Football is considered as one of the most popular sports in the whole world. Although it is like other sports in which two teams who are against each other try to score goals through moving round ball in order to put it into a big net, there is a big difference between football and these sports such as rugby and soccer. As a matter of fact, Americans use the term of football in order to refer to the American football while it means soccer in other countries in Europe and Africa. In addition, football is regarded the most famous and notable sport in the United States as it attracts the attention of more than forty million spectators and a lot of people watch it on TV annually.
Football Sport History:
The majority of recent and new shapes of football as well as its rules and techniques come from old sports like the ones Greek and Romans used to play in their countries. At the same time, another unorganized form of football started in England at the periods of the middle ages and despite the fact that a lot of kings and royals prevented people from playing it, football resisted to be famous and practiced till the beginning of the nineteenth century. Later in a large number of British schools, various shapes of football improved and began to be played such as Rugby and Eton. As a result, two basic known sports appeared: one of them is soccer or association football which is regarded as a sport in which football is kicked and the other sport is football which is played at Rugby as it goes back to 1823 and in which players could have the ability to tackle the ball and carry it. Actually, a lot of kids prefer football as it is taken in consideration as the first sport to practice when their parents ask and order them to do sports in order to become healthy and in a great shape. The paper discusses some issues about football.
Tools and Equipment Used to Play Football:
Football or soccer is the sport that caught the attention of a lot of viewers especially the Americans due to its quickness and the feeling of excitement it generates in their emotions and feelings. Furthermore, football is one of the sports that could be practiced in any green field or in any wide place like schools and clubs. Therefore, if you don’t have any idea about the tools and equipment you will need in order to play it, you can take a look at the following points:
1- The Ball:
In fact, there are a lot of differences between the sizes, the shapes and the materials of fabrication of the ball you could buy but to make your decision easier you could take in consideration some elements like the age and the level of players whether they are professionals or amateurs. On the other side, if you want to buy a simple ball, you can ask buyers in stores in order to help you to select the right one or if you will buy it online, you can check its size from the standard sizes on the FIFA official website. Furthermore, in order to be able to choose the right materials of fabrication, you have to know the surface on which you will play whether it is grass, ceramic or wood. For example, if you will play football in the street, it is better not to buy an expensive leather ball because it will be ruined and destroyed by the asphalt. On the contrary, you could buy balls made of synthetic materials as it would be able to resist those tough surfaces and will not cost you a lot of money.
2- Players or People:
you will need people with whom you could play the sport like your friends or family. If you just want to kick the ball at the wall, you won’t need anyone but if you need more than this and a competitive sport, you will need a large number of persons. After gathering your friends, the sport starts and all you have to do in order to win is to kick the ball with your feet in the direction you desire. As a matter of fact, in official matches played by professional players like Ronaldo and Messi, you could have the ability to kick the ball with your whole body except your arms and hands as when you touch the ball it is regarded as a handball. Therefore, in order to be able to do the sport perfectly and become a great player, you have to practice it more than twice a week. By following and continuing on practice, you will turn to become an expert in the sport.
3- Pitch or Stadium:
In order to win the other opponent team and score goals in football, you have to kick the ball in a place called the pitch. In real matches, this place or pitch is considered as a large net in which players enter the ball but you don’t have to own a net to practice the sport. In fact, you can make your own goals through putting any two objects such as rocks or chairs and regard the distance between them “the goal”. On the contrary, you have to make sure that the ball does not surpass the height of the goalkeeper with a long distance so that he could repel it or each goal you score will be argued by the opponent team so that they could not count it.
4- Shin Guards:
In the professional matches you watch on TV, you will find that players use shin guards in order to protect their knees and legs from being kicked hardly by other players. You could get these guards on a cheap price from online websites or from stores. Don’t hesitate to buy them even if your friends make fun of you while wearing them as they will protect you from severe injuries.
5- Neat Clothes or Sportswear to Play Football:
Like the other sports, you have to look good when you practice football. Therefore, you could go to any store in order to buy shorts and t-shirts. Remember that you have to play fairly.
Rules of Football Sport:
Like other sports, the rules of football are called the laws of the sport. The following points are some of these rules as mentioning all of them will need a lot of papers.
