INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
OVERVIEW
• SPORTING FRATERNITIES
• ROWING IN THE U.S. NORTHEAST
• ROWING AND THE BIRTH OF
INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
• ROWING AND STUDENT LIFE
• INTERCOLLEGIATE COMPETITIONS IN OTHER
SPORTS: BASEBALL AND TRACK & FIELD
SPORTING FRATERNITIES
•
INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS WERE BORN IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY AS A RESULT OF THE INCREASING POPULARITY OF THE
MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY DOCTRINE, THE INSPIRATION PROVIDED BY OXFORDCAMBRIDGE COMPETITIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY,
THE NEED TO ARTICULATE A STUDENT RECREATIONAL LIFE AND IDENTITY BY USING
ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES AS SPORTING FRATERNITIES.
•
STARTING IN THE PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN THE EAST COAST INTERCOLLEGIATE
ATHLETICS WERE THE EXPRESSION OF STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS ACTING AS
SPORTING FRATERNITIES.
•
THESE STUDENT ASSOCIATIONS WERE COMPLETELY IN CHARGE OF ORGANIZING
EVERY ASPECT OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC COMPETITIONS, FROM THE
COMPOSITION OF THE TEAMS TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EVENTS.
ORIGINALLY A TRADITION CREATED IN IVY LEAGUE INSTITUTIONS,
INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC COMPETITIONS WERE SOON IMITATED BY STUDENTS
ALL OVER THE NATION, USING THE INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY OF STUDENT
ASSOCIATIONS TO CREATE SPORTING FRATERNITIES.
•
ROWING
• SINCE COLONIAL TIMES ROWING IN RIVERS AND HARBORS WAS A
VERY POPULAR COMPETITION
• AS THE UNITED STATES BECAME A COMMERCIAL COMPETITOR
WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM, ROWING CONTESTS BETWEEN
AMERICAN AND BRITISH TEAMS ATTRACTED MASSES IN
NORTHEASTERN URBAN AREAS, ESPECIALLY NEW YORK AND
BOSTON.
• IN 1824 THOUSANDS ATTENDED THE COMPETITION BETWEEN
BRITISH AND AMERICANS IN THE HUDSON RIVER
• REGATTA CONTESTS BECAME SOCIAL EVENTS, RIVALING
HORSERACES AND BASEBALL AS OUTDOOR SPECTACLES FOR
UPPER, MIDDLE AND LOWER CLASSES
• IN 1834 THE CASTLE GARDEN AMATEUR CLUB ASSOCIATION WAS
CREATED IN NEW YORK CITY, BUT DISAPPEARED IN THE 1840s
ROWING
• IN THE 1850s REGATTAS BECAME VERY POPULAR
AMONGST THE YOUNG POPULATION IN URBAN AREAS,
ESPECIALLY BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
• ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR REGATTAS
ATTRACTED SEVERAL PEOPLE AND WERE SOON
ORGANIZED IN OTHER AMERICAN CITIES, SUCH AS
CHICAGO, PITTSBURGH, ST.LOUIS AND MILWAUKEE.
• PRIVATE CLUBES AND COLLEGES, ANNOUNCED THEIR
REGATTAS IN NEWSPAPERS, INVITING PUBLIC TO WITNESS
THE COMPETITION
• AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, THE MOST IMPORTANT REGATTAS
WERE ORGANIZED BY COLLEGE FRATERNITIES
INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
• INSPIRED BY THE TRADITIONAL RIVALRY
BETWEEN OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE
(STARTING IN 1829), STUDENTS FROM
HARVARD AND YALE CREATED INFORMAL
ROWING OR CREW CLUBS AND PARTICIPATED
IN PUBLIC REGATTAS AGAINST OTHER TEAMS.
• HARVARD TEAMS PARTICIPATED IN BOSTON
REGATTAS
INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
• IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROWING “CRAZE” IN THE
1850s TWO TEAMS FROM HARVARD AND YALE
WERE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN A CONTEST ON
LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE.
