If Pele, Maridona, and Beckham don't sound at all familiar to you, or if you think Freddy Adou is a guy you may have gone to high school with, keep reading... please. This article covers all equipment and skills you'll need to join rest of world in playing wonderful game of soccer.

Actually, rest of world plays football - they call sport that Steve Young used to play American football. The term 'soccer' came into being in later part of 19th century when people began abbreviating French variation of 'association football' to soccer. Whatever name you use (I'll call it soccer for purposes of this article), it refers to fast-paced, exciting game that has captured interest of more and more Americans in recent years. If you've found that you've been left behind when it comes to sport, here's a few equipment tips and skills you'll need to have to start playing.

As name 'football' suggests, you'll need a ball. Soccer balls come in many different sizes, materials, and styles; and league specifications vary depending on age and level of players. If you just want to buy a 'normal' ball, double check with store clerks to make sure you've chosen right one; or if you're buying online, you can check ball size against standards found at www.fifa.com. The best material for your ball depends on type of surface you're going to play on. If you'll spend any time at all kicking ball around on street or playground, I would shy away from buying a nice leather ball - asphalt will tear it up. Synthetic materials will usually hold up better on those surfaces, and typically cost less.

Once you've got your ball, you're going to need at least one pair of feet; however, if you want to do more than just kick ball against your garage you're going to need at least two sets. There are a number of different techniques when it comes to kicking soccer ball - I'll just summarize them all by saying that goal of kicking ball is to hit it with some part of you're foot and make it go in direction you want it to. In fact, in soccer matches you may use any part of you're body to move ball except your hands and arms. If you grew up playing catch in back yard, first couple of times you try to kick ball you'll probably look even more awkward than you feel, and it's very likely your kids are going to laugh at you. Practice makes near perfect, and you'll get better over time. Kicking ball back and forth between two or more people helps. Once you feel like you might be able to kick ball and jog/run at same time, you're ready to graduate to playing a game.

It’s middle of NFL playoffs, and what has grabbed interest of many sports fans has been off-season maneuvering and acquisitions of Mets and Yankees. In past, sports media has hyped baseball trades, big money contracts, and long time rivalries which make off-season so interesting, but never as intensely as this year in NY. First, Pedro Martinez, then, Carlos Beltran going to Mets has splashed team front and center in our sports world consciousness. For first time, in a long time, Mets have captured imagination of their fans with possibilities of a dynamic exciting season.

Anyone who knows me knows I love Yankees. And yes, I admit scoffing at Mets in recent seasons. Some may wonder how a Yankee fan feels about increasing powerful competition across town.