Rowing

by R. C. Lehmann

It may be interesting to contrast the organization and management of rowing at an American University with the systems that a long tradition has consecrated at Oxford and Cambridge. In our Universities, in the first place, each particular

sport is entirely independent of all others. Each has its own club, its own funds, derived from the subscriptions of its members, and each manages its own affairs and arranges its own contests, except occasionally in the matter of convenience of date, without any reference whatever to the others. A don is usually treasurer of these clubs, but he has no special authority or control merely because he is a don. His experience and greater knowledge are placed at the disposal of undergraduates in matters of finance; that is all. Certain general University rules as to time of residence, etc., have to be observed, but beyond this the dons assume absolutely no authority at all in the sports of the undergraduates. The undergraduates themselves, through undergraduate officers, elected by themselves, make all their own arrangements as to dates, matches, and everything else connected with their competitions; and a don would as soon think of flirting with a barmaid as of interfering with these matters in virtue of his donship. This point is really of capital importance. The responsibility of everything connected with the sports of the University thus falls upon the proper shoulders—those, namely, of the undergraduates who take part in them. The

full glory of the victory is theirs, and a defeat they must feel is due to them alone. They cannot shift the blame to any don or committee of dons, and, as they must acknowledge themselves responsible, so the necessity of taking steps to restore the fortunes of their club is the more strongly brought home to them. The captain of a Boat Club is its absolute autocrat as regards work and discipline and the selection of his crew. The coach whom he asks to instruct them may possibly be old enough to be his father, but the coach, none the less, defers with an almost filial respect to the captain, through whom all executive orders are issued. In practice, of course, the wise captain is guided in most matters by his coach, but, should a serious difference arise between them, it is the coach who must give way to the authority of the captain. This uncontrolled management of their sports by the undergraduates is, it seems to me, no unimportant part of a University education; and a man may learn from it even more valuable lessons in conduct, self-control, and the treatment of his fellow-men, than from all the books, papers, and examinations of his University curriculum.

At an American University a very different situation exists. I will take the case of Harvard, not merely because it is more familiar to me, but because it is typical in its general features, though not, of course, in all its details, of the position taken up by the authorities at most American Universities with regard to the sports of the undergraduates. From the earliest days of athletic exercises the Faculty, or Governing Body, of the University has kept a very tight control over them. It has issued rules and ordinances, allowing or forbidding certain competitions, deciding not only the number, but the date and place of matches in which it was allowable to take part, and regulating and controlling the conduct of those undergraduates who took part in athletics. This system, no doubt, originated at a time when the numbers at Harvard were comparatively small, and when the men entered College at an age considerably younger than is usual in England. But the numbers at Harvard have increased by leaps and bounds, and the age of undergraduates is now on an average the same as at Oxford and Cambridge.

In recent years, indeed, a slight change has

been found advisable. The control of all athletics, whether rowing, baseball, football, or track athletics, is vested in what is called an Athletic Committee, composed of three professors (Anglicé, dons), three graduates of the University, and three undergraduates. These nine, who are not selected on any representative system, promulgate laws, conduct negotiations, settle dates, and generally perform those details of business which in England are left entirely to the undergraduates. For instance, the negotiations for a resumption of athletic relations with Yale University were on the Harvard side managed by and through the Athletic Committee. Moreover, the Athletic Committee has in its hands the appointment of coaches for the crew, and for the football, baseball, and athletic teams. The captain of a crew or a team is, to be sure, elected by the undergraduates themselves, the established system being that the crew should, before disbanding itself, elect the captain for the ensuing year. But no election of this kind is valid until it has been confirmed by the Athletic Committee. From the above account, in which I have confined myself to facts, and have not attempted to criticize, it will be seen how profound

are the differences between athletic organizations at English and American Universities.

But there are further differences which have nothing to do with the system of control and management. An English University is composed of many colleges, each entirely independent, so far as the management of its affairs are concerned. An English University Boat Club is organized on the same principle. It is made up of representatives of all the College Boat Clubs, and combines these autonomous institutions for what may be termed Imperial purposes. College rowing at Oxford and Cambridge foments a keen and healthy rivalry, and to no small extent helps to keep up the standard of University rowing. In America, on the contrary, the University is one, and apparently indivisible. There are no colleges, and, therefore, there is no aggregation of College Boat Clubs such as we have at home. The want of this element is, no doubt, a serious disadvantage to an American University Boat Club. The only element of rivalry comes from the competition of the four different classes (i.e. years, as we should call them—freshmen; second-year men, or "sophomores;" third-year men, or

"juniors;" and fourth-year men, or "seniors") against one another in an eight-oared race in the spring. Beyond this there has been hitherto no internal competition between members of the University Boat Club. Compare this single race with the long series of contests in which an English University oarsman takes part. He may begin in October with the Fours, row in the University Trial Eights in December, and in the University crew in the following March. Then come the College eight-oared races in May or June, followed by Henley Regatta in July, to say nothing of pair-oar races, and sculling races, and College Club races, or of the various Thames regattas, in which he may take part during what remains of the summer. He thus gains invaluable lessons, both in watermanship and in racing experience, which are not open to his American cousin.