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Show : it SPORTS The head coach of Army, rf W one of the nation's ex ' J) best, answers a perennial 1011 d; parent question: Your F ay 'Football? !Boy .. By PAUL DIETZEL your boy play football? For Should matter, should any boy play football? in the family car. Statistics show that in the 15- - to age group automobile deaths lead football fatalities by hundreds to one. The bruises hell receive playing football can be painful, but there will always be a doctor available, and with present medical and training techniques, most athletic injuries heal completely in less than three months. Who should play football? not 1. Only boys who want to play football boys whose fathers want them on the field. 2. Only boys physically fit. A doctor should 21-ye- ar I can't honestly say to you: "Yes!" I don't know your boy. But I can say this to you: "Almost every boy who is physically able should play football." President Kennedy and President Eisenhower before himwarned the nation's youth that it was becoming soft and sedentary. Wherever possible, boys should be active participants, not side-lin- e spectators. Football, of course, means sweat and labor and often tears. But itv is one of the best tests of personal abilities-inclu- ding determination and fighting spirit. On a bronze plaque outside Michie Stadium at West Point is written: "I want an officer for a secret and dangerous mission. I want a West Point football player." That statement was made by Gen. George C. Marshall, then chief of staff of the U.S. Army in World War II. Another general once told me his only problem with former athletes during the Korean war was that he had to hold them back by the shirt-tai- l. Ma young men who had been brilliant in the classroom were busy looking up the cor-re- ct procedures when circumstances called for leadership by action. This ability to take over when leadership is needed is an asset constantly nurtured on the field of play. But will your boy be injured playing football? He might He might also get hurt driving around -- check prospective players. s not enough 3. Only boys in good condition. to train a week before the season. Condition- If ing is a For year-roun- pre-teen-ag- d ers necessity. boys between seven and contact sports should be supervised. Comedpetition is an essential part of every child's ucation, but it must be allowed to develop norbalmally, with competition and cooperation as anced forces in his personality. Athletics need to be as carefully supervised as other parts of his education are. 12 addition, the American Medical Association INdiscourages interschool and intercommunity group. contact sports for children in the, pre-tee-n come should only from excitement The pre-teeto playing and playing only because he likes play, not to satisfy desires of adults or to be exploited by them. boy, you As a parent of a football-playin- g n's actress Hayley Mills has a zling film career before her (she plays her first grown-u- p role in "The Chalk Garden"), and no small credit goes to "The Woman Behind Hayley Mills,' page 12. Teen-ag- e daz- LEONARD $. DAYIDOW C. DREYFUS WALTER PATRICK E. OTtOURKE MORTON FRANK When President and Pbliker Vice President Advertising Director Director of Publisher Relation PROCESSING AND BOOKS, ALL the requirements I've mentioned of boy and school are met, then I'd say your boy should play football. I feel that today's adult world tells youngsters to get by with as little effort as possible, to take care of "No. 1" (yourself) first, to sit back and let the "other guy" do it. Those are unhealthy ideas to carry into adulthood. But if a boy goes out for football and sticks to it, he is not likely to become a selfish slacker. There's no place in football for that kind. Football can make your boy a champion. If he's willing to be the first guy on the practice field every day and if he works at being the best on the field, if he's willing to learn that the team comes before any personal glory and if he's willing to give any time the team asks, then win or lose your boy is a champion! Send oil advertising communications to Family Weekly, 153 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 1, III. Address all communications about editorial features to Y. Family Weekly, 60 E. 56th St., New York 22, N. 1963, Jaaa; have a right to demand certain conditions of his school. Perhaps the most important is that there be a physician as well as a trainer on duty. The best equipment should be provided as well. If school your school can't afford the best, your can't afford football. Until a few years ago, the first game of the season was scheduled after only a few days' ocpractice. The greatest number of injuries curred in these early games when players were not properly conditioned. Now a minimum of three weeks' conditioning should precede the first game, with a suitable number of practice periods before the first contact scrimmage. JFhmily COVER: -- INC., September 29, 1963 Board of Editors ERNEST V. HEYN Editor-in-Chi- ef Executive Editor Managing Edito DYKSTRA PHILLIP AH Director MELANIE DE PR0FT Food Editor BEN KARTMAN ROBERT FITZGIBBON Rosalyn Abrevaya, Arden Eidell, Hal London Jack Ryan; Peer J. Oppenheimer, Hollywood 153 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 1, III. All rights reserved. |