DATE: Friday, June 13, 1997                 TAG: 9706130003

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B12  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Opinion 

SOURCE: BY KENNAN NEWBOLD 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

SOCCER IS THE GREATEST SPORT IN THE WORLD

Every Monday I come to work sunburned and bruised. Sometimes I'm limping.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

My pain is from playing soccer on Sundays - something I'd do every day if I could.

But, sad to say, only a handful of Americans can devote their lives to the game and still live in the home of the free and the brave. Unlike the rest of the world, Americans have yet to embrace the sport, so opportunities for soccer players are limited.

It's enough to make me want to move to Brazil.

I've tried to figure out why some people don't like soccer, and I've decided they just don't understand the sport. Maybe they've never played. Maybe they've played and just weren't very good. Maybe all they've ever seen are pee wee matches.

Regardless, soccer has found a permanent home in the $9 million stadium in Virginia Beach. It may not attract a major-league soccer team or make the city loads of money any time soon, but it's given thousands of Hampton Roads soccer players and fans reason to strap on their shin guards and keep fighting for the recognition soccer deserves.

What drives me batty is that Americans only value the money-makers: football (soccer is just as physical with a third of the pads and requires the same players to play offense and defense), baseball (soccer players run more in one game than baseball players run in a lifetime) and basketball (soccer players dribble twice as fast with their feet and occasionally shoot with their heads).

There's no room left on TV to broadcast soccer matches. And there's no room left in anyone's heart for a new sport.

America, which prides itself on diversity, is ignoring the most exciting sport in the world in exchange for television ratings, and so Americans are ignorant when it comes to soccer.

It's not our fault. A good soccer match is hard to find.

They're rarely broadcast on television. And with only 10 major-league teams in the United States, most Americans don't have the opportunity to see a professional game played in their city.

It's a pity, too, because watching professionals play the game is the only way to understand its appeal.

Pee wee soccer doesn't count. It's a great way for kids to be introduced to the sport, but it doesn't hold a candle to what you'll see in the big leagues. Pee wee soccer, like pee wee football and pee wee baseball, isn't a true reflection of what it takes to play the game.

Professional matches mix grace and coordination with speed and strength. The ball and the players never stop moving.

You'll see your team score once, maybe twice. Low-scoring games are part of what makes soccer exciting. Goals are so rare that each one merits such a major reaction from fans that riots are commonplace.

I've never known a touchdown or a home run to drive a crowd to such extremes.

Still, some say soccer is boring.

To them I say: Go to a major-league soccer game. Sit in the stands and surround yourself with thousands of soccer fans stomping their feet and chanting their favorite players' names. Try to sit still when your team's left wing sends a beautiful arched pass across the front of the opposing team's goal. Don't jump to your feet when the center forward rushes full speed onto the pass, catches the ball in the air and shoots it over the head of the diving goalkeeper. Don't cheer or holler. Don't get excited.

I dare you. MEMO: Kennan Newbold is an editorial assistant at The Virginian-Pilot.

She plays soccer for the Southeastern Virginia Women's Soccer League.

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