Chapter C: O. Gill, Y " 150 (3)

In considering the matter of Diet, a captain or coach should think of this question not according to the tradition of his club, nor according to his own idiosyncrasies. He should regard the general principle of not depriving a man of anything to which he is accustomed and which agrees with him. Of course, it is advisable to do without such articles of food as would be injurious to the majority of the men, even though there might be one or two to whom they would do no harm. Men should enjoy their food, and it should be properly served. I remember once being asked my opinion regarding a certain team at the time in training, and I expressed the conviction that something was wrong with their diet. The team, as a whole, were not seriously affected, but some three or four were manifestly out of sorts. I heard the coach go over the bill of fare, and it sounded all right. I then decided to take dinner with them and see if I could discover the trouble. One meal was sufficient, for it was a meal! The beef--and an excellent roast it was, too--was literally served in junks, such as one might throw to a dog. The dishes were dirty, so was the cloth. Vegetables were dumped on to the plates in a mess, and each one grabbed for what he wanted. Some of the men might have been brought up to eat at such a table, still others were not sufficiently sensitive to have their appetites greatly impaired by anything, but the three or four who were "off" were boys whose home life had accustomed them to a different way of dining, and their natures revolted. So, too, did their appetites. As it was then too late to correct the manners of the mess, I simply advised sending these men elsewhere to board, and they speedily came into shape. I cannot too strongly advocate good service at a training table. The men should enjoy their dinners, should eat them slowly, and should be encouraged to be as long about it as they will. As food is to repair the waste, it should be generous in quantity and taken when the man will not, from being over-tired, have lost his appetite. Sometimes a team is not overworked, but worked too late in the day, so that the men rush to the table almost directly from the field, and fail to feel hungry, while within an hour they would have eaten with a zest. This course persevered in for several days will show its folly in a general falling-off in the strength as well as the weight of the men. To train a football team should be, in the matter of the diet at least, the simplest matter compared with training for other sports, because the season of the year is so favorable to good condition.

Crews and ball nines have oftentimes the trial of exceptionally hot and exhausting weather to face, while a football team, after the few warm days of September are passed, enjoy the very best of bracing weather--weather which will give almost any man who spends his time in out-door work a healthy, hearty appetite. In order that any captain or coach reading this book may feel that, while it offers several courses of diet, it would emphatically present the fact that there is no hard-and-fast system of diet that must be religiously followed, I submit a variety of tables, showing some old as well as new school diets. None of them are very bad, several are excellent; and I don't think that a captain or coach would be called upon to draw his pencil through very many of the items enumerated.

Princeton.]

THE OXFORD SYSTEM.--(Summer Races.)

A DAY'S TRAINING.[A]

Rise about 7 A.M. | |So as to be in chapel; but
| | early rising not compulsory.

Exercise | A short walk or run |Not compulsory (walk only, and
| | short).

Breakfast, 8.30 |Meat, beef or mutton. |
|Bread or toast, dry |The crust only recommended.
|Tea |As little as possible
| |recommended.

Exercise (forenoon)| None |American football men should
| | kick, catch, and pass.

Dinner, 2 P.M. |Meat; much the same as |
| for breakfast. |
|Bread | Crust only recommended.
|Vegetables, none allowed | A rule, however, not always
| | adhered to.
|Beer, one pint |This is what Americans call
| |ale, and not indulged in to
| |any great extent except after
| |a hard game.

Exercise |About 5 o'clock start |
| for the river, and row |
| twice over the course, |
| the speed increasing |
| with the strength |
| of the crew. |

Supper, 8.30 or 9. |Meat, cold. |
|Bread; perhaps a jelly |
| or watercresses. |
|Beer, one pint (see above).|
Bed about 10.

[Footnote A: As has been stated elsewhere, improvements have been made in diet since this table was compiled. This will also apply to the Cambridge System, page 143.]

TORPID RACES.

A DAY'S TRAINING.

Rise about 7.30 A.M. | |Early rising not compulsory.

Exercise. |A short walk or run. | Not compulsory.

Breakfast, 9. |As for summer races. |

Exercise (forenoon). | None. |

Luncheon about 1 P.M.|Bread, or a sandwich. |
|Beer, half a pint. |

Exercise. |About 2 o'clock start |
| for the river, and row |
| twice over the course. |

Dinner, 5. |Meat, as for summer races.|
|Bread. |
|Vegetables, as for summer |
| races. |
|Pudding (rice), or jelly. |
|Beer, half a pint. |

Bed, 10.30.

THE CAMBRIDGE SYSTEM. Summer Races (1866).

A DAY'S TRAINING.

Rise at 7 A.M.

Exercise. |Run 100 or 200 yards as |"The old system of running a
| fast as possible. | mile or so before breakfast is
| | fast going out, except
| | in the case of men who
| | want to get a good deal of
| | flesh off."

Breakfast, 8.30. |Meat, beef or mutton.
|Toast, dry.
|Tea, two cups, or towards the end of training a
|cup and a half only. Watercresses occasionally.

Exercise (forenoon).| None.

Dinner about 2 P.M. |Meat, beef or mutton. |
|Bread. |
|Vegetables--potatoes, |Some colleges have baked apples,
|greens |or jellies, or rice puddings.
|Beer, one pint. |
|Dessert--oranges, or |
| biscuits, or figs; |
| wine, two glasses. |

Exercise. |About 5.30 start for the river, | "Most men get out for a
| and row to the starting-post | little time before
| and back | rowing back."

|Meat, cold.
Supper about 8.30 |Bread.
or 9. |Vegetables--lettuce or watercresses.
Bed at 10. |Beer, one pint.

H. CLASPER'S SYSTEM.

A DAY'S TRAINING.

Rise between 6 and 7 A.M.

Exercise. A country walk of four or five miles.

|Meat, chop or
Breakfast, 8. |Couple of eggs.
|Bread.
|Tea. ("We never drink coffee.")

Exercise. |Rest for half an hour, and then a brisk walk
| or run. If morning exercise has not been heavy,
| a row on the river, terminating about 11 A.M.

Dinner, 12 M. |Meat, beef or mutton (broiled).
|Egg pudding, with currants in it if desired, or other light
| farinaceous pudding.
|Ale, one glass.
|Wine, one glass (port), or
|Ale, two glasses, without wine.

Exercise. |Rest for an hour, and then on the river again for a hard row.
| "Rowing exercise should be taken twice every day."

Tea. |"Tea, with toasted bread sparingly buttered, with one egg
| only--more has a tendency to choke the system."

Supper. |Not recommended. When taken, to consist of new milk and
| bread, or gruel, with raisins and currants and a glass
| of port wine in it.

Bed about 10.