Home team

“ Each team is assigned to a different corner. A leader stands in front of each team with a bean bag, cap, or ball. At the signal to start the leader tosses to and receives from each member of his team in turn the bean bag. Having received the bag from the last one in his line, he takes his place at the foot of the line, and the one at the head of the line becomes leader and proceeds to toss the ball to each member as did the preceding leader. The group, in which all have served as leaders and which successfully completes the game first, wins. ”

“ Players should be trained to coöperate and to understand the importance of each doing well his particular part. Playing into the hands of each other when necessary, as in passing the ball to good throwers, is one of the most important features of team work.
GROUND.—A ground measuring about fifty feet long by twenty-five wide should be divided into two equal parts by a line across the center. The rear boundary of each half is the goal or club line on which the Indian clubs are placed. ”

“ An ardent supporter of the home-team should go to a game prepared to take offense, no matter what happens. ”

“ The first runners, having been called by their respective captains to the starting bases, run on a signal; the players may reach the club together and go through many false moves and dodges before one snatches the club and turns back to his goal. Should he succeed in reaching the goal before the other player can tag him, his team scores one point. ”

“ TEAMS.—The players are divided into two equal teams, consisting each of (1) a captain, (2) a baseman for each base in the outer circle, (3) guards. There should be one less guard on each team than the number of players in its outer circle. For instance, for five basemen, as in the diagram, there should be four guards. The guards belonging to a team are stationed in the opponents' [345] field, and generally begin the game lined up near the neutral territory that runs through the center of the ground. As the game progresses, the guards may scatter in any way that they choose. ”

“ START.—The game starts with Number One of each team in his respective throwing base in the center, the guards being disposed in one or two ranks around the goals they are to guard. Each center baseman holds a ball, which he puts in play at the referee's whistle, or other signal, by throwing to one of the corner goal keepers of his team.
Each guard, as he becomes thrower, throws only to the corner on his side of the field. ”

“ After practice Coach Crowley announced that there would be no work for the second the next day and that all who wished to accompany the first team to Leeds to see the game with Hollywood would be taken along free of charge, since the morrow’s contest was the only one played away from home [250] that season. Needless to say, the second team to a fellow declared their intention of profiting by the generosity of the Athletic Association. ”

“ But we know in our heart that we’ve got the best team in the League. We’ve got the Indian sign on all of them. The fans that are roasting us now will be shouting their heads off when we get started on our winning streak. ”

“ The pupils of each aisle constitute a team. Those in the front seats are Number 1, those next behind them, Number 2, and so on back. The teacher calls some number. The pupils having that number race to the board and write thereupon the name of some river, returning to their seats. The first one back wins one point for his team. The game continues until all the numbers have been called, the team having the most points wins. ”

“ The teams keep their new places and B throws the ball over to A. If the ball is not caught, it is thrown back and forth over the building until caught. The team which first hits all of its opponents wins, or a time limit may be agreed upon and the team having the greatest number of players at the end of that time, wins. ”

“ At the signal to go the first player on each team runs forward, sits in the chair, lifting both feet clear of the ground, then running around the chair, returns and tags off the next player, who does the same. ”

“ A gate opens at the farther end of the grounds, there is a vociferous cheer from the nearest section and the team in whose success our hopes are centered, trots out on the field, to be met by a tumult of welcome. Big fellows they are, stout of limb and victors through the season over every team they have met. ”

“ The students always play the association game, and it used to be the ambition of every youth to get the ball, and carry it down the field all by himself, while the audience cheered, "Bravo, bravo!" So the faculty arranged matches with the crews of visiting British warships, and from sad experience the college learned the value of side plays and frequent passes, and began to see dimly that good football is played, not with the legs and mouth alone, but with the head, and that hard team-work is better than grand stand exploits. ”

“ During the week of the game, the assistant coach who scouted Saturday’s opponent lives in the football dormitory with the players. From 7:30-10:00 P.M. nightly, when we do not have squad meetings, he will show films of the opposition in the dormitory. He will answer questions and give the players any information they are seeking on our opposition. We find our players do a better job when they understand why we ask them to do something. On the field many times we do not have the time to explain why. ”

“ In the mass-meeting of the school the night before the games, when the boys gathered in loyal force to give their team a “send-off” for the morrow, nothing that was said by student or graduate or friend stirred such response in the hearts of the school as the short, plain, virile exhortation of the captain.
And no athletes need personal inspiration as do the members of a track team. The football player stands shoulder to shoulder with his fellows, the strong helps the weak and shares with him the glory of victory. ”

“ He goes on, determined to play a better game, and realizes he must hold his place at the training table by hard, conscientious work.
One is not unmindful of the traditions that are centered about the board where so many heroes of the past have sat. You have a keen realization of the fact that you are filling the seat of men who have gone before you, and that you must make good, as they made good. Their spirit lives.
The training table is a great school for team spirit. To have a successful team, any coach will tell you, there must be a brotherly feeling among the members of the team. ”

“ Baseball, our most popular and distinctively national game, constitutes a fair field for this inquiry. In order to evaluate this form of play as an agency in moral training it is necessary to presume that one has a company of nine or more boys grouped together on the basis of loyalty to a common neighborhood, school, club, church, or the like. They elect a manager who acts for the team in arranging a schedule of games with their various rivals and who serves in general as their business agent ”

