At the age of three, I started playing the amazing sport of soccer. Although I would cry on the pitch and not know what to do. I ended up quitting. Not until the age of seven did I regain interest in soccer. Since I was older and could understand the rules, my parents put me back into soccer. I immediately started to enjoy it, seeing many benefits in my life, and I haven’t looked back since.
I often get told, “Wow, you play soccer! All you do is kick a ball.” Soccer is far from that. Soccer originated in England, where they call it football. The game consists of two teams of 11 players each on a grass pitch of approximately 130 by 100 yards. It’s a 90-minute game with a halftime break after 45 minutes. The objective is to score the most goals by the end of the game. Everyone except the goalie can only use their feet with additional rules such as offsides, out-of-bounds, and fouls. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and is played in most countries.
My years of playing soccer have benefited me in multiple ways. One of them is my communication skills. It may seem crazy to some, but it’s honestly true. I used to be shy. Joining a soccer team made it easy to make friends with shared interests. It also helped to see the same people three to four times a week. It created a close family-like bond. Talking about communication skills in his article “Soccer Has Benefits,” Jayson Jwanian states,
…multiple times… I made a run down the line to be open for a pass and I told them loudly so that they could hear that I was going to be down the line and it’s given the team a lot of goal scoring opportunities. When I’m with my friends, I’m quicker with thinking before saying something and I make sure I’m not too quiet so that they hear me.
I can relate to this because the decision-making on the pitch is a split second before someone is pressuring you when you have the ball. It also shows that soccer helps with other people's communication skills too.
When it comes to being healthy and fit, soccer might be the most beneficial sport. With a 90-minute game, you need to be well-conditioned to run up and down the pitch without getting tired. According to the Victorian State Government on their Better Health Channel, soccer “increases aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health, lowers body fat and improves muscle tone, builds strength, flexibility and endurance, increases muscle and bone strength and improves health due to shifts between walking, running and sprinting.” Soccer did all those things to me, and they're all positive. Cardio is key in soccer, and when I started playing I didn’t have any. I would always get gassed during games. After a while, I started to be more confident in my ability to not get tired. The average player runs five to seven miles a game, so having good cardio was necessary for me. I also gained great body coordination due to movements like dribbling and passing. Having good physical health not only makes you feel better in the now but also sets you up to have better health chances in the future.
One of soccer's greatest benefits is bringing people together. You bond with your teammates, but you can also support soccer as a fan. It’s a worldwide sport with fans supporting teams in their country or even teams outside of their country. For example, even though I live in the United States, I support Manchester United in Manchester, England, because of my dad. The sport itself brings people together: you can watch it with people you love and share that passion. Whether that be family or friends it’s a feeling you don’t know until you feel it. The adrenaline from the highs to the lows is what makes it special. Even if you’re not with people, you can still contact them with a simple text message or phone call and get a similar feeling.
Although, not everything in life can be perfect. There are some concerns with the sport of soccer, the main one being injuries. They can be such a touchy subject in the sport, to be honest. According to the UPMC, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, “Some of the more common soccer injuries include broken bones, concussions, torn ligaments and sprains.” These types of injuries can make or break a player. You see them most with professional players. A big injury like tearing an ACL can take a whole year to get back to match fitness. And sometimes players can come back too soon and tear it again. When I had to undergo surgery on both of my feet at the same time, returning to full fitness was knackering. If a player gets consistent injuries it ruins their career just like that. Some players even get forced to retire early. Also, consistent injuries come with mental health issues. Even though they make a shedload of money, it doesn’t always bring happiness. When you’re not doing the thing you love and your body is in the right shape, it can take a toll on you. However, with the right medical team and fitness staff around you, keeping your body in the best shape possible shouldn’t be an issue. And when you get back to playing again, you seem to forget about the concern for injuries. The benefits most definitely outweigh the negatives.
Soccer has been at the center of my life. It has taught me many valuable lessons. I wish everyone could experience soccer’s benefits. After all, it’s only kicking a ball, right?