When most people think of the sport soccer, they think about running, shooting, passing, and dribbling, but what some do not realize is that there is a lot more to soccer than that. Soccer players have a lot of pressure on them and sometimes they cannot handle it. If you make one mistake you suddenly become a bad player. That is the reason why players work so hard just to achieve the tiniest little goal. To be successful, you have to eat, sleep, and breathe soccer.
Running is not very important in the early stages of sports. Later on, you find out that if you are not in shape, you will not be able to keep up with any of the individuals that you are in the game with. One of the main keys to soccer is running, but what people do not realize, is that it is a lot more than just running. It is sprinting, turning, and knowing when the right time is to make a run. Like coaches always say, “Timing is everything.” If you are early on a run, you could be called offside, but if you are too late, then the ball will most likely go to the opposing team, rather than your teammate.
Shooting is an important element in soccer of all ages. If you do not know how to shoot on frame, then you will never be able to score. Even if you do get the ball on frame, it is not guaranteed that you will score because the keeper can stretch and catch the ball. When you shoot, most people try to aim for any of the four corners because that is the hardest spot for the goal keeper to reach. Corners are not easy to hit because if you are a little off, you will not even get the shot on goal, or the keeper might catch it.
Passing is a good thing to be good at, especially when you get older because defenders will be harder to get by. There are a couple different ways to pass the soccer ball. One of them is a threw ball or threw pass. A threw ball is when one of your teammates runs on the outside of the defender, and you split the two defenders and then your forward is close to scoring. Another type of pass is a give-and-go. A give-and-go is when your teammate passes you the ball and you pass it back to them as they run forward. The last type of pass is a cross. A cross is when you kick the ball up in the air to a player on the opposite side of the field. Crosses are very helpful because it make the keeper confused and she can either go for the ball, or stay in the goal, but she cannot do both.
Dribbling is the basic thing in soccer. Right as you start soccer, that is the thing that you learn. Dribbling is important because you need to be able to carry the ball when your teammate is under pressure by a player on the opposite team. Dribbling is also important because when you know how to dribble, you can dribble past your opponent with speed and cross the ball so your team can score.
As you can see, soccer is not simple. It has things that branch off of running, shooting, passing, and dribbling. So the next time you see a game, just remember, it is not easy to do what they are doing because it is more complicated then you think.
I learned a lot from this post! You do a good job explaining the soccer jargon, too. In the first paragraph you write about the pressure and consequences of making "one mistake." Do you feel like there is more pressure in soccer than in other sports. Also, I am more familiar with basketball (as a spectator). Soccer and basketball seem similar to me, but I'm probably missing something. You might consider a compare and contrast of the two sports as another topic. Oh, and congrats on the state championship. That was awesome!
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