1- Ball:
The ball has to be round between sixty eight and seventy centimeters. It also has to be made of leather and contains a determined and specified pressure.
2- Play Field (Pitch):
Football has to be practiced on artificial or natural surfaces but this surface has to be rectangular and have a green color to give the effect of grass. While the long two lines of the field are called touch lines, the other short two lines are called goal lines. On the other hand, the play field is divided into two halves from the middle till the goal net.
3- Tools and Equipment:
Players have to wear sportswear that include shorts, stockings, jerseys and shin guards.
4- Number of Players:
Each team consists of eleven players including the goalkeeper. On the contrary, the sport can’t begin unless the team has seven players or more.
5- A Referee:
The referee is considered as the judge of the sport who makes sure that the laws are respected. He is also responsible for giving red and yellow cards for players who violate and break those rules.
6- Three Assistant Referees (Linesmen):
Their numbers is two as they help the referee if he missed a glance at the sport or was distracted or not able to see well the kick.
7- Duration of the Sport:
The sport is divided into two parts as each part consists of forty five minutes. The break between the two matches must not surpass fifteen minutes. According to the opinion of the referee, the players could play for a period which is determined by him in order to compensate the time wasted during the match such as replacing players with others or taking care of wounds and injuries.
8- Ball in the Field and out of It:
The ball is regarded out when players score goals or when the referee stops the sport unlike when the ball is in the field as it is considered in the whole duration of the sport.
09- Way to Score Goals:
A player scores a goal when he kicks the ball in the net and it surpasses the goal line.
10- Offside:
The player cannot touch the ball when he is near to the goal of the opponent team more than the ball itself or the second last player from the other team. The rule of the offside is made in order to guarantee that there are always two players from the opponent team who are usually the goalkeeper and a defender between a player who gets the ball from his mate and the goal net. Without the offside, the sport could be so boring because a lot of long shoots are kicked to a player who stands near the goal keeper to score a simple goal.
11- Beginning and End of The Sport:
The players do a kick-off at the beginning of the match or after scoring a goal. A kick-off refers to a one player who shoots the ball from the center post. The rest of the players have to remain in the other half of the kick-off place. At the start, a person is chosen in order to toss the coin. The loser team shoots the first kick in the match while the winner chooses on which direction of the field it will play. In the second match of the sport, the two teams change directions and the other team shoots the first kick. After scoring, the team who misses the ball begins the kick-off.
Objective of Playing Football:
The objective of football is to score goals like the rest of the sports and sports. Therefore, in order to be able to score and win the sport, you have to remain at the other half when the opponent team begins the kick-off. In addition, the match starts after scoring a goal or at the beginning of the second match after the interval. Moreover, players have the ability to score goals once they kick off the ball. Besides, it sometimes takes only few seconds in order to score goals. On the other hand, the duration of the whole sport takes ninety minutes, which are divided between two halves, each half lasts for forty-five minutes. Between the two matches, there is a break, which takes fifteen minutes for players to rest from running in the field and playing. As a matter of fact, the referee could be able to add more time to the sport to make up the time players wasted in their replacement or if they get injured or wounded because of kicking the ball hardly or getting hit with other players.
Psycho-Socio Physiological Effects for Football Players:
Actually, football is one of the sports that have a great influence on peoples’ mentality. In fact, experts did a lot of studies and proved that football has an impact on feelings, relationships between people, self-appreciation and self-confidence. Recently, a study was done and it stated that according to the sayings of one fan out of four, football is one of the most notable things and famous practices they do in their normal lives. The following points show the effect of football on people whether they are children or adults.
1- Running Away:
When people get too busy in their work or in their life, having fun and spending a good time accomplish the psychological desire of the body and the brain to run away from stress it faces each day and to start going into a different world for a short time. In fact, people consider the time determined for playing football a sacred one and offers them the chance to play and enjoy their time.
2- Joy and Happiness:
When your team wins the sport, you feel happy and great because it played well and achieved glory. On the other hand, according to studies, football improves mood in people and in societies as well as increasing the sense of excitement and happiness. On the contrary, in the case of losing a match, this won’t affect the brain in a bad and negative way.
