

^ ■ 



Big Sports Festival 

 Planned For Sept. 1-2 



WHO WnJ. WIN THE STATE BASEBALL 

 TITLE THIS YEAH? 

 With several new teams in the running 

 including Tazewell's undefeated nine, 

 there'll be a hot time at Illinois Field 

 Sept. 1-2. 



Rich men own the major leagues, 



Poor men just play ball. 



But farmers have all kinds of fun 



At the big Sports Festival.' 



£ RECENT poll of county 



,1 ■' 4p Farm Bureaus shows that 



^^^r / the Festival is growing. 

 County festivals, too, are increasing in 

 size and p>opularity. Last year 40 coun- 

 ties held some kind of sports field day 

 during the summer. This year approxi- 

 mately 55 will have had one iaefore Sep- 

 tember 1 and 2, the dates of the big 

 state-wide Sports Festival at the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois. 



Although returns of the county by 

 county check-up cheered Festival com- 

 mitteemen by showing increased activity 

 in nearly all events, it also got them in 

 hot water. They tried to answer this 

 problem: If 40 counties indicated in July 

 last year that they would have Softball 

 teams at the festival, and 1 1 6 teams 

 played, how many will play this year 

 when 63 report they will have teams? 



They figured, if the average number 

 of teams per county was 2.9, then, 2.9 

 times 63 is 182.7, the number of teams 

 they might expect this year. What's 

 your guess? 



The Farm Bureau Baseball League is 

 winding up the season with some pretty 

 close percentages. On July 15, Winne- 

 bago was leading in Division I ; Boone in 

 Division II; Will in Division III; Taze- 

 well in Division IV; Fayette and Mont- 

 gomery tied in Division V; Macon lead- 

 ing Division VI. 



Wood chopping, a contest added to 

 the list about a month ago, already has 

 14 tentative entries. Amateur wrestling, 

 for boys under 21, a contest new to Fes- 

 tival crowds, is getting under way in 

 fine shape with eight counties planning 

 to supf)ort it with from one to ten en- 

 tries. 



The shooting sports, skeet, trap and 

 rifle, will be even more popular -this 

 year than last. Probable entries in swim- 

 ming, open to four boys and four girls 

 from a county, will be about double the 

 number of last year. Two old-time 

 sports, checkers and horseshoes, both 

 show gains over last year. Other events, 



WRESTLING FOR FARM ROYS 



By H. E. ''Hek'' Kenney, Coach of Wrestling, 

 University of illinois 



^^^^^ OR red-blooded, active boys, 

 ^**— ^ amateur wrestling is one of 



^J^ the most fascinating sports. 

 The men who are promoting and teach- 

 ing this fine sport in colleges and high 

 schools have ruled out all the danger- 

 ous and "give up" holds, making it 

 a game in which all the fun of skill- 

 ful body activity may be safely enjoyed. 



Wrestling is spreading rapidly 

 among the high schools of the nation. 

 The main reason for its growth lies 

 in the natural and almost universal 

 desire of boys and young men for this 

 type of contest. In Oklahoma, where 

 Coach Ed Gallagher of Oklahoma A. 

 & M. college fostered the sport among 

 high schools of the state in 1919, most 

 high schools now have wrestling teams. 

 It is not uncommon to find that the 

 majority of American Olympic westlers 

 are natives of the Sooner state. 



In Illinois. 75 high schools are spon- 

 soring wrestling teams. In a few years 



the sport will spread to all communities 

 of the state. And the faster education- 

 al administrators and parents find out 

 that high school wrestling is a safe 

 sport that all boys love, the faster 

 it will spread. 



Boys who are planning to wrestle, 

 must live the kind of life that will 

 allow their bodies to develop endur- 

 ance, speed and quick reactions. 

 Wrestling and dissipation of any kind 

 don't go together. Smoking and drink- 

 ing will cause most boys to become 

 discouraged in a hurry. 



There is little danger of a boy hurt- 

 ing himself by not being in condition. 

 He will slow up and stay on the bot- 

 tom and probably be pinned because 

 of the lack of snap and speed caused 

 by fatigue. Boys who lack the will 

 power or guts to train are not often 

 successful at this game. 



The beginner has many things to 

 learn about wrestling. Yet, he can 



tug o'war, track, women's events, hog 

 calling and the folk Festival, are keep- 

 ing pace. 



And so the Festival is growing. There 

 were 2800 contestants last year and no 

 one knows how many more than 3000 

 there will be this year. 



LEGWORK 

 Good w^restlers rely on their legs as 

 much as their arms in bringing and hold- 

 ing opponents to the mat. The wrestler 

 on top demonstrates a body scissors with 

 his legs. He is in a position to pin his 

 man by flattening him out on his chest 

 and turning him over with a hall nelson. 



quickly learn to wrestle well if he 

 will master a few holds and not try 

 to use too wide a variety. Learn to 

 use two or three ways to take an op- 

 ponent to the mat from a standing po- 

 sition. Learn two or three methods 

 of escaping from the holds of an op- 

 ponent and learn a few good holds to 

 use when you are on top. 



The westler who is really good at a 

 few tricks will defeat another who has 

 only a fair degree of skill with a large 

 number of offensive moves. Try to 

 learn offenses in combinations. That 

 is, if you learn two methods for tak- 

 ing your opponent off his feet, you 

 will be more successful if these two 

 attacks can be used from the same 

 start. Then it will be possible to fake 

 one offense and shift quickly to the 

 other. If your opponent has a harder 

 time of shifting to defend himself than 

 you have in making the attack, then 

 you have devised a perfect combination. 



Many potential college and Olympic 

 wrestlers are now growing up on Il- 

 linois farms. How many will win their 

 first matches in the 1939 Illinois Farm 

 Sports Festival? 



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L A. A. RECORD 



