Soccer is a popular outdoor ball game in which two teams of 11 participants play. Each of them has to maneuver a football to their opponent’s goal to score. In doing so, they can use any part of their bodies except the upper limbs. However, the goalkeeper of both teams can use his hands to handle the ball only in the penalty area. The team who scores the highest number of goals wins the match. Playing soccer is an excellent cardiovascular exercise for people who want to remain physically fit and socialize with others. In the process, they even end up burning a lot of calories, and this results in safe weight loss.
Anouk Govil – Can people socialize and remain physically active by playing soccer?
Anouk Govil is a research assistant from New York who has a passion for economics and finance. She is a biomedical and environmental engineering graduate from the University of Connecticut. However, the world of economics and how money plays a vital role in people’s lives interests her. This is why she chooses to become a Research Assistant in Economics and International Finance at the University of Connecticut. In her spare time, she loves to workout outdoors and says people must stay physically active to be fit.
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She says soccer is a popular outdoor game that a group of people plays whenever they get leisure time. They can choose to have a match in a public park, an open field, or the beach. The only gear they need is a sturdy football, which does not cost them much. Many school children from around the world love to play soccer in playgrounds during study recess. They might not know that playing soccer has several mental and physical health benefits which are as follows:
- Soccer is an ideal cardiovascular workout as the participants have to do a lot of sprinting and jogging,
- Playing this popular outdoor sport helps to develop muscle strength in participants’ lower limbs and upper torso,
- The hand-eye coordination of the participants improves as they continuously dribble and pass the ball to their teammates,
- Playing soccer regularly helps to strengthen the participants’ skeletal frame and bone density,
- Soccer improves the participants’ cognitive abilities as they have to make split-second decisions on the field, and
- Soccer teaches the participants to work together as a team to achieve a common goal.
Anouk Govil concludes by saying playing soccer is a convenient way for people to remain physically active and socialize with friends and relatives. They have to take the initiative to form two teams of 11 participants each. This popular ball game is an ideal cardiovascular exercise for them with plenty of sprinting and jogging. As a result, the muscles in their lower limbs and upper torso become strong. Even the density of the bones in their skeleton improves. The cognitive abilities of the participants sharpen as the start to make split-second decisions on the field. The amount of dribbling they have to do to pass the ball to their teammate boosts their hand-eye coordination. Above all, they learn to work together as a team.