3- Expectation:
As studies report, the sports events, which attract the attention of a lot of spectators and are considered as a source of entertainment and amusement are a mixture between relief and unexpected results. In addition, people are excited to view something they use to watch with the combination of waiting the unexpected or the end of the sport and the winning team.
4- Getting Involved Emotionally in the Sport:
In fact, it has been known that the environment in which spectators are existed to watch a live football match brings in them high emotions and feelings. Fans melt in the identity of their players and wear the same clothes they wear. In this way, people get out the trapped emotions and feelings inside them that they are not able to get them out in their live.
5- Young People:
Especially for young men, the chance to release stress and feelings is very fundamental to keep their health and their good mentality. As a matter of fact, a lot of people under the age of thirty five commit suicide but thanks to football, this age group attends a lot of matches through the whole world.
6- Stopping a Feeling of Failure:
Sometimes before the beginning of the matches, fans feel pessimistic but this could have a great effect as it can unite their emotions. In fact, rejecting to think that things could end in a good way is believed to save people from depress. This case is known as CORF or cutting off reflected failure. Furthermore, sharing sadness and pain after losing the sport is regarded as another way of uniting between fans.
7- Relationships:
In order to keep your brain healthy, you should have good relationships with others. Actually, football is considered as a key role in creating and keeping social healthy relationships as more than ninety percent of people who go to watch matches alive take their families and friends with them. On the other hand, football offers a base to get in touch with other people, exchange ideas and points of view and get united through victories and sadness because of losing as well as gossiping and talking about the news of players. What’s more, football gives people the opportunity to meet and see each other every once and a while. In addition, football permits people to get in contact with other personalities and persons from different cultures and countries. Football is considered as great way for shy people to allow them to talk and not feel embarrassed.
Football and Basketball Comparing and Contrasting:
According to the Harris Interactive Poll in 2011, football is one of the most known sports in America beside basketball which is considered as the third popular sport. Nonetheless, there are a lot of similarities and differences between the two sports in the following points:
1- The Shape and the Material of the Ball:
People play basketball and football using a ball made of leather or composite leather but on the contrary, basketballs are round and bounce strongly and quickly. On the other hand, footballs have round shapes but they don’t bounce strongly like the basketballs. The design and the form of footballs are made to go quickly and easily in the air without the need to exert a lot of effort as well as being easier to kick them. Furthermore, basketballs are way heavier than footballs and definitely bigger.
2- Number of Players:
Both basketball and football are regarded team sports as they need a lot of people in order to play. While in basketball, the team consists of five players, the team comprises eleven players in football. On the other hand, teams of basketball contain between twelve and fifteen players on the roster whilst football teams contain between fifty and eighty five.
3- The Size and the Type of Play Field:
The playgrounds of football are longer and wider than basketball playgrounds. As the National Basketball Association states, normal basketball grounds have to be ninety four feet by fifty feet. As for football grounds, I sport states that they have to be one hundred and twenty yards by fifty three yards or three hundred and sixty feet by one hundred and sixty feet. While football is played on grass or synthetic materials, basketball is practiced in courts made of wood.
4- Duration of Two Sports:
Football matches last for a long time than basketball sports. In high schools, football matches take sixty minutes while in colleges they last for forty eight minutes. As for basketball, the professional matches are played for forty eight minutes while in colleges they are practiced for forty minutes and in high schools for thirty two minutes. We must also take in consideration that both sports have a lot of intervals for fouls, penalties and timeouts which means that basketball and football take longer time than the normal determined time.
5- Style of Playing the Sport:
Football is way different than basketball in playing them as their rules differ from each other. Each sport has its own system that has to be applied in order to play the sport legally according to the rules set by FIFA for football and for other associations and authorities of basketball.
Conclusion:
To conclude, football is played by a lot of people and it gained a lot of popularity in the recent years. It is watched by millions in the whole world and they prefer it because it is too exciting. It also increases the fitness of the body and improves its health. Therefore, I encourage all parents to motivate their kids in order to practice this sport as it will develop their mentality and skills.
