The sight of a kickstand on a road bicycle is bound to annoy a cycling purist. “A racing cyclist would never have any kind of kickstand,” wrote noted cycling author Eugene A. Sloane in “Popular Mechanics,” capturing the snobbery against kickstands that was well under way in the 1970s.
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Even amateur adult players can boom a soccer ball 50 yards or more down the field, from the goal area past the halfway line, and professional goalkeepers such as Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar can make the ball sail three-quarters of the length of the pitch.
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TV analyst and retired NBA center Bill Walton recalls arriving at UCLA in 1970, eager to learn about basketball greatness from legendary coach John Wooden. He remembers the first day of practice, when Wooden motioned for the rookies to gather around, notes author Charles Francis in “Wisdom Well Said.
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Football plays are not designed to be easily read -- if you can read them in the stands or in front of the TV, so can the defense. Teams that provide obvious clues to their plays end up struggling for yardage, and the offensive coordinator’s job ends up on the line.
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If you want to compete at your best at soccer, you need to commit to preseason training, so that your strength and cardiovascular fitness peaks in time for the first game of league competition.
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An army may march on its stomach, but a soccer team marches on its legs -- kicking, running, sprinting, dribbling and finally shooting on the goal. From ankles to glutes, you need your legs ready to go by game time.
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The National Federation of State High School Associations, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, sets high school soccer rules in the United States as well as rules for 15 other sports. Founded in 1920, the NFHS largely borrows from the Laws of the Game set by FIFA, the international governing body of soccer.
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Manchester United star Wayne Rooney lifts weights according to a custom plan developed by his team trainer. The players for DC United perform a combination of lifting in the weight room and resistance exercises out on the practice field.
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High school districts throughout the country are free to set soccer season at their discretion, typically in line with state high school athletic associations. Traditionally, though, soccer is a fall sport for both boys and girls, although certain states move girls’ soccer to spring.
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Cleated shoes give you the potential to dig your heels or the front of your foot into a grassy playing field and zoom in any direction. Along with baseball, football, and track and field, both lacrosse and soccer are sports played with cleats, meaning shoes with studs. Especially if you live in the Northeast of the U.
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The solid “thwack” of foot to soccer ball, such as when a goalkeeper like D.C. United's Bill Hamid sends the ball on a goal kick, tells you that the ball is being sent with considerable force. Sir Isaac Newton’s laws of motion allow you to determine reasonably accurately how much force is exerted at the time of impact.
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Soccer players who are going to go far in the sport, such as David Beckham, begin to gain notice as young as age 8 and may be signed by a top team such as Manchester United by around their 12th birthday.
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If a soccer ball is flat because it has been sitting unused and has lost pressure, reinflation is the answer. Pump the ball by hand or with an electric pump until it feels firm when pressed hard between the heels of both palms.
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The passion for soccer in Mexico makes a visit to Mexico City's Azteca Stadium a feared occasion for rivals in CONCACAF, the regional conference overseen by FIFA, the international governing body of soccer.
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Soccer allows a fair amount of legal contact, although it still falls short of being a collision sport like hockey and American football -- where frequent, deliberate and permissible violent contact is part of the game.
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With no opportunity to use your hands as a field player in soccer, kicking provides your means of advancing the ball for a dribble, pass or shot. The more types of kicks you master, the more weapons you have during a game.
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Getting in shape for college soccer is a year-round process and a daily commitment. After your high school or U-18 club team finishes its season, and following one to two weeks of rest, you’ll want to begin preparations.
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Your goalkeeper needs a substantially different approach to training than your field players. The fitness demands of a goalkeeper compared to those of a field player are like “comparing a sprinter to a distance runner in track and field,” writes coach Debra LaPrath in “Coaching Girls Soccer Successfully.
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Soccer players who compete one day a week in a game need to devote five other days a week to their workout routines, notes Greg Gatz, conditioning coach for the University of North Carolina’s soccer teams. This allows one rest day.
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With 265 million participants worldwide, soccer attracts players of almost any size and shape. It’s no coincidence that the sport has such high participation rates given that it requires neither height like basketball nor brawn like American football.
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