Soccer Shoes, Jerseys, and Supplies

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Soccer is a sport that revolves around kicking a ball. Ball kicking sports have been around for much of recorded history. So while soccer may only be centuries (yea, only!) old; its predecessors have been around just about as long as we have records for. The first records for a skilled kicking game date back to the 2nd or 3rd century B.C. in China. The game itself bore little resemblance to soccer, other than its use of a round ball and the feet to manipulate it.
Medieval Europe is where the modern game of soccer traces its roots to. Various forms of soccer were played throughout Europe, and the rules of the game changed greatly from place to place. The area credited with an especially great influence on modern rules is Cambridge, England. Cambridge Rules, as they became known, are the basis for much of modern association football.
The rules for soccer are fairly simple; you are to kick the ball into the opposing team’s goal. The ball can touch any part of your body except the hands and arms. There is a lot of attention given to the soccer supplies in the regulations. For instance, soccer shoes (or cleats as they are also called) cannot have metal spikes. This rule is to protect the safety of the players. If a player is hit by the cleats in a slide tackle, it can seriously injure that player, even with plastic cleats. Metal cleats would cause severe and possibly irreparable damage if they were used.
Another aspect of the equipment that the rules cover is the jersey. According to FIFA rules, a soccer jersey must be free of any references to political, religious, or commercial messages. This includes logos. This rule not only extends to jerseys, but to the team’s bags, beverage containers, and more. Compared to the highly commercialized sports of basketball and football, this is a radical departure. This leads to a very simple looking soccer jersey. Teams have both home and away colors, as well as a secondary set of away colors. These three sets of uniforms ensure that if two teams with similar colors play each other, they will be easily distinguishable from each other. The goalie must wear a uniform that easily differentiates him both from other members of his own team and from members of the opposing team.