HF, how do you rate soccer after seeing it played locally for the first time.

[Go Postal]

1-3:  Should be played in other countries.  This is not an American sport as Alma says.
4-7:  Good sport.  I should have watched more of this and have learned a lot this year.  Great Arkansas athletes in this "Old World" sport.  I need to see more.
8-10:  OMG!  Why did I only think that Football, Basketball and Baseball were the only American sports.  There are others!

I know that you only have seen 6A soccer, so far, but there are some also great teams/athletes in the 7A, 5A and 4A.  Keep checking all of the soccer threads as time goes by.

(side note:  I was also surprised to see Searcy boys & girls with their 10 boys/girls State Championships, not make it to the 6A semifinals.)

[HorseFeathers]

6.5...The jury is still out today could have been an anomaly

But some comments from my first ever soccer games..lol.

1. What's the Deal I thought the Goooooaaalll..G..G...Goooooaaaalll Yell was a requirement at every soccer match? (the guy on the radio did it during the Russellville girls game )

2. I think there are more armchair QB's in the stands at a soccer match than at a football game lol

3. What's the deal with the dudes with the flags?

4. My 4 year old daughter finds soccer very dull...she was ready to leave after the first 5 minutes, and I can get her to sit through 4 games of basketball

5. For what good it did them, I found Searcy's constant attack mode to be very entertaining. I think they attempted more shots on goal in the half I got to watch of them than Jonesboro and Benton did combined in the 2nd half of their game lol.

6. Was impressed with the noise the small soccer crowds can make...They were almost as loud as some social event football crowds can be, with a tenth of the people lol.

7. These guys are flipping athletic!

8. Goalie has got to be both the most exciting position in sports, and the most boring at times.

9. Is there really a strategy?

10. I'm pretty sure that kicking it out of bounds is part of that strategy that I'm not sure about existing lol..

11. What does the coach say during the pre-game or half time talk? I mean, as far as what I'm used to, he basically stands there during the game and yells at the refs lol...No calling plays, sometimes yelled at a player for a mistake..but that it?

12. Alright, what's with the something happens, and one of the team gets an unguarded kick from the hash with 3 "Target" players in front of him? Is that what a "Free" kick actually is?

13. Most Athletic Play I've ever seen in person in any sport happened today....A kid used a front flip to throw in a ball...That was pretty cool. Is that Common?

14. Like the fact that the refs have to actually be in shape to call the games...No taking it easy for those fellas, He was right up in the middle of the mess most of the time it seems.


Now I only got to watch the 2nd half of the Benton-Jonesboro game, and the 1st half of the Searcy-Mountain Home game...I plan on making the second semi-final matches tomorrow night if I can bribe the wife into not being to irritated with me for going...


As far as other schools go...I've noticed locally that Russellville seems to have a pretty good boys program..and the girls won today to(Listened to part of that on the radio at work, and got my expected Goooooaaalll! yell from that guy lol). And Danville won(But that's almost 60 miles one way..ugh!). Morrilton has a team to I think...So looks like I might have something of a spring sport to occasionally watch next season when Hector's softball team is out of state(I'm afraid after this season my wife will actually want to go watch them play now haha)

[chaoslord]

I'll take some of your questions

3. What's the deal with the dudes with the flags?

Assuming you mean the other two referees, they are termed Assistant Referee, although the term "linesman" is still pretty popular since they are on the line. They help to judge when the ball is out of play, give another angle on fouls, and, most importantly, watch for offside. Offside in soccer is a fairly complex beast, but, the simplest explanation is: At the moment the ball is kicked, you can't be closer to the opponents goal than the next to last defender. The last defender is usually the goalkeeper so, generally, there has to be one person + GK between you and the goal when the ball is kicked. This is to stop teams from just having a player or two camp out and wait for balls to just get booted up to them.

4. My 4 year old daughter finds soccer very dull...she was ready to leave after the first 5 minutes, and I can get her to sit through 4 games of basketball

If I have a daughter, I hope I can get her to sit through 4 basketball games!

9. Is there really a strategy?

10. I'm pretty sure that kicking it out of bounds is part of that strategy that I'm not sure about existing lol..

There is, but it's not as well defined as a football player or something like setting a screen in basketball. The strategy is not always easy to see unless you know what you are looking for, kind of like in NASCAR. Teams play in different formations (one team may play with only three midfielders while another may play with five) which changes play. Better schools definitely have more of a tactical plan. When I played, we were not very good so we really didnt have a strategy past "Right, everyone has your position? Do that."

12. Alright, what's with the something happens, and one of the team gets an unguarded kick from the hash with 3 "Target" players in front of him? Is that what a "Free" kick actually is?

Basically, yeah. A free kick is given as the restart after the game is stopped for a foul. At that point, the defenders have to give 10 yards of space around the ball. Teams will press that, of course, which means they will sometimes set up walls of players as obstacles right on the edge of that 10 yard space to make it harder. Depending on the location of the freekick, the wall might be as big as 5 players, but that's down to defenses preference.

13. Most Athletic Play I've ever seen in person in any sport happened today....A kid used a front flip to throw in a ball...That was pretty cool. Is that Common?

It's not terribly common, but it is always cool to watch!

[Go Postal]

HF, I'm glad that you have started to learn some of the history/rules/strategy of soccer and that you have enjoyed watching some high school soccer (even though that was just 6A).  The difference between High School and maybe MLS games (that you see on TV) is that High School plays for pride.  They don't get paid for this.  Make your school the best as in the other sports.  This sport may be not as fast action as a basketball court but it can be close to that on a larger than football field.  Great athletes overall.

Now all of that said and to confuse you more....
World Cup is for to show that your country is better than all the World.  America has made a statement to other men/women countries of this "Old World" sport over the last few years.  Kind of a Revolution.   Men's World Cup is coming up this year.

[HorseFeathers]

HF, I'm glad that you have started to learn some of the history/rules/strategy of soccer and that you have enjoyed watching some high school soccer (even though that was just 6A).  The difference between High School and maybe MLS games (that you see on TV) is that High School plays for pride.  They don't get paid for this.  Make your school the best as in the other sports.  This sport may be not as fast action as a basketball court but it can be close to that on a larger than football field.  Great athletes overall.

Now all of that said and to confuse you more....
World Cup is for to show that your country is better than all the World.  America has made a statement to other men/women countries of this "Old World" sport over the last few years.  Kind of a Revolution.   Men's World Cup is coming up this year.

Yeah...I been hearing about the World Cup on Sportscenter. Might watch part of a game or two...just to see if I can stand it haha

[Go Postal]

Definitely watch when America plays.  We don't use dives or "fake" injuries to run the clock as some other "Old World" countries do for strategy.  We play with our talent.