At  the  universities  the  games  are  run  on
very  similar  lines,  save  that  the  undergraduate
assumes  entire  active  control  of  each  branch
of  sport,  with  no  dormant  authority  in  the  back-
ground. Each  branch  starts  the  season  with
its  committee,  consisting  of  the  senior  color,
the  captain  or  president  for  the  current  year,
and  of  the  other  "blues"  remaining  over  from
the  previous  season.  Trials  are  arranged  for
such  players  in  residence  as  have  either  made
their  mark  in  previous  years,  or  come  fresh
with  reputations  from  the  schools.  By  means
of  these,  and  the  guidance  afforded  by  inter-
college  matches,  the  captain  and  committee
choose  the  university  team,  which  takes  its
place  among  the  English  clubs,  and  is  gradually
built  up  into  the  final  form  which  is  selected  to
do  service  in  the  interuniversity  match.  The
financial  aspect  of  university  sport  differs
somewhat  from  that  of  the  schools.  Every
one  who  represents  his  university  pays  his
subscription  to  the  University  Club,  which
is  distinct  in  each  case  from  the  College  Clubs
which  pursue  the  same  sport.  Out  of  this
fund,  and  the  gate  money,  which  is  taken  at
university  fixtures,  the  bare  expenses  of  each
member  of  the  team  are  paid,  in  accordance
with  the  regulations  of  the  English  unions
as  to  amateurism;  by  tacit  agreement  at  the
present  moment,  a  player  always  loses  a  little
in  the  incidental  expenses  of  traveling.  There
are  old  players  who  would  prefer  to  see  univer-
sity men  paying  all  their  own  expenses;  but
with  the  amount  of  traveling  which  present-
day  athletics  entail  it  has  been  considered  best
in  the  interests  of  the  games  themselves,  and
in  order  not  to  prevent  the  best  talent  at  the
university  participating  in  the  sports,  to  let
players  avail  themselves  of  the  practical  basis
laid  down  by  the  unions  and  associations.
