Soccer: how does it relate to teamwork | Teen Ink

Soccer: how does it relate to teamwork

June 16, 2020
By BENJAMINLEONETTI BRONZE, Winnetka, Illinois
BENJAMINLEONETTI BRONZE, Winnetka, Illinois
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Did you know that soccer is one of the sports where teamwork is the best skill? Well teamwork is one of the most important aspects of soccer. When you play, you have to be able to connect with your teammates to make it easier to win. For example, you should know every teammate's playstyle, ability, and prefered foot. Mostly the idea is that you have to always pass the ball to somebody who has a better position to score, and remember that you are playing for a team, and not only for yourself. Teamwork is important both on the field and off the field, teammates should be comfortable around each other. 

On the field, there are many tasks that require teamwork and leadership. For example, there is literally a role called the captain. A captain is usually the best and most helpful player of the team who is good at giving communications throughout the whole team. Even though there is a chosen captain everybody is expected to dominate the area they are positioned in both physically like keeping the ball, and mentally, with good call-outs. For example, a soccer team could be like a wolf pack, we work better when we are interconnected.

This one captain I had when I was in middle school was very good at being the captain, and encouraged the whole team. As me as a sixth grader, and as him an eight grader, I would sort of look up to him. One game, vs our rivals, I wasn't playing that well, and we were losing by one. I got yelled at by the coach, and instead of yelling too, the captain ended up giving me his captain band, and told me to keep my head up. This gave me some courage, and I ended up playing better, and as a team we ended up winning.

A good example of teamwork was one time I was playing with my school team, and we were tied with five minutes left. We were very close to scoring, until I got fouled on the outside of the box. I was certain that somebody had to shoot, knowing how the ball is positioned better for a left footed player, I called my friend over who was left footed, and he ended up scoring. If it wasn't for me knowing he had the better option, we would have never scored this game winning goal.

An example of how important it is to know a teammates playstyle is one game when we noticed that their defence is not very fast,so we substituted our fast striker in, 5 minutes later i saw him making a run. Remembering his pace, I gave him a throuball with extra power, to make sure he would have enough time to beat the defender. This made him in a position right in front of goal, where he easily tapped the ball inside the goal.

Knowing a player's abilities is very important to soccer, because it impacts how you decide to play with your teammate. It's important to know what his/her preferred foot would be, so that you could pass it to them knowing that they feel more comfortable. Another example is if a player is more rather quick than good with the ball at his feet, its better to use his pace as an advantage and play him a through ball.   

Leadership and teamwork should also be used off the field, for example, you should occasionally check up on your teammates to make sure everything is alright, and that everybody is healthy. Another example of teamwork passing on out of the field is to make sure everybody on your team is in shape, and ready for the next game. 


The author's comments:

I'm about to be a Sophomore in high school and I love soccer. My goals from writing this is for people to understand different points of view of soccer.


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