• THE RACE WAS ORGANIZED IN 1852 BY A
RAILROAD COMPANY AS ONE OF THE ACTIVITIES
TO PROMOTE THE AREA AS A SUMMER RESORT.
• HARVARD CREW WON THE RACE, NOW
CONSIDERED THE FIRST DOCUMENTED
INTERCOLLEGIATE COMPETITION, WITH ABOUT
1,000 SPECTATORS ATTENDING THE EVENT.
INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
• INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS DEVELOPED IN THE SECOND
HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY IN COMBINATION
WITH THE INCREASING ACCEPTANCE THAT MUSCULAR
CHRISTIANITY DOCTRINE ENJOYED, PLUS THE DESIRE
AMONGST STUDENTS TO INCLUDE PHYSICAL CONTESTS
IN THEIR RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
• INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS WERE, FOR THE MOST PART,
ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY ORGANIZED AND RUN BY
STUDENT ASSOCIATIONS, CLUBS AND FRATERNITIES,
WITH LITTLE OR NONE SUPERVISION BY COLLEGE
AUTHORITIES OR COLLEGE FACULTY.
INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
• IN THE 1850s STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES FROM YALE,
HARVARD, COLUMBIA, DARTHMOUTH AND BROWN
STARTED TALKS TO ORGANIZE COLLEGE REGATTA
COMPETITIONS
• 1958 HARVARD STUDENTS PROPOSED THE FORMATION OF
THE COLLEGE UNION REGATTA ASSOCIATION, OR UNION
REGATTA. FOUR COLLEGES AGREED TO PARTICIPATE.
• 1864 STUDENTS FROM HARVARD AND YALE AGREED TO A
REGULAR CONTEST BETWEEN THE TWO SCHOOLS.
• IN 1869 HARVARD RACED AGAINST OXFORD IN THE
THAMES RIVER, IGNITING MANY STUDENTS IN THE EAST
COAST TO ORGANIZE THEIR OWN TEAMS
INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
• IN 1870 THE ROWING ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
INCLUDED SIXTEEN COLLEGE TEAMS FROM
UNIVERSITIES IN THE NORTHEAST.
• IN 1871 THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE DEFEATED HARVARD IN THE
CHAMPIONSHIP, ENDING THE CAMBRIDGE’S
SUPREMACY IN THE SPORT.
• FACING INCREASING COMPETITION, BOTH
HARVARD AND YALE DROPPED THE ASSOCIATION
IN THE 1870s AND PROCEEDED TO COMPETE
AGAINST EACH OTHER ON ANNUAL BASIS.
INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
• IN THE 1870s AND 1880 THE COMPETITION AMONG
DIFFERENT COLLEGES INTENSIFIED, FORCING CLUBS TO
RIGOROUS TRAINING ROUTINES, DIETARY REGIMES
AND EVEN THE HIRING OF ADVISORS AND “COACHES”
TO PREPARE THE TEAM WELL IN ADVANCE.
• NORTHEASTERN UPPER CLASS FAMILIES FOLLOWED
THE REGATTAS ON REGULAR BASIS
• REGATTA CREWS WERE FORMED BY STUDENTS BUT
TRAINED BY PROFESSIONAL COACHES
• STUDENT AND LOCAL NEWSPAPERS PROVIDED AMPLE
COVERAGE OF THE RACES
INTERCOLLEGIATE COMPETITIONSBASEBALL
• ALTHOUGH NEVER AS POPULAR AS ROWING IN 19TH COLLEGE
TOWNS, BASEBALL BECAME A REGULAR FEATURE OF
INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS SINCE THE LATE 1850s.
• THE FIRST RECORDED MATCH WAS IN 1859, WHEN AMHERST
DEFEATED WILLIAMS 73-32.
• IN 1862 HARVARD ORGANIZED ITS FIRST BASE BALL CLUB, GOING
UNDEFEATED FOR MOST OF THE DECADE.
