Gymnast ics began at Springfield College in 1891 wi th an informal meet against the 23rd St. YMCA Leaders Corps in New York City. At that time it was the International YMCA Training School and open to qualified men who intended to enter any field of service for youth. Not until 1951 was the campus made coed. The real history of gymnastics began in 1904-05 when an organized team was developed which evolved into the present day gymnastic exhibition team . The purpose of the early exhibitions intended to show nothing more or less than the work of the College. As the college developed the purpose took on new meaning. Team members, with a restless , compulsive urge to rectify the sameness of the times, not only demonstrated an important phase of the activities program of physical education, but also served as an incentive for many groups of Alumni along the east coast to meet and organize as Alumni chapters. It was in honor of Springfield ' s first All-gymnastic Reunion, November 8, 1969, that a 16-page publication was prepared by Harold G. Lynch to record the 65-year history of gymnastics at Springfield College. Early exhibitions featured, beside gymnastics, a veritable circus including fencing, wrestling, and torch swining. In 1906 a formal gymnastic competition with Amherst was arranged by H . H. Reinhardt. The dual nature of Springfield gymnastics has continued to this time and has inspired development of many similar programs across the country. Although gymnastics had a student manager from its inception, its first advisor did not arrive on the scene until 1913. Prof. Louis B. Schroeder (12) had been the team captain during his undergraduate days and assumed the coaching role until 1918 when he entered the Armed Services. He was succeeded in 1920 by Leslie j . judd, a former pupil and YMCA representative from Australia. Since Prof. Schroeder was given specific teaching duties, judd was really the first faculty coach, and he fielded his first team in 1921. The arrival of Les judd as varsity coach signaled th e beginning of a new and distinguished era for Springfield College gymnastics. Under his leadership, the varsity exhibition team attained international fame: Nobody knows exactly how many miles this peripatetic group actually has traveled. Under coach judd, the exhibition team became more than a group of performing gymnasts. All types of rhythmic patterns, Morris dilnces, sword dances, and various kinds of national dances from Russia, Spain, the Philippines, and Hungary became part of the exhibition team program. Numerous types of team drills such as glittering wands, fundamentals of fencing, judo, balancing trios, Indian Club swinging, clown acts, and many other marvelous features that now are so familiar to all who follow the Springfield College varsity exhibition team were added to the team's repertoire . Apparatus work did not take a back seat during this period of introduction of new and exciting features. Rather,
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THE JOY OF EFFORT The Story of Gymnastics at Springfield College
every member of the team was requested to maintain high standards of skill and ability on various pieces of apparatus. Proof of this development of talent is the fact that prior to World War II, the Springf ield gymnastic team won the New England AAU Gymnastic Championship eight times. Perhaps the greatest contribution Coach judd made to the exhibition team has to
be the world-tamous living Statuary of Youth. Professionals in the field, however, have honored judd for his contribution to such forms of artistic physical education as emphasis on the dance, rhythmic gymnastics, and the use of various types of hand apparatus. The story of the birth of the living statuary tableaux is more than interesting. As