I Believe in Soccer by Jordy Duer

What is soccer? To many people it's just a sport, but maybe it is. Soccer is one of the world's favorite sports, but why? Maybe it's because of people like David Beckham, who make it fun to watch, or maybe it's playing the sport that makes so many people love it, but is soccer just two teams on a field running around trying to drive a ball into the goal? Maybe, but maybe it's not, maybe there's a lot more to soccer than what people think. I believe in soccer.

Endurance is having the strength to last. You have to want something and know how hard it is to get but choose to go for it anyways, until you get it. How hard is it to sprint up and down a football field? Now try it for 80 minutes. Soccer takes a lot of endurance. You have to be willing to keep on when you're tired, but why? Just so you can score maybe only two goals during one game? Maybe, but maybe not.

One team, 11 players on the field, 10 teammates, 10 other people all running toward one thing, the goal, but then there's 11 more players, one more team, all protecting one thing, the goal. In soccer there are two pretty simple rules: no hands and stay in front of the other team's last defender, but what happens when someone doesn't do those things? It affects all 11 players, not just that one player. A team sport, isn't that what it is? I guess that's why they say win together and lose together, because in the end eleven people win and eleven people lose, and there's no in between.

Losing is having to watch the ball they've kicked go into the goal behind you. It's that feeling of letting your team down. It's that feeling of frustration. But then what decision you make as a team next shows a lot, will you let it pick you up or will you let it tear you down? Maybe soccer is about working yourself back up, or striving to be better and running that extra twenty yards only to watch the ball being kicked in the opposite direction, but knowing that it's not over, just twenty more yards.

Maybe it's the feeling you get once your team scores, maybe that's what it s all about. Maybe it's the feeling of relief and prosperity. Maybe it's the feeling of being on the field watching the ball hit the back of the net and turning around to see everyone jumping up and screaming, maybe it's all about that short moment, but maybe not.

What's so good about soccer you might wonder, because all it is, is kicking a ball back and forth for a goal. But in the end what you allow to make you better or tear you down is who you are, and who you are as a team. So is soccer just a sport? Maybe, but I think not. I believe in soccer.