The Basics And The Beauty Of Soccer

All parents want their children to learn the social skills required to survive in today's society. Discipline, respect, determination and confidence are just some of the attributes that they want their children to have. Every parent also wants his or her children to grow up healthy and fit.

So, what's the answer? Soccer! Soccer allows children and teenagers to develop social skills, have fun and stay fit, all at the same time.

Despite it being the most played game in the world though, many people, especially those in the U.S. are unsure how to play it. Don't worry though, you can quickly learn the basics of it.

Soccer is a game of two forty-five minute halves. Kicking the ball into the goal of the opposing team as many times as possible within this time limit is the objective of both teams.

The winning team is the one that has scored the most goals after the ninety minutes have passed. Should the teams have scored no goals or an equal amount of goals then the match is a draw; if this is the case, then there may be a penalty shot to find a winner, whereby each team has 5 shots at goal and the team who scores the most wins.

There are eleven players on each team. One of these eleven is given the role of goalkeeper and they must try to stop the ball passing over their teams goal line.

The keeper is the only player that can use his hands to stop the ball. The role of the other other ten players on the team is dependent on the particular approach decided upon by the coach of the team.

Aside from the goalkeeper, a soccer team consists of defenders, midfielders and strikers. Defenders tend to stay in around their own teams goal - their purpose being to prevent the opposing team from being able to shoot at it.

The midfielders are the link between the defenders and the strikers. They operate in the middle of the park and conduct the pace and tempo of the game. They offer support to the defenders while supplying the service to the strikers.

The forwards also known as the strikers are given the job of scoring goals. These players make up the offensive side of the field. Though they aren't the only players that are allowed to score, they tend to score the vast majority of the goals for their team. Most soccer parents want their child to be a striker because this position gets the most attention and recognition.

There's no need to worry about the cost of soccer either as the only thing that is needed to play is a ball. The question shouldn't be whether you can afford to play soccer, but rather can you afford not to play.

Now is the time to get involved if you haven't already done so. There's really not a single reason why shouldn't at least introduce the idea to your child. You may even have the next David Beckham without yet knowing it!

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