirs of the good-natured contest.

Camps possessing a stereopticon[1] should secure the set of slides and lecture accompanying from the Moral Education League of Baltimore, Md., ent.i.tled ”The True Sportsman.” Rental terms are five dollars a week and expressage.

[Transcribers Footnote 1: stereopticon: A magic lantern, with two projectors arranged to produce dissolving views.]

A perpetual cup for all-round proficiency, upon which is engraved the name of each year's winner, is a good way of recording the annual athletic meet.

A s.h.i.+eld with the names of the winners of the season's events painted or burned upon it and hung up in the camp lodge helps to retain the interest of the winner in the camp after he has become a ”grown-up” or alumnus.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Take-off; Cross-section of Take-off; Jumping Standards;]

Apparatus