“ And so there came a day in the fall of 1875 when certain men—to be spoken of more personally later on—desirous of the success of the national game, determined upon a reorganization on lines differing entirely from those that had previously obtained. They proposed an organization that should draw a sharp line of distinction between the terms "Club" and "Team." Heretofore Base Ball Clubs had won and lost games, matches, tournaments, trophies. Henceforth this would be changed. The function of Base Ball Clubs in the future would be to manage Base Ball Teams. ”

“ The first trait, “Be dedicated to the game of football,” is a must for all coaches, assistants as well as head coaches. Don’t ever try to fool yourself or anyone else. If you are not truly dedicated to your work, and you dread spending many hours every day working and planning on building a good football team, then you are in the wrong business. I’ll guarantee there is no easy way to develop a winning team. If it were an easy task, all of us would be undefeated and “Coach of the Year.” ”

“ I mean, Captain Harven, that it is the coach’s place to select the players. That I take to be one of his duties. If he is to instruct a team in football he certainly has the privilege of deciding who shall belong to that team ”

“ There is nothing else I would rather see than when our boys are in their goal line defense, and they have supreme confidence they will keep the opposition from scoring. Every boy is taking it upon himself personally to do what is necessary to stop the ball carrier from scoring. When a coach has a team thinking [13] like this, he will have a winner, and the boys will be winners when they get out of school. ”

“ There is not much territory remaining, and the big questions are, “Who is going to come out on top?” and “Who will end up with the ball when the dust settles?” If we give our team a sound plan and teach it to them well, and they believe in it and in us, we will do all right. ”

“ The men must chum together on and off the field. Team work on the field is made much easier if there is team work off the field.
I never hear the expression "team mates" used but I recall a certain Princeton team, the captain of which was endowed with a wonderful power of leadership. There was nothing the men would not do for him. Every man on the team regarded him as a big brother. ”

“ And in his Senior year he was on the team, the champion football team of America. The fearless way he used to charge down the field like a fighting elephant and smash those old-fashioned flying wedges—by flopping down in front of them—is now a matter of football history. ”

“ If you watch one of the 178,000 Little League teams in this country, you also will see real community in America. Two and a half million of our children get together to play this sport, boys and girls. And that's not counting everyone who supports the teams and shows up for the games and practices and bake sales. Communities large and small grow up around baseball: kids playing a pick-up game until it's too dark to see, folks getting together for softball after work, families walking together to see a home game at their local ball park. ”

“ You’ve got to begin with the School, Myers, and work down to the team. If the School hasn’t got the right spirit, the team won’t have it. And that’s why I try to get as many fellows out for football at the beginning of the year as I can. ”

“ From across the field a loyal encouragement is still given by the visitors to their beaten team. The hopes of months are going down to defeat, but the men who are beaten have done their best and, when the final whistle is blown and the game is over, the players of each team gather close together and cheer each other after the style of true sportsmen who have tested each others' mettle with mutual respect. ”

“ My idea of perfect play Is when a team performs strictly as it has been coached to perform ... following a system through to the very last regardless of the breaks of the game or the preconceived notions of the individual players. That is team-work in the fullest—that is genuine football. That you failed to win does not alter the fact that you gave a faultless exhibition insofar as your experience and training permitted. ”

“ A few more remarks in conclusion of what was said in the Department last week concerning preliminary football work: Remember that by practice alone can a team perfect itself; and consequently every manager should try to arrange as many practice games as possible for the eleven under his care. After the school season has fairly begun, and the neighboring schools have their elevens somewhat organized, it is always possible to arrange games with outsiders. Thus when the championship contests come along the players will be accustomed to games with strangers. ”

“ The methods of the League in late years have not been calculated to make friends either among the ranks of the players or of the public, and both would gladly welcome a rival in the field.
It would, however, be a mistake, I think, to start with anything but a strong circuit or to antagonize any of the minor leagues, with whom nothing could be gained by rivalry.
If I could have my way in the matter I would place a strong team in every single one of the League cities, taking in Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburg in the West, and New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore in the East. ”

“ If a boy has a great desire to play football, regardless of his ability, and you work with him, he is likely to make tremendous progress toward fulfilling his objective.
GOOD ORGANIZATION—A BIG FACTOR IN BUILDING WINNERS
Without good organization our thoughts or plans of any kind would be absolutely useless. Good organization is a must if a team is to operate at maximum efficiency. ”

“ It isn’t a great team to-day judged by Yardley standards, but it may be a great team on Saturday. It’s a well-rounded team, a team of hard-working, willing players, every one of whom is ready to do his utmost—and a little more—for the school the day after to-morrow. And now it’s up to the school to help the team, fellows. I want you all to believe in it, to stand back of it, to encourage it by thought and action every minute between now and the last whistle on Saturday. ”

“ Now, experience had shown that the keeping of the same players together for too long a time is prejudicial to the interests of the game. I had learned that lesson in my notice of the effect of the four years of successive championship victories gained by the Boston team, and felt that the time had come for a change in the personnel of the Chicago nine. I was well aware that patrons, while appreciating good players, do tire of seeing the same faces year after year, and do enjoy the introduction of new blood into the team. And so I decided to let some players go. ”