Soccer Unifies
Like many people have already said, soccer was a big part of my childhood. I grew up playing soccer, and seemed to spend every summer weekend on a soccer field somewhere. I have experienced soccer as a player, fan, referee and most recently as a coach, as I just recently started coaching my youngest cousin’s house soccer team. Seeing soccer from all of these different perspectives has really given me a true appreciation of the game. Victor Tuners concept of “communitas” is very true, and is most apparent in the U.S. every 4 years when the World Cup comes around. My favorite part about soccer is the unity that it can bring to a local community, a country and even the entire world.
Soccer has a perfect mix of modern and traditional values. The game has roughly stayed them same, but has been evolved and improved overtime. Soccer has become what it is today based on a few contributions made by every culture and generation that has experienced the game. Wither if it was the addition of the lines on the field, or the new technology that is used with modern TV broadcasts, the game has slowly evolved to become perfect for the current generation. Just like every sport, and virtually every part of culture, soccer will continue to change and improve as time goes on and that is what makes it so great.
Soccer has played a role in every generation and culture for centuries. It started as a game for just soldiers, turned into a game that taught life lessons in the British Public Schools System, and has now progressed into one of the only things that unifies for the world.