• IN 1870 HARVARD BASE BALL TEAM TOURED THE COUNTRY
PLAYING AGAINST COLLEGE, AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL TEAMS
• AS THE NATURAL BASEBALL SEASON (APRIL-OCTOBER) DID NOT
COINCIDE WITH COLLEGE SCHOOL CALENDAR, PROBLEMS TO
ORGANIZE A COMPETITION SCHEDULE PREVENTED THE
FORMATION OF AN EFFICIENT STUDENT ASSOCIATION FOR
COLLEGE BASEBALL
INTERCOLLEGIATE COMPETITIONS
BASEBALL
• IN 1879 A COLLEGE BASEBALL ASSOCIATION WAS
FORMED BY NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITIES, BUT
FAILED TO CREATE A REGULAR GENERAL SCHEDULE.
• MANY BASEBALL PLAYERS PARTICIPATED IN COLLEGE
TEAMS IN THE SPRING AND PROFESSIONAL TEAMS IN
THE SUMMER UNDER ASSUMED NAMES.
• NOTWITHSTANDING, BASEBALL TEAMS WERE CREATED
IN COLLEGES ALL OVER THE NATION, WITH LIMITED
SCHEDULES AGAINST OTHER LOCAL COLLEGES.
• FEMALE STUDENTS IN COLLEGES FOR WOMEN ALSO
PARTICIPATED WITH THEIR OWN BASEBALL TEAMS,
BUT THEY WERE DISBANDED BY COLLEGE AUTHORITIES
INTERCOLLEGIATE COMPETITIONS
TRACK AND FIELD
• IN THE LATE 1860s INTERCOLLEGIATE COMPETITIONS
EXPERIENCED A SIGNIFICANT EXPANSION AND
INCLUDED EVENTS NOW CONSIDERED “TRACK AND
FIELD”, FOLLOWING THE EXAMPLE OF THE BRITISH
OXFORD-CAMBRDIGE COMPETITIONS AND THE
CALEDONIAN GAMES, PRACTICED IN THE U.S. IN
PREVIOUS DECADES.
• CONTESTS IN RUNNING, JUMPING AND THROWING
WERE ORGANIZED AND SCHEDULED AS ADDITIONAL
CHALLENGES AROUND OR BEFORE THE REGATTA
RACES.
• CONTESTANTS WERE ORIGINALLY VARSITY ROWERS
INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
TRACK & FIELD
• IN 1873 THE NEW YORK HERALD ORGANIZED A RACE
AS A SIDE SHOW TO THE SARATOGA ANNUAL REGATTA.
• IN 1874 ADDITIONAL RACES WERE INCLUDED, AND IN
1876 THE NEW INTERCOLLEGIATE ASSOCIATION OF
ATHLETICS FOR AMERICA STARTED THE ORGANIZATION
OF ANNUAL RACES AT THE NEW YORK ATHLETIC CLUB,
WITH SIGNIFICANT PRICES IN CASH.
• TRACK AND FIELD COMPETITIONS BECAME A REGULAR
FEATURE OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS IN THE 1880s
• DIFFERENT UNIVERSITIES ORGANIZED “FIELD DAYS”
WITH NEIGHBOR INSTITUTIONS WITH TRACK & FIELD
PROGRAMS.
INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS
• TAKE A LOOK AT THE ARTICLE WALTER CAMP
WROTE ABOUT COLLEGE ATHLETICS IN THE
MAGAZINE “THE CENTURY ILLUSTRATED
MONTHLY MAGAZINE” 1893 VOL.46 PP.204-210.
• THE FATHER OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL GIVES A
FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT OF THE DEVELOPMENT
AND MENTALITY BEHIND INTERCOLLEGIATE
COMPETITIONS AT THE TIME.
• A DIGITIZED VERSION IS AVAILABLE IN THE
INTERNET FOR FREE.
•