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Term Paper About Sports Essay The sport datesback to the Egyptians, who played games involving the kicking of a ball. Now, the sport has grown to a global pastime, including men s and women steams, and the World Cup (which is played every four years). The sport is also known by other names in some parts of the English-speaking world, usually association football and its contraction, soccer. These names are often used to distinguish the game from other codes of football, since the word football may be used to refer to several quite different games. Football is a team sport played between two teams consisting of eleven players each. It is a ball game played on a rectangular grass field with a goal at each end. The objective of the game is to score by maneuvering the ball into the opposing goal. Other than the goalkeepers, players may not use their hands or arms to propel the ball in general play. The winner is the team which has scored most goals at the end of the match. Football is played at a professional level all over the world, and millions of people regularly go to football stadia to follow their favourite team, whilst billions more avidly watch the game on television. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. According to a survey conducted by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), footballs governing body, published in the spring of 2001, over 240 million people regularly play football in more than 200 countries in every part of the world. Its simple rules and minimal equipment requirements have no doubt aided its spread and growth in popularity. In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations; it is therefore often claimed to be the most popular sport in the world. Because of this it is often dubbed as the Worlds Favorite Pastime. 1. Football is rougher than most people actually think. People usually dont see whats happening outside the television camera’s view or off the field. Off the screen, you have players kicking each other, exchanging words, or even pushing each other around. Dont feel bad, though, because the referees dont see it half the time either. Then, during the game you have players slide tackling and taking each other out for possession of the ball. These players are wearing nothing to protect them from serious injuries. According to a survey conducted by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), footballs governing body, published in the spring of 2001, over 240 million people regularly play football in more than 200 countries in every part of the world. Its simple rules and minimal equipment requirements have no doubt aided its spread and growth in popularity. In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations; it is therefore often claimed to be the most popular sport in the world. Because of this it is often dubbed as the Worlds Favorite Pastime. 2. II. History of Football (Soccer) During the 1800s the people of England played a game similar to soccer. Many rules changed and each person interpreted the rules differently. The modern version came about in the early nineteenth century,in England. It started as a game involving kicking and handing, but later this branched off into two separate sports: rugby and football (which is what the English call soccer). In 1848 a group of school representatives met at Trinity College in Cambridge and drew up the first of soccer rules. In 1863 English soccer clubs founded the Football Association. By the late 1800s soccer began to spread to the rest of the world. The Canadian Soccer Association was established in 1912 while the United States Soccer Federation was set up in 1913. The first World Cup Championship was in Montevideo, Uruguay. Since then it has been played every four years except during WWII. The North American Soccer League (NASL) was formed in 1968 and the sport began to gain popularity in the 1970 s. Modern Game and Rules The modern game of soccer has a simple goal: kick or head the ball in to the goal of your opponent s team. Basically, there is also one simple rule: No one except the goalkeeper may use they rehands to play the ball. Soccer is a simplistic sport. Eleven members of each team defend their side of the field to prevent the ball from being forced into their goal, which results in a point scored by the team kicking the ball. There are only three officials involved during play: The referee, and two linesmen. The equipment used in soccer is also very simple. In addition to the field itself, all that is needed for a game is two goals (eight feet high and eight yards apart) and a ball. Each player wears hard plastic or padded shin guard, covered by long socks, for protection during play. Cleats are alsoworn for traction on the field. A goalie may also wear a special padded shirt,and gloves to protect his or her hands. A standard field, as regulated by the Federation International de Football Association (or FIFA), has a length between 100 and 130 yards,and a width of between 50 and 100 yards. The rules of play for soccer have deliberately been kept simple. The referee makes most of the decisions, and attempts to encourage fair play. A soccer or football game begins with a kickoff in the center of the field. A coin is flipped to decide which team will kickoff. The other team kicks off at the start of the second half when the teams switch sides or nets. 3. III. Nature of the game The game is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game, which are summarised below. Two teams of eleven players each compete to get a round ball (itself known as a football) into the other teams goal, thereby scoring a goal. The team which has scored the most goals at the conclusion of the game is the winner; if both teams have an equal number of goals then the game is a draw. The primary rule for this objective is that players, other than the goalkeepers, may not intentionally touch the ball with their hands or arms during play (though they do use their hands during a throw-in restart). Although players mainly use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their bodies other than their hands or arms. The physical contact between players is restricted: holding, tripping, kicking or excessively pushing opponents is not allowed. Such actions (along with handling the ball) are called fouls and are punishable by a free kick (or a penalty kick if commited in the vicinity of the offenders goal; see below for details). In typical game play, players attempt to move towards a goal through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling (running with the ball close to their feet); by passing the ball from team-mate to team-mate; and by taking shots at the goal. Opposition players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent who controls the ball. Football is generally a free-flowing game with the ball in play at all times except when the ball has left the field of play by wholly crossing over a boundary line (either on the ground or in the air), or play has been stopped by the referee. When play has been stopped, it recommences with a specified restart (see below). At a professional level, usually a few goals are scored during a match. For example, during 2004-05 season of the FA Premier League, an average of 2. 57 goals per match were scored, and 88% of the matches ended up with not more than 4 goals scored. However, only 8% of the matches finished goalless. 4. IV. Playing Area An  association football pitch  (also known as a  football pitch,  football field[1]  or  soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of  association football  made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the  Laws of the Game, The Field of Play. [2] All line markings on the  pitch  form part of the area which they define. For example, a ball on or above the  touchline  is still on the field of play; a ball on the line of the goal area is in the goal area; and a foul committed over the 16. -metre (18-yard) line has occurred in the  penalty area. Therefore a ball must completely cross the touchline to be out of play, and a ball must wholly cross the goal line (between the goal posts) before a goal is scored; if any part of the ball is still on or above the line, the ball is still in play. The field descriptions that apply to adult matches are described below. N ote that due to the original formulation of the Laws in England and the early supremacy of the four British football associations within IFAB, the standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally expressed in  imperial units. The Laws now express dimensions with approximate  metric  equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets), but use of the imperial units remains common in some countries, especially in the United Kingdom. 5. V. Physical (Soccer/Football) Conditioning Soccer is a sport requiring high levels of physical fitness. It is one of those rare games which demands not only speed but agility, strength, power and endurance. Players at top levels can run over 14 km in a game whilst not forgetting the frequent accelerations, decelerations, changes of direction and jumps they must undertake. Fitness is important at all levels of the game, whilst being essential for top level players, it is beneficial for beginners who will improve both their effectiveness and enjoyment through good standards of fitness. The aim of fitness training in football is to enable a player to cope with the physical demands of the game as well as allowing the efficient use of his various technical and tactical competencies throughout the match. Fitness may be described as a set of attributes that an individual has or has acquired which help in their ability to perform physical activity. The diagram below (Fig 1) outlines the general components which make up and are required for physical fitness in sport. Mental fitness and diet could be included but the diagram refers to the main components of fitness which require physical activity and which bring about physiological changes in the body. | Fitness as mentioned earlier is based on the attributes an individual has, meaning what he is born with or has acquired, in other words through training. Thus, performance is influenced by inherited abilities (genetic) and training status. An individual who is naturally gifted will still need proper training to make the most of their talent. Different sports require different fitness components. Football players must be able to perform prolonged intermittent exercise (endurance), exercise at high-intensity, sprint, and develop high levels of power (force) when kicking and tackling. Good levels of agility and coordination are also necessary and distinguish between elite and average players. During a game the exercise intensity varies continually thus fitness training should be as realistic as possible. Training should also involve regular use of the ball as this will not only help develop the specific muscles involved in match play, but improve technical and tactical skills and help keep players interested. 6. Coaches such as Marcello Lippi formerly at Juventus, are big believers in individual fitness programs as every player has different needs. This is important as well when training women and youth players. Fig 2 details the major components involved in football specific training. | In all the different components of fitness mentioned above, there are certain basic principles that apply to football fitness training. Frequency   Refers to the quantity of training sessions during a defined period of time, often a week. For example, a professional player may train twice a day, 5 times a week. Intensity   Can be simply defined by how  hard  a player trains. Too much exercise can lead to injury and fatigue whereas too little will not have enough of an effect. Elite players can train longer and harder than players at a lower level. Intensity is often based on the number of repetitions and how many exercises/sets done. It is linked to the principle of progressive overload. Progressive overload amp; duration   Training programs should stress the players’ physiological mechanisms enough to cause an improvement in the desired area. This means that working on the same fitness programme for a long time will not bring about improvement. Therefore, training status will only be bettered by gradually increasing the load that the body is working against. Incorrect overload may bring injury and demotivation due to over-zealous targets. The duration is the time spent in a training session and is dependent upon the sport and individual.