INDIVIDUALISM IN SPORT

Crew opened its 1922 season yesterday under its new director, Dr. Howe. In addressing the candidates be emphasized two purposes of rowing. One, of course, is to have a successful season, the other, to develop the individual and give all men who desire it a chance for exercise. This second purpose always has been one of the great virtues of crew. Every one has a chance: there is room for every one. No sport offers so general an opportunity for exercise and bodily development. Under this new system the individual is to receive even more attention, than in the past. There are to be races between Newell and Weld as well as class crew races. The scullers are to have their own coach, Ed Wachter. No one is too inexperienced to get his turn at coaching and competition. It is this attitude which has given crew its popularity in the past and which should even increase its enrolment in the future.

When a major sport with a reputation as great as that of crew can take an interest in the individual, it seems as if the minor sports might do well to follow its example. The entire college cannot row many would not care to; but the minor sports offer varied opportunities to every one. There are few men who could not find some sport to interest them among those which offer a letter. But it is the lack of personal interest and coaching for the beginner that holds back the minor sports. There is a small group of enthusiasts in each who keep the team alive from year to year. But a severe competition in minor sports is rare; a team is scraped together, and no more. To be sure, minor sport cannot offer the elaborate system and the large group of coaches which crew possesses. Yet there is a wide opportunity in this field for any and every man who wants to take regular exercise in competitive form and who has no objection to the possibility of a minor letter as a reward for interest in the games.