| Show What Y M. M CA C.-A. Is Doing I To Th Help Lick the Ka Ia Kaiser ser athletics and physical B BECAUSE relaxation play p. p leading part partIn In keepinG the soldier In the Uie best physical trim as ai well as strengthening his mental poise the work which the physical education department of or the s 's y M M. C. C A. A war work council along alons- this lie He has been been of or Immense value In helping to round out and maintain a strong aggressive aggressive sive military force torce American and French military commanders have been unsparing In their words of praise of ot the y Y M. M C. C A A. physical di directors directors directors directors' di- di rectors rectors' assistance In maintaining the morale of their armies One of S the highest tributes paid the organization organization organization was the official request of the French army for the Y M M. C C. A. A to furnish physical to conduct in that great fighting force the same work which had bad been shown to be so 60 beneficial to the American expeditionary expeditionary force To 10 persons persons persons' of sedentary life It might appear that the daily dally life of a soldier In w war r contains athletics enough m marching long stretches drilling dIlling with weapons dh digging trenches trench trench- es and clearing fields These are not I athletics but hard work ork Athletics connotes physical exercise taken up more or less voluntarily for pleasure or beneficial results The soldiers have up setting-up exercises a vigorous dally daily drill for Cor developing muscles correcting c physical l defects and giving them g the military carriage nb but It Is not recorded that the recruits vol voluntarily voluntarily volun volun- unI un- un turn to these for relaxation In their hours of ot leisure I The formal athletic program of ot a I military Is supervised by the army athletic officer working with witt this military officer who ho cannot give I person il 1 l attention to the he many men men under his direction except In regimental regimental regi regi- mental drills s. ar are arc the Y M. M C. C A. A physical physical phy phy- directors and and In In the cantonments canton canton- ments ments the tha representatives of the commission on training camp ties SOLDIERS' SOLDIERS GAMES VIGOROUS The Y M l C. C A A. physical directors ta take ke up the work when the soldiers are In their leisure that proverbial time when the J powers of evil find mischief for Idle hands Men in camp or In inS billets are prone to become moody at S such times if it they have no healthful diversion and gloom swiftly contagious contag contag- ious bus Is Is' bad for the morale of an army To meet such a a situation the theY the Y Y director Inspires participation by all aU idle hands In mass games most of them simple but intensely vigorous vigorous vigor vigor- ous usually laugh Inspiring and al always always always al- al ways diverting The tonic value of such measures Is recognized by all aU military authorities In the training camps this physical education work has been hailed with pleasure by tho the young oung men learnIng learning learning learn learn- ing the art of soldiering It furnishes furnish furnish- es the outlet for vitality which otherwise otherwise otherwise other other- wise ml might u ht have Impelled them to dis- dis It dispels blues and builds up muscles as well as developing quickness in movement so 50 vital inha In ha hand to hand dh fighting h But t On In the h d war zono the the wor work rises to Incalculable value Volumes have been printed about the monotony of ot trench life liCe and the waiting In camps There Is no need then of oC going Into lengthy detail explaining the pressing need for physical relaxation for the themen themen men held there And when they conic como out from under fire after days of In Incessant Incessant incessant In- In fighting beneath showers of bursting shells these soldiers are arc In Ina Ina a condition of nervous tension which requires working off Many young men in civil life emerging from sue such periods of terrific mental and phy phy phy- str strain ln seek relaxation In pation Observers who have studied the soldiers sol aol I diers emerging from froni their period under fire state that these fighters cannot settle down Immediately They have been fighting shooting bayoneting bayoneting bayon bayon- eting bombing slashing Ing through wire or through flesh and bone e all to tho the fearful tearful accompaniment of artillery and machine gun clamor Men are arc not nerveless no matter how coolly they conduct themselves under fire They emerge from these ordeals state the tho observers In a condition where they need some form of lively physical recreation To meet that situation the Y M r. C. C A. A has a long list of games in which the striking of an opponent with a football or a stuffed club aid the soldiers in workIng workIng working work- work Ing ot off their feelings The mass games are emph emphasized because the they are designed to draw in every man so that none could stand at one side envious depressed and T There ere ar are dozens of these games worked out by the Y M. M C. C A. A physical directors some originated mated some adapted from boyhood contests and all intended to make the soldiers laugh play and forget to be moody ALL GAMES PLAYED I None of the big games are slighted although It is superfluous to state that tha where thousands n of f American eri t I boys are gathered there er also are baseball football volleyball basketball basket basket- ball boxing and similar sports I These C cin n be played only by a limIted limited lim urn number at t a a. time and with considerable considerable con con- apparatus hence the games have been given wide distribution distribution distribution distri distri- because they can be begun quickly with little i apparatus with the greatest reat nu number ber of players on the most informal athletic fields The Y M M. C. C A. A has bought and sent to the war zone tons of athletic equipment for the free use use use-of of the soldiers sol sot diers baseball and toot football ball outfits outfits- everything that Is need needed d for the games to be played by the millions of under arms arms th tb s Americans French and Italians The organization tion has enlisted as its physical di directors directors directors di- di rectors hundreds of men no among them some of the greatest college and professional professional pro pro- athletes of their times times stars stars of track diamond and gridiron fifteen fifteen hf- hf teen or twenty years ears ago These physical directors have been welcomed cordially into the French and Italian armies where they are in introducing in- in traducing the garnet games which had proved so valuable to the morale of the American expeditionary force They are being sent over by the hundreds as fast as the Y M. M C. C A. A can can enlist and instruct t them for this sap y work In the American army are men of ot ev every ry shade of athletic experience experience- fr from m experts who received big salarIes salaries salar salar- ies las in the professional athletics to young men who never had any ny physical physical physical phy phy- training in their lives lives more more who never had played as boys Teaching men to play so that their bodies nerves and minds will be re relaxed relaxed re- re taxed h has s been a great and beneficial result of the assembling of the United Stat States s military forces and this task has been accomplished largely by the Y M. M C. C A. A Military authorities recognize and insist upon ulon the preservation and raising of ot the morale This desired condition has been achieved largely through the almost unanimous par participation participation par par- of the soldiers in the athletics athletics ath ath- and games inspired by the Y M. M C. C A. A Not only have the games had a object but many new games have been Introduced with a practical l military purpose Under this heading beading is bomb invented to train men men In the throwing of bombs s sand and hand grenades This game was developed by Arthur W V Jones the Y M. M C C. A. A director at Camp Travis and has been been- passed on to all physical physical phy phy- ideal directors of ot the organization by Dr George J. J Fisher head of the physical education department Volleyball has a strong hold on the favor of the French and Italian soldiers sol aol diers particularly as it is a fast game rf where tion at many once elide m men When h can nn it ni i enjoy Is Yc considered much i ed ac action action ac- ac that the American Y M. M C. C A. A has b en entrusted with large responsIbilities responsibilities responsibilities in connection with the provision provision provision pro pro- vision of physical recreation of tho the fighting forces of three nations some Idea of the size of the task and th the confidence e rEposEd can be he obtained |
