Lawrence High School - Lawrencian Yearbook (Falmouth, MA)

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Lawrence High School not only physical development but also intellectual ability suffered a decline from the period before. In medieval times when knight- hood was in its prime, athletics were present in various forms, but the people rarely thought of them as the builders of strong bodies. Tournaments were the favorite game of this time, and these com- bats between knights often produced many injuries. A knight entered the tourneys principally for the pur- pose of upholding his honor. Although the gladiatorial contests and tournaments were considered as sports, they did not represent the Greek idea of uniting a strong body with a strong mind. At this time athletics and intellectual abil- ity of the people was still further inferior to that of the Greeks. It was not until the development of America that the Greek idealism was revived. Before the middle of the last cen- tury there was practically no such thing as organized athletics in the United States, and even in England the first intercollegiate contest be- tween Oxford and Cambridge did not take place until 1864. For a long period the keen desire of every normal boy to excel in sports was only half tolerated and time spent that way was often regarded as time lost. However, the energetic spirit of youth finally conquered the old-fashioned projudice, and to- day men realize that athletics form just as essential a part of a person’s education as the subjects taught in the schools. The term athletics which we hear so much about today, has been ex- panded until it includes all sports and pastimes which involve physi- cal effort. The present-day sports mean a great deal to those who participate in them, and they are the finest character building devices which we have. Athletics have also done much to foster the feeling of good friendship between the nations of the world. A good example of this is the Olympic Games, revived in 1896, which include most of the coun- tries in the world. With the excep- tion of the period of the World War, these events have been held at four-year intervals in some world capital. In track and field events the representatives of the United States have carried off the greater part of the honors. The most prominent sports today are those which involve team play such as basketball, football, and baseball. It is from team play that one learns the value of sportsman- ship and united effort, and these qualities are easily applied to every day life. More than this our mod- ern athletics contests develop in- tellectual ability. No man can play big league baseball without braihs. Other contests call for quick think- ing, and is me call for a very high order of intellectual ability. I have given you only a few in- stances in the progress of athletic development, but they will give you an idea of the steps the world has taken to provide a man with a strong body and to show him the value of the sportsmanship and loyalty gained from athletics. Our athletic contests should de- velop in us the principles which mark the difference between the man who co-operates unselfishly and the man who works only for himself, between the man who tries to build and the man who seeks to destroy, between the