Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 61, Number 92, Decatur, Adams County, 18 April 1963 — Page 10

PAGE TWO-A

Sportsmanship Is Principal Wildcat Ideal

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♦ K. W _. X •&& >. r HP* Iw r U 9K A a -’ ; *WRa i ' v m%bU *‘Jilt * ’- Jk li'Mta >-■•■ Ilmu RACE AND RELIGION PLAY NO PART in choosing Wildcat league team*, nor does the ability of the player. All the players get expert professional coaching, apd all will get to play in each game; playing your best is stressed, and ability to lose and come back for more means more to a Wildcatter than number of games won. Here a real expert shows the boys how to choose a bat that*will knock out a home run every time, even in the hand* of a noophite Wildcot league player in Decaturl The pro is Bob Feller, former Cleveland star, r ____ ?^_. —

THE DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT. DECATUR, INDIANA

BrrTl b 1 F* ’B <» W/J p> v3r .BtaoMMfUr K ’U K ■ ' '-*'. .'' 4 .; /' ’’ \ >■ ,\ f> .jfefiraSwiffißsßßr ’ ? ’ * Hki * •' ■ ■r > ■ **•■ ■ •—' i ■. ■ - . \A- . : ' -■’ . - ■: ■ •, . ■ _ _.-. . - ...•■ •■ .■- — -----— CAPS AND T-SHIRTS MARK Wildcat League players, ages to 15, as they get tips in pre-play sportsmanship from an "old pro," Carl Erskine, former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger star at a baseball clinic last Spring for Wildcat League players. In the first year of league play in Fort Wayne, 2,458 boys took part, and more than 4,000 played last year in Fort Wayne alone. Already 300 Decatur boys betweon the minimum and maximum ages have signified inforwt In play In the Wildcat League. ___. L ;

Respect For Property, Feelings Os Others Blended With Sports ONE OF THE GREATEST CONCERNS of the Decatur Wildcat League will be the creation of a wholesome atmosphere for the players, so that character-building attitudes, habits, language and sportsmanship will be a direct outcome of their participation. It is the desire of the Wildcat League to teach kindness, tolerance and Christian competition at its highest moral level. Wildcat league members are to keep mentally, physically and morally fit for play: this means no smoking or other bad habits; regular church or temple attendance; keeping your, mind ready to absorb the ideas of winning and sportsmanship, not cluttered with uncouth, filthy ideas that consume time and energy without contributing to a better individual. Wildcatters are taught that a good player never cheats, that control of temper is as important as control of bat and ball, that an umpire's decision is right, whether it is good or bad, that teamwork is more important than starring, that it is the greatest virtue to be able to admit an error and then not repeat it, and that a team can look like a million dollars by keeping neat and clean, even if not a member has a penny in his pocket. Every boy is encouraged to improve himself every day, to beat his own record, to grow, upward, physically, and outward mentally and morally, and to absorb the skills and ideals of those who help with the program., WILDCAT OATH, which blends ideals of sportsmanship with the American ideal of respecting the feelings, property, and goals of others, while always striving to do your best, as shown to Fort Wayne Wildcat leaguers by Bob Zimmerman, director of Franke Park, one of the fields where Wildcat ball is played in Fort Wayne. In Decatur, the Wildcat League will be a daytime league, with play at McMillen Field and one other field, if it can be secured.

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1963