Athletics in Our High Schools

ATHLETICS IN OUR HIGH SCHOOLS By J. R. Tippetts, Superintendent Morgan County School District A visitor at one of our competitive athletic games, as carried out among the high schools of the state, cannot but be struck with the intense enthusaism that pervades the very atmosphere of the engage- ment. The student bodies of the contending teams with their flut- tering banners and streamers, their bands in gay costumes aligned on either, side of the building, the phenominal audience of old as well as young that crowd every inch of seating and standing space within and often extend far out into the corridors, no matter how generous the proportions of the building, the howling, cheering mass that breaks forth as the teams appear for combat, give a setting most spectacular, and one is to be forgiven if in one's unguarded enthusiasm one unconsciously feels that the end of the world is about at hand. For ages past scenes of this kind have been witnessed in particular parts of the world, but never in the life of humanity has there been a time when all the people of a state, old and young, rich and poor, rural and urban, have been so deeply interested and emotionally stirred by competitive athletic games as are those of the present age. Through their close affiliation with the local high schools, each and every family feels the thrill of this excitement, and for months at a time the conversation at local clubs, at meal time, on the street corner, in the office, is dominated by the common chatter relative to contending games and teams. It is not uncommon among high schools to put all the resources of the district behind a contending team; to travel unheard-of dis- tances over mountain roads and snows, taking large truck loads of students, bands, school board members, faculty and townspeople into the enemy's camp, solely for the purpose of winning a game. The games have become so popular that hundreds of dollars are collected as gate receipts and many more hundreds spent in reaching the game. So important has this phase of school life become that a highly spe- cialized and expertly administrated organization for the control and promotion of the enterprise has been set up in the state. The thing has become so popular that in the minds of the public the efficiency of the school is measured solely by its athletic prowess. Has the enterprise succeeded? Indeed it has, and there are many in the state who will say that it has succeeded all too well, and who would gladly begin limiting this display of energy were it possible to do so. All administrators of school affairs agree that there is danger of a warped community ideal of school efficiency, and are hopeful that some agency will arise that can restore a sane balance of affairs. Here, as in other cases of public enterprizes, the school patrons

540 IMPROVEMENT ERA are the final judge and are the agencies that can cast the deciding vote. While the people as a whole have had little to say with the intro- duction of athletics in school, they have had a great deal to say about their increasing popularity. When the eyes of a community are fixed upon the success or failure of an activity governed by public officers, it is only reasonable to expect that those officials will give the public what it wants. As long as athletics stands out in the eyes of the public, until it is the chief interest of conversation on all corners and on all occasions, we can expect a catering group of officials. The history of politics teaches us to expect this. It is well, and many think it is now time, for the patrons of our schools to be cautious in their enthusiasm regarding athletics; not that we want less athletics, but that we may have more of some- thing else. When a student makes application to the University of Utah, or the Agricultural College, or the Brigham Young University, these schools do not ask what was the standing of your school in athletics, but rather the student's rating in mathematics, English, and the social sciences, and set up very definite standards of attainment in them; so much so that recently 12^4 per cent of the enrollment of one of these schools were recently dismissed from registration or put on probation, due to lack of efficient work. The people at home must remember that it is within their power so to warp the curriculum of their high school by lavish display of enthusiasm toward any one department as seriously to effect the caliber of work in other, more essential departments. The public must ask itself, "Is my support placed in the most vital spot?" School people appreciate the enthusiasm of the public toward school work in any capacity. They agree that it is better to bring the public to its feet in support of a ball game, rather than not bring it to its feet at all, and would not have it interpreted that they wish to belittle athletics. Conversely, they are proud of and are aware of the great virtues in it. What we wish to avoid is a one-sided emphasis that may in the end so twist our desires as to make us deaf to more worthy ideals in school work. Athletics at its best should be only a corollary to school work. If we make it more than this, and this at the expense of more fundamental work, then indeed we have weak- ened our system and have at the same time demonstrated a weakness in discerning relative values. Morgan, Utah Thank God for a Summer morning with its roseate robes of sunrise; its quiet fields of green; its softly murmuring streams; its diamonds of dew; its fantastic shadows on the grass; its nodding flowers: its soft croons among woodland nooks; its waving ferns; its thousands of orisons from feathered throats; its hum of busy bees: its millions of echoes from far and near. Yet, thank God for eyes that see, for ears that hear, for an understanding that appreciates, and for a soul that revels in nature and the wonderful handi- work of the Master of all things. — DOROTHY C. RETSLOFF.