Football...er...SOCCER
... large bar construction backed with netting. It was lined off into a box that is about sixteen square yards. This formed the ‘box’. The object that the players fought over was an inflated leather ball that was silver with two white stripes around its circumference. Each player was dressed in a uniform coinciding with their school’s colors. UNCG’s uniforms are white when they are away and yellow when they are at home. The visual points of the game are not hard concepts to grasp; they all play a part in how a team goes to win a game. I already knew the point of the game of soccer is to advance the ball down the field and into the opponent’s goal. There was continuous play for two forty-five minute periods and substitutions were very limited. The only rule is you are not allowed to use your hands, unless you are the goalkeeper. This came to be a funny factor to me, watching the players throw their body at a flying object only to knock it in another direction. The game was controlled by three referees, one in the middle and two on the sides. The ball was kicked or “dribbled” (short kicks) and was passed to other teammates to work to score a goal. A goal results in one point. Players also used other body parts like their shoulders, knees, elbows, and even head to advance or take possession of the ball. In an intense part of the game, some players became a little too aggressive and ‘fouled’ the other team’s players. On a first offense, this would result in a yellow card being thrown and a whistle being blown by the referee. A yellow card is a warning for an intentional foul. The player who received the card must go out of the game but can return at any time. On the second offense, a red card is pulled, a serious violation. The player is disqualified for the rest of the game and for the next game also. The cards was explained to my by a friend that attended the game with me who used to play soccer for our high school. Penalty kicks are given out when a player is fouled inside the box. All of the other players line up on the eighteen-yard-line and the player does his best to kick the past the goalkeeper into the goal. Despite the violations, the game is all about teamwork and keeping your cool when things get heated. With the total of eleven players on the field, one was assigned to be a goalkeeper, trying his best not to let any balls pass by into the net. There were three forwards who played offense and score goals, three midfielders who played offense and defense, a sweeper, stopper, and right and left backs who all played defense. Each position had their own duty to keep or pass the ball and work together to score a goal. An important part of soccer is knowing how to correctly move the ball. The ball is much more controlled when you pass the ball with the inside of the foot. When the goalie would ‘shoot’ the ball, he would use the instep of the foot. He would angle his foot to where the toe goes under the ball and is pushed up to send the ball going a long distance. A factor I was told to remember by the “soccer game attendee buddy” was when playing soccer is to never kick the ball with point or toe of your shoe! This can break your toes and the ball is uncontrolled. The boundary lines were a hard concept for me. When one team would move the ball out of bounds past an end line at the opponent’s goal, the goalkeeper would shoot the ball back down the field; this was called a goal kick. When a team would move the ball out of bounds on their own end line, a corner kick would occur. The ball would go on the corner of the end line and the si...