56 PHYSICAL TRAINING 



Up to adolescence the most enjoyable kind of 

 games are those in which individuals compete 

 against each other for individual glory, and it is a 

 mistake to endeavor to develop real team-work 

 before the natural time for it. For the same 

 reason, class drills in different physical exercises 

 are not of very great value, simply because the 

 child is not greatly interested in group work, 

 and exercise is very effective only when there is a 

 direct interest in it on the part of the child. 



We must be very careful, however, especially 

 when we consider the regular school sports, to 

 see to it that they are suited to each individual 

 child. It is amazing how common it is for school 

 football teams to be formed, the only require- 

 ment being that the members be strong, active, 

 and courageous. It never enters the minds of 

 many coaches to inquire as to the physical fitness 

 of each boy for that particular kind of sport. 



Football is an especially good example. At best 

 it is not a particularly safe game for boys, though 

 many bad points have been eliminated. The real 

 danger seems to come in the private-school teams. 

 Many schools encourage the formation and train- 

 ing of such teams, not for the individual benefit 

 of the boys, but for the advertising a successful 

 team gives a school. So we find the paid, pro- 

 fessional coaches — who are often entirely ignorant 

 of the science of physical development — willing 



