Let me tell you about my story. Before I came to this country, I was born in Lima-Peru. I lived there for 15 years. I used to go to this school named SS.CC. Recoleta. It is located in La Molina. I remember going to an institute everyday after school so I could learn English, even though its not the same level as here but it was something that was going to help at least a little. I miss my country. I mean who wouldn’t miss the place were they where born? I especially miss my family and some friends. I can say I had a good time while I was living there.
I came to this country when I was turning 16 yrs. At first it was kind of difficult for me to adapt to a new place where I had never been before and also the fact that I didn’t know anyone. When I started my first day at high school I was kind of scared because I didn’t know what it was going to be like; for example we don’t play football in Peru but we do play soccer. It was funny how most American students actually go to the football games to show support but they didn’t do it with soccer and well in Peru you basically see all the students attend to every game to show support. It didn’t matter what the sport was; its just the fact that we were there. One other thing I miss more is the food I mean don’t get me wrong the food here is good but its not as good as the food in Peru.
School, Language, Sports, Food = The historical theme of Society and culture is present in all four of these.
In this history class we will study the effects of The Industrial Revolution on American and Global societies.
One of the effects of the Industrial Revolution is creating a market for professional sports.
So- Research question: When did professional soccer get introduced to American culture? If the English played soccer, what is the history of soccer in America?
History:
Peoples around the world have played soccer-style games for centuries. Games similar to soccer were played in China more than 2,000 years ago. Such games were also played in ancient Greece and Rome. When Pilgrim ships first sailed into the harbors of Massachusetts in the 1620s, they discovered Native Americans playing a soccer-like game called “pasuckuakohowog”, meaning “they gather to play ball with the foot.” Playing fields were beaches a half-mile wide with goals one mile apart. As many as 1,000 people played the rough-and-tumble game at a time. Knowing who was on your team wasn’t easy because players wore disguises. Matches sometimes lasted for days, and always ended with a magnificent feast.
In colonial America, games more similar to modern day soccer were also played. In the early 1800s, a number of North American colleges had soccer teams, but the rules were informal and differed from school to school. The first official soccer club in the U.S. — the Oneidas — was formed in Boston in 1862, during the Civil War. A monument now stands on the Boston Common, where the Oneidas played their home matches. Immigrants from Europe to industrial communities in the Northeast and Midwest spurred the development of American soccer in the last part of the 19th century. They brought along their soccer traditions and formed local teams. The first attempt to establish a professional soccer league dates back to 1884 when the “American League of Professional Football” was founded but it closed during the same year.
International Participation:
The U.S. Soccer Federation was established in 1913. The same year it joined the world governing body FIFA. The first official national championship tournament was played in 1914. Predecessor to the U.S. Open Cup, it is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. The annual U.S. Open Cup Open is a single-elimination tournament open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States.
The USA was one of 13 nations to compete in the first FIFA World Cup competition in Montevideo, Uruguay. Argentina beat the U.S. in the semi-final and the United States team, who was favored to win, finished third overall. The U.S. competed in 1934 and then in 1950 at the World Cup in Brazil. In the 1950 tournament, the American team beat England 1-0, one of the biggest upsets in soccer that year. The U.S. returned to World Cup competition in 1990, after a 40-year absence. Since then, it has qualified for each tournament.
In 1994, the United States hosted the World Cup. That sparked increased interest in the sport and built on the legacy of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which in the late 1970s brought international stars like Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer to the United States.