The Two-Team Idea in Freshman Football

Instructor in Recreational Department

The two-team idea in football which was suggested byPresident Hopkins two years ago as a means for givingmore men a chance to take part in intercollegiate gamesand also to reduce over-emphasis on the game seems to begrowing in different parts of the country, and the HarvardA. A. News at the time of the Dartmouth-Harvard footballgame contained a rather interesting article on the subject. In the west the idea has been worked out in varsityfootball. At Dartmouth this year the freshmen coaches'devised a two-team scheme which at this time of writing(Nov. 15) has been eminently successful.

THE freshman football season opened this year with a new Dartmouth coaching policy that there would be no cut made in the squad. It was decided that the entire group should be divided into two squads, A and B, that each squad should have its own coaching staff as well as its own schedule.

The set-up for the staff includes Sidney C. Hazelton as supervisor of the entire work. Sid's valuable work as coach of freshmen teams for many years gives him the necessary ability in this direction, and though he is working with the varsity squad as a coach he also keeps his eye on the freshmen. As his assistants, are R. J. Delehanty and E. Shevlin of the department of recreational activities, since many freshmen elect football as a recreational activity and are given work in it lasting throughout the season. The training of the various squads is no less thorough than the training of varsityteams, even though the recreational men are not obliged to meet oftener than three times a week.

In charge of the regular freshman team, or Squad A, is Coach Holbrook. He is assisted by Coaches Youngstrom, Lane, Foster, and Rising. And though freshmen football and varsity football are much alike, Coach Holbrook is absolute judge as to methods, plays, signals, groupings, and all detail. His is the final word, and to him can be ascribed a successful season, if success means the winning of games and the efficient training of men. The season is not yet finished, but the freshmen are still unbeaten, and are playing with much spirit and go. The other assistant coaches work with Holbrook.

Turning to Squad B for a moment,—the men who have football ability, though perhaps not so experienced as their brothers on Squad A—these men work under J. P. Bower and W. Hoffman. They get the same training as the men on Squad A, and play through a regular schedule with academy and high school teams of a different class from Squad A. In past years these men had no chance to compete in football after they had been cut from the first squad; this year they play through a regular schedule in the same fashion that the men on Squad A play through the season.

But there is still a third squad! And that is the recrea- tional squad composed of men who have perhaps never played football, or who are too light for the heavier competition. This squad also has its competitions with high schools and academies, and seems to be in great demand locally, as games with the Hanover High School and Clark School groups show.

The first week's practice showed that 130 men were out for freshmen football. At the end of two weeks 80 were still on the main squad. It has been found that the men who dropped off at such an early date were those who really did not like the game or had no ability in it, or those perhaps whose ideas about football were vague and thought they'd try out, perhaps as the thing to do. There are always curious men of this type and some of them discover to their own surprise that they have a natural inclination for the game and even ability although they have never tested that ability. In the old days of football such men never had a chance.

At the end of three weeks the best material rises to Squad A. The remainder goes to Squad B. Others have already elected the recreational group, while a few go over to some other sport. For a short time there was interchange going on in the squad, men rising to one squad or dropping to another as their abilities and the fortunes of the game decided.

But at no time was a cut made in the entire squad. This gave the men plenty of time to find themselves and adjust themselves to the new conditions of college football. The freshman really has a hard time on the freshman squad; he is obliged to master new fundamentals, new styles of play, to adapt himself to new teammates and coaches and to work harder competitively than ever before. The first or highest squad of freshmen players in any large college consists of men who in previous years were stars on preparatory or high school teams. The new conditions often make for confusion and some dismay and it takes a few weeks for them to see what it is all about. By the end of six weeks however the whole situation becomes more normal and the squads settle down to steady, routine work.

It might be of interest to alumni to know some of the scores. The first group, or Squad A, has won every game, defeating Tilton 8-6, Clark School 39-0, Roxbury School 7-0 and Harvard Freshmen 21-0. By the time this article is in print the Princeton-Freshman game will have been played. Squad B has taken on some local teams in practice games,—it lost to St. Anselm's of Manchester 0-14, but came back with a victory over Keene Normal and Tabor Academy. The recreation squad won from Hanover High school, and in a series with Clark School tied at the count with one won and one lost. This rather successful beginning of a new program should find much greater development next year, and will probably find more men on the field and less in the grandstand.

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