Soccer Stores - Sports Authority

In this set of articles I am going to review some of the most popular on line Soccer Stores and give you valuable information that will allow you to choose the one that is most suitable for you. I am going to review the ease of use, variety of products and other parameters that makes you purchasing experience as good as possible.

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One of the best soccer stores I enjoyed buying from was Sport Authority.
What encourages me to buy from them rather than other soccer stores is the way they present the search results in the site.
I typed the word ‘soccer’ and the result presented under a list of soccer categories such as footwear, balls, shin guards…etc.
I find the way sport authority presents the search results in categories and then sub-categories as a very useful and easy for consumers to navigate their way towards a successful purchase of soccer shoes and other soccer equipment.

Kids Soccer Cleats – Best practices for purchasing Cleats Part 3

In the previous posts on Kids Soccer Cleats we review some of the features and things to keep in mind when looking for Soccer Cleats.
Today i am going to talk about another parameter to consider when you purchase your cleats and that is what the shoe is made of.
Basically there are two main options: Leather and Synthetic.
Like in every other aspect of life each has its own pros and cons and i will cover that in this post.
Synthetic cleats are usually much cheaper than the Leather cleats. they are lighter and usually water proof so it is good for places
where the player has to play on wet grass or in rainy days. There is no maintanance necessary for Syntetic cleats.

Leather cleats are considered much more durable and comfrtable and provide better feel and control of the ball.
Leather as a matherial has the ability to adjust itself to the shape of the foot for better fit. For that reason
the Leather cleats require some maintenance which is basically consist of applying oil/butter on the shoe to softened
it and allow it to adjust to the foot quicker.

Did you find this tip helpful? have questions? send us your comments.

 

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Kids Soccer Cleats – Best practices for purchasing Cleats Part 2

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A very important detail to pay attention to when looking for Soccer Cleats for your kids is the shoe size. It is a common mistake to buy a shoe with "extra room" for foot grow. Some do it to save the money and hassle of buying a new pair of shoes every time the foot is growing and some do it just because it feels more comfortable on the foot. It is important to keep in mind that the first goal of a good soccer shoe is to give the player maximum control and feel of the ball and maximum control on body movement. The wrong shoe or shoe size can also increase the probability of injuries. Kids Soccer Cleats should be just the right size to allow maximum control and movement. It can be up to a half size bigger but not more than that. Make sure the foot can fit nicely and it is comfortable to wear. Did you find this tip helpful? send us your comments.

 

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Soccer Game popularity in USA - How to make the game more popular and covered

In order to make soccer game more popular in the US it should be available and covered by national TV.
Like many soccer fans, I always wish that the US TV channels will broadcast much more soccer games from the MLS (Major League Soccer) and other soccer leagues such as the La Liga (Spanish soccer league) Premier league (English soccer league) and Bundesliga (Germany soccer league). It looks like the biggest challenge that TV channels or networks are facing is the fact that there are not as many breaks during soccer game as in other popular sports and therefore much less time for commercials. In 95% of the soccer games there is only one break (half time) for 15 minutes. According to the soccer game rules - the game is divided into 2 half time of45 minutes each and during the game time it is very hard to display the commercial.
I think that if the game should be divided into 4 periods of 22.5 minutes each it will give the TV channels more time for commercials and will encourage them to broadcast more soccer games which will definitely make the soccer game more popular in the US.

Join us at Soccer Stores and let us know what is your take on it.

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Golden Ball (FIFA)

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Golden Ball is the most important soccer award a soccer player given annually to that player is considered the best performing were the past calendar year. The prize, awarded by FIFA since 2010, is actually a union of the Golden Ball award bestowed by the French magazine "France Football (soccer)" starting from 1958 and World Soccer of the Year Award awarded by FIFA since 1990. Last five years where there were two independent awards both to winners were selected.

the voting process is a combination of two methods used in previous awards. Voting is held among the 209 FIFA member countries,  and from every country a journalist, the national team coach and captain are allowed to vote.

Following is the list of the award winners since 1930:

  World Cup Golden Ball
1930 Uruguay José Nasazzi
1934 Italy Giuseppe Meazza
1938 France Leônidas 
1950 Brazil Zizinho
1954 Switzerland Ferenc Puskás
1958 Sweden Didi
1962 Chile Garrincha
1966 England Bobby Charlton
1970 Mexico Pelé
1974 West Germany Johan Cruijff
1978 Argentina Mario Kempes
1982 Spain Paolo Rossi
1986 Mexico Diego Maradona
1990 Italy Salvatore Schillaci
1994 United States Romário
1998 France Ronaldo
2002 Korea/Japan Oliver Kahn
2006 Germany Zinedine Zidane
2010 South Africa Diego Forlán

Soccer and mental pressure

When a parent thinks about encouraging his kids to a sports recreation program there is one important variable which is not always being considered: mental pressure.

Mental pressure in sport can be very important (if not the most) criteria's on a success/failure.

lets try and compare the mental pressure which your kid will carry in each of the leading sport 'types':

1. Tennis - one, if not the most pressurable sports in my opinion! Its all about one player - there is no other player that can 'cover' you during the game.

2. baseball - when the player try to hit the ball and all the people are watching - the pressure is very high. The player's statistics is very simple to be measured!

3. Basketball - less pressure on the player comparing to tennis or baseball but still - you are one of 5 players - 20% of the game is on your shoulders.

4. Football - all football players are aware of the high risk of getting heart without being able (almost) to avoid it.

5. Soccer - you are one of 11 players which means only 9% of the responsibility. If you are not yet in a high skill level - you don't 'ask' for the ball and therefore touch the ball less times. The players that feels more comfortable will be more proactive and creative with getting the ball and therefore will carry more responsibility, but ONLY if they are 'ready' and would like to take such a responsibility.

I will defiantly recommend to parents to encourage their kids to play soccer.

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Kids Soccer