Soccer Time!
Story By: Andrew Frinkle
Bo played soccer. It was his favorite sport. Sure, the other ones were fun,
but there was something very fun about soccer. It was competitive, but so
were other sports. It was fast, and some sports were fast, but this was like
a race. Maybe that's what he liked best about it: the running. It was like a
zigzagging race while kicking a ball and that made it fun.
Basic soccer equipment is not expensive, which makes it an easy game to
play. It can also be played causally among friends. anywhere that you have
a nice stretch of grass. Pro players wear a jersey, shorts, socks, cleats, and
shin guards. At home, you can get away without the shin guards and
probably wear tennis shoes. Cleats, however, help you grip the grass so
you can run and turn more quickly. This is important for protecting your
ankles and legs as you spin, turn, kick, and change directions often.
Soccer usually has 11 players per team, including a goalkeeper. Players
are usually broken up into four groups: goalkeepers, defense, midfielders,
and forwards. There are different kinds of defense, midfielders, and
forwards, each with a slightly different job, but each team only has one
goalkeeper. He or she is important, because the goalkeeper is the only one
that can handle the ball with their hands. All other players must only use
their feet, along with any part of their legs, chests, or heads.
Soccer is a 90 minute game split into two 45 minute halves. This is different
than games like baseball, with its nine innings; basketball and football,
which each have four quarters; or hockey with its three periods. Unlike
football, there isn't a lot of stopping in soccer. While the game is playing,
the clock keeps running. When it stops, it is only for a few seconds to set
up for a kick or to give the other team the ball. Because of that, it is a fun
sport to watch, too, because you don't have a lot of down time or breaks.
Bo liked playing as a midfielder. It was a fun position, probably with the
most running involved. He not only had to help the defense fight off the
other team's offense, he also had to help move the ball down the field to
help his own team score. This meant that sometimes he would even take
shots on the opponent's goal or set up a play for another one of his
teammates. He loved getting assists on scores, because if he played just
right, he knew he could help his team score and win.
