First of all, Pele coined the phrase ‘the beautiful game’… So many people love futbol because anyone can play it. Young and old, rich, poor, good or not-so-good and even with one leg – WOW. You can play on grass, a street, sand, a basketball or tennis court, on turf, in snow or rain, when it is 108 degrees or windy, indoor or outdoor. If anything can bring people from all races and beliefs it’s the beautiful game, which has many names. Whether you call it futbol, soccer or football it’s all the beautiful game.
Building character through the beautiful game
Soccer/futbol is called the beautiful game because it gives you a feeling of joy and passion… You don’t need fancy gear.
It teaches you to trust, love and encourage people.
You have 11 people on the starting team, so if 10 are playing well and 1 player is having a bad game you have to rally around the struggling player.
Failure and struggle is a great way for people to build leadership and character in sports.
The best players are the ones who are not only talented and work hard, but the ones who can make those around them better.
A good leader knows what to say when teammates are doing good. Oftentimes an encouraging word is all we need to get back up.
True world class competition
What other sport in the world has a tournament like the World Cup where the top 32 countries face off and travel all around the world playing friendly games year after year?
[If you list the Olympics that is good, but in the futbol world it’s not as important or valued. For one, Olympics is only for players age 23 and under.]
Soccer has the most countries who have the sport as their number one Sport.
In America I don’t think it’s a top 5 sport which is frustrating only because they don’t play important games on [general cable] television.
Are you soccer fluent
You can go anywhere in the world and if you can play or speak the language you are in.
Soccer/football has taught me that people can be supportive, hard-working, passionate, happy, proud, hateful, ignorant, jealous, sad, and mad ~ all in the same day!
The passion it elicits is moving [and scary]. You meet people from all around the world, but to play you don’t need to even speak the same language.
There is an understanding of fútbol and ways to communicate it in sign language and just reading the game.
Opportunity through soccer
Some adults and kids play the game for a way out of poverty or abuse. Whether to make a living or even to just be a part of something.
I’ve had the pleasure to help underprivileged kids in the community just to let them play and have fun.
If you live in a poor community, where opportunities aren’t as available as perhaps they are in a more developed country, how are you going to make money to support a family?
There are thousands of people across the globe playing pro soccer to make money and support family.
In many pro leagues there are teams that have players from such different backgrounds. On the same team you can have players who grew up with everything in the country club of soccer.
The common theme is they all play soccer because they love it enough to go through all the hard times of the beautiful game.
Wars have stopped
I foresee soccer as only growing more beautiful.
Wars have been stopped [Africa and Asia] with a temporary truce declared to watch a soccer game – with Pele [learn more].
The beautiful game provides an opportunity for common ground.
Soccer allows us to teach kids about life, fairness, choices, and what we choose to play for.
The beautiful game allows others to teach us about their world, country, language and perspective.
How can you help impact others from sharing this common passion [futbol]?
#TogetherWeAreSoccer
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