Soccer

            Here are some amazing "soccer facts". Soccer players run as much as six or seven miles during a game. Soccer is the world's most popular team sport. The proper name for soccer is "association football". A soccer ball weighs between 14 and 16 ounces. The World Cup is soccer's most coveted prize. In Europe and South America, star soccer players are celebrities for life. At the end of the 1980's about 12 million Americans under the age of 19 were playing organized soccer and 37% of them were girls.
             There is not much known about the origin of soccer. The earliest soccer dates from about 200 in China, where a form of the game was played to show the ability of players to dribble a leather ball. The Greeks and Romans played football and ball kicking games. Their soccer variation permitted carrying the ball.
             The modern day soccer got its start in England. After beheading a Danish bandit, they used his head as the first soccer ball. In 1365 however, King Edward III banned soccer because of its excessive violence and he felt that it also took too much time away from archery practice. The heads had been used for target practice but were now being used as balls. But the game became too popular to stop.
             The earliest organized games were massive confrontations between teams consisting of two or three villages with goals as far as three to four miles apart. The.
             Game was over as soon as someone scored a goal. Later the game became more refined; .
             they limited the number of team players and confined the playing area to between 80 to 100 yards, with a goal at both ends. The goals were made of sticks a few feet apart.
             By the 1850's the rules still varied from place to place. The number of players ranged from 15 to 20. The 11-player game of today was established in 1870, with 9 forwards and 2 defenders. In 1880, the goalkeeper was distinguished from the other players. This was the time it was decided that the goalkeeper was the only player allowed to use his hands.