Table of Contents
- Six reasons why soccer is a good sport for beginners
- The verdict: Why is soccer a good sport for beginners?
Whether you’re playing or watching, soccer is a great sport for beginners. There are very few barriers to entry, and it’s a fun and engaging sport that you can easily learn and become passionate about.
But why is soccer a good sport for beginners? What makes it the most popular sport in the world? Here are six reasons why soccer is a good sport for anyone and everyone.
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Six reasons why soccer is a good sport for beginners
Why is soccer a good sport? We think we could answer this question with 100 different reasons! But for the purposes of this blog post, we’ve decided to introduce you to the following six reasons why soccer is perfect for beginners:
It’s easy to learn
When you’re new to anything, learning the ropes and coming to terms with the various rules is a crucial first step. One thing that we love about soccer is that it’s really easy to learn, and there aren’t too many complicated rules!
It’s not as technical as a sport like American football, with downs and so many different phases of play, and it’s not got thousands of difficult rules to interpret (golfers, we’re thinking of you here!).
In other words, you can tune into a soccer game and quickly understand what’s happening – two teams are attempting to score a goal past the opposing goalkeeper, and the team with the most goals at the end of the game wins.
Of course, soccer is slightly more complex than this, but you can get started with a very basic understanding of the game, and you can add to your knowledge as you go.
It’s cheap to play
Something that is so great about soccer is that it’s extremely cheap to play, and the cost is not a barrier to entry to the beautiful game. This is why you see soccer being played practically everywhere in the world – you don’t need money to play soccer!
The only thing that you need to play the game is a soccer ball, which you can pick up for less than $10. You can then head out into a park and play a game of soccer with your friends; there’s nothing else to it.
Again, when compared to golf (we don’t have anything against golf, btw!!), where you need to buy clubs, balls, tees and pay expensive green fees, soccer is extremely cheap to play as a beginner and is one of the reasons why it’s so popular all around the world.
You can easily watch soccer on TV and online
Professional soccer is broadcast in practically every country in the world, and soccer fans certainly aren’t short of live action. You can watch popular leagues like the English Premier League in most nations, and international competitions like the World Cup are broadcast far and wide.
Although it isn’t usually free to watch soccer online or on TV, there are lots of different ways to tune into the beautiful game, depending on where you live.
If you’re just getting started with soccer, our recent piece explaining how to watch soccer without cable is a great place to start if you’re keen to tune into live broadcasts of the beautiful game.
It’s fun and fast-paced
As spectator sports go, soccer is lively, fun, and fast-paced, making it easy to get into. As much as all of our writers love American football, when you watch the NFL for the first time, the stop-start nature can be off-putting for some people.
Equally, given the length of baseball fixtures and the fact that some innings can pass by with very little action, it’s not the easiest game for beginners to get into.
Soccer, on the other hand, is played at a fast pace, and the game moves along at a good speed with few stoppages. Of course, goalless draws can be boring, but most matches contain goals and are extremely enjoyable to watch.
So, if you’re trying to fall in love with the beautiful game, be sure to tune into some live soccer matches to enjoy the pace of the game and benefit from the unique gameplay that makes soccer so special.
It’s sociable
Whether you play or watch soccer, it’s an extremely sociable game. Gathering with your friends at a bar or at your team’s stadium to watch the game is a great way to catch up and enjoy a few cold beers!
If you’re playing small-sided soccer or if you play for an amateur team, you can also enjoy the social side of the beautiful game, making friends with your teammates as well as some of your opponents.
As a team game, soccer is known to be sociable and win, lose, or draw; you can catch up with your buddies for a drink after the game to reflect on the action and plan your next fixture.
There are so many teams to support
The best way to fall in love with soccer is to choose a soccer team to support. There are lots of ways to go about this and so many teams to choose from, but supporting a team and following their progress on the field is the best way to become familiar with the game.
You can decide to support your local team, or you might elect to support a team in one of Europe’s major leagues to make things more interesting when you tune into live soccer from the EPL, La Liga, or Serie A, for instance.
No matter which team you support or how you choose a team to call your own, you can read our recent article, where we advise you on how to choose a soccer team to support this season.
The verdict: Why is soccer a good sport for beginners?
So, to recap, soccer is a good sport for beginners because:
- It’s easy to learn
- It’s cheap to play
- You can easily watch soccer on TV and online
- It’s fun and fast-paced
- It’s sociable
- There are so many teams to support
If you’re just getting started as a soccer player or fan, you might also find our complete guide to soccer for beginners particularly useful as you attempt to fall in love with the beautiful game!