Football, otherwise known in the US as soccer, has been part of the Olympics since the beginning - the men competing every year except for two and the women starting in 1996 in Atlanta. The US Women's National Team has enjoyed 4 Gold medals and 1 Silver during the 5 games that it has been included.
Soccer is played by over 250 million people in over 200 countries and is widely considered the most popular game in the world. Three of us had played soccer in our youth, though knew some rust would likely show!
The TCU Women's Club Soccer team was gracious enough to have us out to practice with them on a unseasonably hot October night. We took part in a series of scrimmages that upped the pace and allowed us to jump right into the game. We started off playing 6-on-6 on mini fields with mini goals. Then we moved on to full 11-on-11 on a small intermural field.
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| L2 defends L1 while teammates look on |
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| R and J, one-on-one |
By the time our 90 minute practice was over, a couple of us had realized how much we missed the game. J had found a new appreciation for the sport that she had never tried before. We all had fun and were happy to have had such great hosts in the TCU Club team.
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| Soccer complete! |
