This summer is, of course, the ideal time to enjoy the beautiful game of soccer.  It is after all a WORLD CUP summer!   Thirty-two countries have qualified for this month-long global tournament held in South Africa with all tactically engaged in the chess-match of soccer to see which national team will be crowned champions of the world.   For the world's most popular sport this is the crown jewel of competitions and more people will be captivated but this event than any other sporting event on the planet.  The soccer will be played passionately and support from the fans will be truly inspiring.   The play will be as colorful as the flags that are waving in the stands,  with different styles of play from one country to the next. 

 

I encourage you all to use this special World Cup summer to really fall in love with the game of soccer.  Parents can set aside to time to watch and enjoy the game with their young son(s) and/or daughter(s).  There is so much to learn and enjoy together. 

For me,  watching a game with my two boys,  Lukas, age 13 and Max age 11,  is a combination of being a soccer fan and also world-geography teacher (and student).   With our World Cup guide on hand,  my boys and I can look up each country,  like Uruguay,  and find out they have a Argentine Coach,  whose best player,  Diego Forlan, plays his club soccer in Spain.  You may as well just pull out your globe and keep spinning it,  to  showing each other just where each country is.

 

We are a soccer family of course,  so the boys have watched many of these players play on Fox Soccer and on YouTube in the different club leagues around the world.  But now they are watching them play for their country,  and learning just how special an honor that is.   Just listening to the other countries national anthem is a special treat and as the pan down the line with the camera,  briefly showing each player's face,  you get that quiet and powerful sense of what it does mean to them.  As the whistle blows to begin the game and the drama unfolds,  it is again captivating.  Even in the tightest 0-0 games,  the game is always in the balance and one mistake,  or one players 'moment of brilliance'  can be the difference between despair or joy for a whole nation.  When will this moment come?  You never know, and that is why this game, and this tournament, are so special and worth watching.

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