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Show FUTURE GDIEHES TI BE THOROUGH Illinois First to Establish Special Course for Athletic Ath-letic Directors. URIUXA, 111., Aug. 9. The coming Camps, St.iggs, Yosts, and Zuppkes the athletic coaches of the future will not be developed haphazardly. Instead of being educated for other professions and taking up coaching incidentally, the new coaches will havo the benefit of four years' special training for their work and the prestige of a university degree. That is the plan of the University of Illinois where a department of athletic coaching and physical education has been established. A four year course in coaching will open September 22. Those who complete it will receive the degree of bachelor of science. It is expected that many high school graduates interested in athletics will enroll. The Illinois idea is new. No other university has recognized the importance impor-tance of such education by offering a four year course and degree. . "Potsy" Clark, famous Illinois athlete, ath-lete, just home from France, who was a member of the championship football and baseball teams of the A. E. F., and Major John L. Griffith, executive head of athletic activities in army training camps, formerly director of athleticB at Drake university, have been engaged as instructors, in addition to the coaches of the Illinois varsity teams. Gcore A. Huff, for twenty-four years director of athletics and baseball coach at Illinois, is the head of the new department. de-partment. The announcement of this course is an important sign of the trend of the times. Once the athletic coach was regarded re-garded by the college faculty as more or less o a necessary evil. Now it is realized that athletics and physical education ed-ucation must receive more emphasis in the universities, colleges and secondary schools of the country. That means that there must be trained men to direct di-rect thiH work. Most coaches, thus far, have been educated to be doctors, lawyers or engineers, en-gineers, for instance. Coaching as a life work was often a stop gap or an after thought. Beyond their own experience expe-rience in athletics they have been self-tauht self-tauht as coaches. But the day of the self-made coach, it is predicted, is passing. pass-ing. Few colleges or high schools are willing to allow their teams to be practice prac-tice material for would-be coaches, who plan to pick up their training as they go along. Besides it takes too long. The demand for trained coaches is-immediate and pressing, for the war has given a tremendous stimulus to athletics ath-letics and physical education. What wili the prospective coac-t studvj Baseball, football, basketball, track and field athletics, swimming, gymnastics, hygiene, training nnd massage, mas-sage, anthropometry, playground management man-agement and the organization of teams. There will be classroom work and training train-ing on the field as well. In addition to these technical training courses there will be required such courses os education, educa-tion, psychology, rhetoric nnd public speaking and the student will have general gen-eral elective courses from which to choose. So he will have a pretty fair general education on top of his special training. The nucleus of the instructional staff will be the group of Illinois coaches who have heen responsible for tho record rec-ord of Illinois athletic teams for the past ten years: George A. Huff, baseball; base-ball; Ilar'rv L. Gill, track and field nth-letics; nth-letics; Robert C. Zuppl.c, football; Ralph It. Jones, basketball; K. .1. Man-ley, Man-ley, swimming and A. J. Schuettner, gvmnastice. Lieutenant George Clark, better known as "Potsy," was a mcmher of the Illinois championship football and baseball teams of 1014 and 1015, and was selected as an all-western quarterback. quarter-back. When war broke ho was assistant football conch at Kansas university, lie was a member of t lie football and baseball teams of the KigMy-nimh division di-vision which won the championship of the A. K. F. In the final football battle bat-tle for army honors Clark scored both of the touchdowns which were mnde by his team. Major John L. Griffith was graduated' grad-uated' from Iteloit college in 1HU2. From liH'2 to ISlnj ho was director of athletics ath-letics at Yankton eolb-ge, South Dakota; Da-kota; from l'.lOj to I'.l"". he was director direc-tor of athlcti'-s at Momingside college, Iowa. In J!"'!) he bream? director of athletics at Drake university, retaining this position for ten years. In 1917 he entered the army service as athletic director, di-rector, Camp Dodge, Iowa, having had clinrpo of the organized reereation for .TiiOu men. In August, 11US, he was ordered to Camp Gordon to help establish estab-lish n school of physical training and bayonets. In September he was ordered to'Cnmp Bike to take charge of n similar sim-ilar school. On Jiimuiry 11 he was ordered or-dered to Washington ns executive, officer offi-cer of Ihe athletic division of the war department, commission on training camp activities. |