Athleticism of Soccer positions The game of soccer is becoming one of America’s favorite sports and already has millions of fans. Soccer is a tough game because it is nonstop movement. Other games like football or baseball have stops and pauses in the action. Soccer has different kind of conditioning than other sports because of the amount of time the players have to run. Soccer has 11 players per team on the field. The game has two 45- minute halves. The goalkeepers are the only players that are able to use their hands at all times. The game is fast paced and a lot of movements with the ball. The game of soccer requires team work and also individual skills to play the game. To be a soccer player one has to have athleticism, skills and endurance to play. To play in any kinds of sports one has to be athletic. To be athletic means to be able to keep up with other players with speed, skills, judgment, reflexes, strength, conditioning, endurance and mental toughness. Soccer demands all these capabilities. Positions in Soccer requires all of these skills but every position needs combination of different skills to stay in the game.
The midfielder is the position that requires the most physical effort. The midfield player has a lot on his plate because he has to be able to run back and forth the full length of the field at times which he needs to be physically fit. When the other team has the ball the midfielder has to help the defenders and when his team is on offense he is expected to help the forward score anyway he can. To do this task he has to have a very strong lungs and legs and a lot of conditioning for running back and forth up the field up to 9 miles per game.
Even though a goalkeeper’s position might not be as challenging as the midfielder it still demands for different kind of skills that the midfield player’s don’t have. A goalkeeper stops the ball from going to the net. To stop the ball he has to be able to jump high so he needs to be tall and have strong arms to deflect the ball, throw the ball and kick the ball to teammates which sometimes can be long distance. The goalie needs to have strong leg muscles and quick reflexes to get up from the ground to stop the next play. He has to have the ability to launch himself from left to right or right to left.
The forward position might not be as challenging as the midfielder or the goalie because he doesn’t have to run as much as the midfielders or be as quick as the goalkeeper. At the same time he has to be quick with his feet. The forward or striker is a player that receives the ball from his teammates so he can score by kicking the ball in to the net, to do that he needs to have ball skills and speed to weave in and out between the defensive players on the other team. The muscles, tendons and ligaments in his legs, knees and ankles have to be strong and functional to do the skills. The team relies on the striker to score most of the goals.
As much as the team needs the offense to win the defensive players have a big role. The defensive players are ones who keep the ball from going in to the net by sliding on the offensive players legs or by intercepting the pass. They defend the goal how ever they can without touching the ball with their hands. The defenders don’t have to run as much as the rest of the offensive players instead of running they shuffle back and forth between the offensive players on the other team. They have to have upper body strength to push around or be pushed around by the other team’s offensive players.
Some people see soccer as a boring sport and not as challenging as the other sports. Playing soccer is not as easy as people think it is because it takes a combination of skills and athleticism. The examples that were explained above show us the different skills of athleticism it takes to play soccer.