CURWENSVILLE– Unlike today; football was not a common school sport in the early 20th century in local Clearfield County high schools. Most students, at the time, did not have the opportunity to proceed beyond the standard 8th grade education. Those privileged to attend four years of high school could participate in athletics by playing baseball and some schools did have basket ball teams; often played in an available larger room in a community. There were a few girls’ basketball teams.
Shoulder pads and helmets were primitive by today’s standards and players were often hurt. College football teams suffered even more injuries and there were calls for the game to be banned in all schools; led by President Theodore Roosevelt, who himself was an avid outdoorsman and a boxer while at Harvard University. There were no professional teams and local or college level games were reported in the newspapers of the time. Radio and TV would come decades later.
The photo shows some eager young men looking their “tough best”. Photos like this one show that those who are advanced in age or long gone from this life, were once youthful and vibrant.
