Official Publication ef The Kansas State High School Athletic Association

 

Vole 6 December, 1954 tS “Moe 4

(Excerpts )
A STATISTICAL STUDY

A statistical study of the annual reports on athletes for 1983-34 has unearthed
some interesting figures. In the 657 senior high schools which were members of the
association during the past school year, 16,107 boys participated in interschelastic
eee Ths is an increase of more than 2,500 boys abeve the number shown by

a similer stlidy for the year 1928629, The number of schoole engaged in the various
interscholastic sports, as compared with the number five years ago, is whown by the
following table:

 

 

Sport Neo, in Noe in
Basketball 629 B44
Football 398 872
Baseball 199 319
Tennis 190 236
Golf 20 45
Wrestling 11 18
Total Humber of Number of Average Noe Total Boys in
Group Sehools Athletics @verage Boys Age Limit Per School Are Overage
1 a i 100 $222 4 024%
2 69 2296 aan 119 1672 Bell%
3 147 4255 eo 18? eld 3.92%
4 410 F197 440 188 0458 2061%
The table shows that there are more than three boys per school in the group
&f largest schools which had overage boys, on the basis of a twenty~year age
until there was less than one~half boy per school in Group 4, This method of figur~
ing may not be considered entirely fair since there are many more boys out for
athletics in the larger schools, so figures are presented to show the percentage
of the all the boys engaged in athheties who were over the age limit, This shows

school who are overage is larger in the larger schools than in the smaller schools.
For instance, there has been considerable discussion concerning the advisability
of reducing the age limit of athletes toe twenty years in order to give the aver-
age regular pupil a better opportunity to compete and to better equalize competi-
tion by cutting down on the use of pupils who are often older than college fresh-
men and sophomores, The study shows that if the twenty-year rule had been in
effect last year 574 of the 16,107 boys who participated would have become ineli-
gible some time before June lst, 1954. This is an average of less than one boy
per school, But for comparative purposes the schools have been divided inte four

groups so as to ascertain the percentage of difference between the larger and