The First Soccer: The Worldwide Sport Of Football

The crowd roars and the players clash on the field. Millions of eyes rest on an 100 yard long field. Pads crack and heads crunch. The final play of the game. Ten seconds left to win the Super Bowl. The ball is hiked and the quarterback drops back into the pocket, opening his hips and looking downfield, along with the crowd. What all but a few failed to notice was the injured lineman. Having been pushed backward he landed awkwardly on his back foot and proceeded to fall down and grab at his leg. As this was happening the quarterback spots an opening and hurls a ball for the endzone. Touchdown! The catch was made but the receiver was quickly blindsided and his helmet flew off. No one is worried about that. Everyone is worried about the fact that
One of the reasons this is the case is because of it’s accessibility to anyone. One ball is required and they can be made out of anything. A water bottle or a ball of tape can provide a rudimentary ball to play with. From the richest parts of the world to the poorest, children and adults alike play soccer. It is also exceedingly versatile as it can be played almost anywhere. Players can improvise goalposts and sidelines. An interesting case of when a soccer game took place on interesting ground was the Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War 1, where the Germans and English set up a game in no-man's land between their trenches while also exchanging other pleasantries. This accessibility available in 1914 is even more prevalent in today's day and age (Christmas Truce). In football, equipment is much more important for safety and can be strikingly expensive. With helmets mostly costing more than 100 dollars, even the most essential item for protection is out of the price range of poorer families. With soccer, anyone could buy ten soccer balls with that money and cones for goals. Accessibility is important because it makes the sport easy to play and cheaper for the parents to foot the bill. Youth football and soccer leagues are located all around America. Chances are if a parent wants a child to play soccer all someone has to do is sign him up for a youth team and get him on the track. The road diverges when a player get to high school. Football
There is no denying that NFL wide receivers and running backs can be stronger and faster than soccer players. However, football linemen are often times overweight. That is fine considering that they are on a professional diet to maintain weight and to eat healthy. What is not alright is that children are seeing it is alright to be obese when in fact it is detrimental to his health. These children idolize and want to grow up to be like these linemen in the big leagues. Chances are these children are not going to grow up and be professional football players where their size will have a positive impact and be part of their livelihood. They will grow up and stay obese and obtain the health related consequences of obesity putting unneeded stress on society and hospitals. Is soccer any better? Obesity in professional soccer is almost unheard of. Being overweight can cause serious issues for a professional soccer player. Average running in professional soccer games is 5 to 7 miles compared to a generous distance of 1.25 miles for a football player (Health Revolution). Fines can be instigated in soccer by the teams and they can lose their contract if they do not stay in a weight range. The weight range is imposed upon the players once they begin to gain wait unneedingly because it can make them not worth as much money and many of their contracts are worth tens of millions of dollars. Parents should encourage their