Melody Notez

The popular game soccer where did it start? Some of you may find it surprising soccer has been played in some form or fashion for over 3000 thousand years. The documented games of soccer started in China. It was a sport played the military during the Han Dynasty. It was then picked up by the Greeks and Romans. Where teams were set up to play against each other. Soccer being a popular military game just catapulted the game.   In the 8th century the English picked it up and it became “football”. In midevil times soccer was banned soccer battles took places been communities. It was raw, gritty, and violent. It was bad enough King Edward the III banned the sport. Queen Elizabeth the 1st took a step further and added a week of jail time if caught playing the sport. It did not work. Soccer still remained and still is the most most popular sport in England.   In 1815 it became apparent there was no way to control people from playing. Eton, a famous English school decided to implement rules, to at least the make the game safer. In 1848 Cambridge and English colleges started another set of rules called the Cambridge Rules.  There were still two sets of rules, this was not good. So in 1863 the Football Association was created that reviewed the rules on both sides, and made one clear set of rules that would become the rules of soccer today.

There are many exotic sports originated from foreign countries. Five foreign sports you have probably never heard of are: polo on elephants; capoeira; royal football; roller hockey and gou.  English aristocrats who came to Asia began playing polo on elephants. As a sport it was officially registered at the end of last century. Originally, a soccer ball was used to play the game, but the animals tended to smash it. Afterwards, a standard polo ball was used. The length of pucks differs depending on an elephant’s height.  Capoeira was originally created in Africa as a dance. Later this sport came to Brazil. In this country it received further development. A great number of new elements have been added. Nowadays, it is a national Brazilian sport combining the elements of acrobatics, dances and martial arts.  Royal football (or “Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football”) is an ancient tradition of England. All the residents are invited to take part in the game. The idea of the sport is to deliver a ball to the opponent’s gates. The rules exclude fighting.  Roller hockey bears complete resemblance with ice hockey with only difference of using rollers instead of skates. Special covering of field is necessary.  Gou is an ancient game of China. At present it has become a popular sports played at tables on special layouts. The idea is to put stones on the field’s cells aiming to surround the stones of an opponent and win.