Advice from the Young Worker on building the Labor Sports Union project.

‘How to Build a Factory Workers’ Sports Club’ from Young Worker. Vol. 8 No. 14. July 21, 1930.

The Labor Sports Union at present is composed of language sport clubs. In order to become a militant fighting organization of the American worker sportsmen the L.S.U. must have its base in the factories and mines. Therefore the task of building factory and mine sport clubs is the most important task facing the L.S.U. But this task is not only confronting the L.S.U., but also the whole revolutionary labor movement, particularly the T.U.U.L. Especially because of the strong company sports movement which today numbers five million members in its ranks is particularly directed against the organization of workers into trade unions…

The name may lead one to believe that it necessarily must be a club organized and having its center in the factory. This is advisable where conditions permit, but not essential. A workers factory sport club is one having a membership consisting mainly of workers that are employed in one factory or mine. The name of such a club need not be that of the particular factory, as this would, in most cases, expose it to persecution as the bosses are against the working class having any kind of an organization. A factory sport club may bear any name that is popular among the workers and attractive.

In factories or mines where the workers are organized the sports club should bear the name of the factory or the union which would make it better known and more popular among the workers of that particular factory.

How to Organize One.

The organization of a workers factory sport club must be closely linked up with a struggle and exposure of the company sports movement in that factory. Propaganda must be carried on exposing its undemocratic form, its role as the company union in embryo, etc.

One finds that all the young workers, and many of the adult ones, are interested in sports. Even though most of the factories promote sports their form of organization is loose in form, and in many cases does not meet the needs of all the workers. Therefore after carrying on propaganda against the company sport club for a while and picking out those that have been won over to the idea of an independent form of workers sports, and taking into consideration those workers whose sport needs have not been met by the company, a baseball, or other sport in season, team should be organized. At first it may be only a scrub team, with only a ball, one or two gloves, and a bat. Regular practices should be held. Even though there is not enuff men to form a team those interested should be gotten out, after working hours, for practice. Scrub games should be arranged with pick-up teams from other factories or from the athletic fields. If there is an L.S.U. baseball or other sport league in that city, the team should join it and begin to play regular games.

After the team is united the question of forming it into a sport club should be raised and a meeting of the players as well as others from the factory that are interested in the idea should be called. The meeting should be held preferably in one of the player’s homes. Steps should be taken to exclude any company spies.

At this meeting the name of the club should be decided upon, form of constitution (use L.S.U. draft) and officers elected. The club must not become an underground organization. The workers in the factory should know of its existence and support from them should be solicited, such a funds for equipment, etc. Workers from the factory should also be gotten to attend the games which the club plays and take part in other activities. The club should also hold socials and educational meetings to which factory workers should be invited. By developing a broad mass support in the factory among the workers the club will be able to grow into an organization which will have mass influence in the factory and thereby make it harder for the boss to persecute it.

One of the functions of such a club should be to help to build such clubs in other factories and mines and then proceed to the formation of industrial sport leagues in sports such as baseball, soccer, etc. In all cases such clubs should be affiliated to the L.S.U. as soon as possible. Better yet they should be organized as L.S.U. sport clubs. In factories where terror and persecution is strong such affiliation may be kept secret, but the members of the club and the workers in the factory should know about it.

Thru everyday persistent agitational work by all the militant forces in the factories, exposing the role of company sports, followed by concrete organizational work in building workers sports clubs, we shall sink the roots of the Labor Sports Union among the workers in the factories and thereby build the L.S.U. into a mass workers sport organization.

The Young Worker was produced by the Young Workers League of America beginning in 1922. The name of the Workers Party youth league followed the name of the adult party, changing to the Young Workers (Communist) League when the Workers Party became the Workers (Communist) Party in 1926. The journal was published monthly in Chicago and continued until 1927. Editors included Oliver Carlson, Martin Abern, Max Schachtman, Nat Kaplan, and Harry Gannes.

For PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/youngworker/v08a%20n12%20-%2026%20Young%20Worker%201930%20July%20Dec.pdf