by LOWELL C. DRAKE Co-ordinator of Health, Physical Education & T BOWLONG IMBER-R-R!" is a sound to gladden the hearts of Northwoods lumberjacks. But the sound of falling "timber" also brings joy to millions of Americans-boys and girls, men and women alike. The falling "timber" in this case is bowling pins-whether it be ducks, candle pins, rubberbands, or ten pins. Bowling is America's fastest growing school activity. During the past ten years of my service as a state director for the American Junior Bowling Congress, this group has grown from a few thousand to 95,000 fun-seeking youngsters. There can be only one answer-bowling gives real pleasure! As my friends in Erie will testify, however poor a bowler as far as score is concerned, my enthusiasm is second place to none, especially when it comes to the scholastic program conducted by the AJBC. In this program, each junior bowler pays 25 cents membership dues, and he certainly gets the biggest return for any membership fee anywhere. Don't get me wrong. As a co-ordinator of high school sports activities, I have no personal axe to grind and positively nothing to sell. I do, however, want to tell you why I am so enthusiastic about this activity. WHY I LIKE BOWLING Here are a few of the reasons why a "hard boiled" football coach of 25 years experience, coaching other socalled major sports, and with 12 years experience working with all sports as a supervisor, took the AJBC "bait"-hook, line, and sinker. I like the type of organization and benefits received. Every boy and girl, regardless of size or physical ability, can participate, in either duck or ten pins, rubberbands or candle stick pins, depending on which is popular in the locality. Bowling as an activity is fun and it is democratic. It is geared to any age. Sizes and weights of balls vary with the age and ability of the bowler. Through the handicap system, all may participate on an equal basis, whether they average 90 or 190. Bowling provides a fine opportunity to practice good sportsmanship, honesty, co-operation, teamwork, loyalty, respect for rules and authority, good citizenship, sociability, and acceptance of responsibility. This naturally leads to better school attendance and individual adjustment. Bowling teaches how to win modestly, and to lose gracefully. It has both "carry-on" and "carry-over" value-today's novices are tomorrow's stars. It is a sport that the whole family can enjoy together. With the advent of airconditioned bowling establishments and automatic machines for setting Bowling is wholesome recreation for group fun. IS pins, it has become an activity that can be carried on at any hour of the day the year around. It adapts itself to coeducation with a real opportu nity for boys and girls to play on the same team, or to compete against each other. It challenges each bowler to improve one's own skill, ability and scores. It is educational! AJBC ORGANIZATION But let's consider organization and benefits. I was first impressed with the high standards required and secondly, with the services and benefits rendered by the AJBC. Teachers and coaches all know the importance of discipline! We are (or should be) sticklers for high standards and efficiency. "The pri mary purpose of the American Jun ior Bowling Congress1 is to see that its rules on environment, super vision, and reduced bowling rates are observed, so that boys and girls bowling under its banner will par ticipate under ideal local conditions 1Raymer, Milton. "Bowling-A Recrea tion for Youth."' AAHPER JOURNAL Sept. 1951, p. 11. These rules are: 1. No alcoholic beverages may be sold in the same room with the bowling lanes while a sanctioned AJBC league is bowling. 2. Any pinball machines in the bowling establishment must be discontinued during the time an AJBC league is bowling. 3. Members of AJBC leagues are asked to refrain from smoking during their league period. 4. All leagues must be under the supervision of an adult. 5. The proprietor where the league bowls must give a reduced rate for league play and shoe rental. These are truly worthy standards, and the best part is whether in Erie, 7. Opportunities to excel are many: (a) a nation-wide mailographic singles, doubles, and mixed doubles handicap tournament is held during the Christmas holidays; (b) a nation-wide mailographic team handicap tournament is conducted annually the last Saturday in March; (c) high game awards are provided, as well as special chevrons for High Series, Triplicate, and Big Four Club. In fact, it is this idea of student handling of all their own activities, whether locally or nationally, that makes this organization so democratic and so highly educational. Yes, we preach, "Learn by Doing." Here is an activity that practices what we preach! Milton Raymer, founder and executive secretary of the American Junior Bowling Congress. ERIE'S BOWLING STORY Healthy activity of bowling is center of new friendship. Chicago Bowling Proprietors' Association. Let me tell you about our experience in Erie. About 1946, we (the city recreation department, the city schools, and Harold Berry, Erie's most progressive bowling proprietor) invited Milton Raymer of Chicago to come to Erie and to show us how to introduce junior bowling. "Milt," just out of service, had a million-dollar idea. We bought it for practically nothing. He had seen in Chicago what organization could do for high school bowling.2 Briefly, this was his story. In 1937, he had organized Tilden Technical High School in Chicago into a four-team league, with four on a team. This quickly grew to 200, and by 1941, throughout the city, to an 8,000 boy and girl membership, through the co-operation of the Chicago Board of Education and the After World War II, the National Bowling Council saw the possibilities of sponsoring this program on a nation-wide scale and Milton Raymer was appointed Executive Secretary of the American Junior Bowling Congress on a full-time basis. To grow from 8,000 to 95,000 in a dozen years means not only success, but proves that you have something good! During Mr. Raymer's visit to Erie in 1946, he talked to each school principal individually and to many of the local bowling proprietors before attending a meeting in the YMCA. The Schools, the City Bureau of Recreation, Bowling Proprietors, the press and radio, together with representatives from the Erie Service Clubs and the Junior (Concluded on page 26) A Kyushu University Fukuoka City, Japan S JAPANESE physical educators, we were interested in the results of the Kraus-Weber Minimum Muscular Fitness Test in schoolchildren reported in the JOURNAL, December 19531 and in the RESEARCH QUARTERLY, May 1954.2 Since I could not understand why American children should be inferior to European children, I decided to find out what results Japanese children would show in the same test. I felt such a study would be a contribution to comparative physical education. Therefore, I communicated with Dr. Kraus and asked him to guide. me in detail as to how to administer the test. I and my colleagues could have 6,549 schoolchildren to test in Hokkaido, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima, Japan, between September 1954 and July 1955. Children I believe that the six tests are greatly affected positively or negatively by the index of the leg length/ height. Therefore, it is very difficult to compare the test results of the different races with their different body constitutions. TEST RESULTS A summary of the test results follows: (1) I could not find remarkable differences between failures in different regions of Japan, whether urban or rural, and cannot say urbanization is the sole factor in the passing or failing of the test, especially when comparing the test results of the different races. (2) The percentage of failures in the flexibility test in Japan is only 3.3 per cent. The Japanese children have even more flexibility than European children, who are superior to American ones, if the test is really applicable with adequacy to any race. Are Japanese children really most flexible? Doesn't the flexibility come from the fact that the index of the leg length/height of Japanese children is much smaller than that of American and European children and that children in these countries have different programs of school physical education from those of Japanese children? (3) Weakness failures in Japan are 77 per cent of all failures and they are almost all failures of tests 1 and 2. No failures of tests 3, 4, and 5 are found, so that this KrausWeber Test is too easy for testing. muscular fitness of Japanese children. (4) It cannot be noted in Japan that at every age level a smaller percentage of girls are failing this test than are boys. Failures of girls 7-8 years of age and 12-13 years of age are smaller than failures of boys of corresponding age, but failures of boys of 10-11 years of age and 14 years of age and over are smaller than failures of girls of these ages Especially, the failures of 14 years and over in girls increase suddenly in spite of decreasing to near zero in boys of corresponding age. This tendency would be due to increase of muscular strength in boys and to increase of girl failures at 14 years and over. most found in decrease (5) Generally speaking, Japanese failures are younger children and sharply as their age goes up. The tendency coincides with Dr. Kraus' findings that is, the percentage of Japanese failures increase between 12 and 13 years of age, which Dr. Kraus calls a "critical period." (6) It is very interesting to note that the failures of girls 9-10 years of age and of boys 12-13 years of age increase significantly, the former like European children and the latter like American children. The increase of failures in the age group 9-14 in all countries would be due to the sudden increase in the index of the leg length/height. It might be safely concluded that there is an unbalanced period in the development of their body constitution and motor abilities at these ages. (7) Tests 1, 2, and 4 are more difficult for Japanese children than for American and European children, while tests 3, 5, and 6 are not. ★ AAHPER awards for 1956 ROSALIND CASSIDY Gulick Award Recipient GULICK AWARD THE RECIPIENT of the Gulick Award for 1956 was ROSALIND CASSIDY, professor of health and physical education and co-ordinator for the women's physical education staff, University of California (Los Angeles). Though born in Quincy, Illinois, Rosalind Cassidy has spent much of her life on the West Coast. She attended the public schools of Oakland, California, and Tacoma, Washington, and did her undergraduate work at the University of Washington, Mills College, and the University of California (Berkeley). She pursued graduate study at Stanford University and Teachers College, Columbia University, receiving from the latter the degree of Ed.D. Prior to assuming her present position, she was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physical Education, Mills College. The record compiled for her nomination for this award is truly an amazing testimonial to Dr. Cassidy's indefatigable devotion to her profession and to public service. She has the Association pay been affiliated with over 50 local, Other signal honors include mem- Her contributions to the literature Send your nominations now for 1951 awards. See page 84 of this issue of health, physical education, and recreation make another impressive list. In addition to over 75 articles in periodicals, she has many books to her credit. She is co-author of two books that were singled out for inclusion in the annual list compiled by the NEA Journal of the Sixty Best Education Books of the Year, one being Physical Fitness for Girls, and the other, Group ExperienceThe Democratic Way. Other books of which she is author or co-author are New Directions in Physical Education for the Adolescent Girl, Counseling Girls in a Changing Society, and, most recent, Curriculum Development in Physical Education. |