by Jael Gardiner

Created on: May 06, 2011

Soccer is a really popular game all over the world. People everywhere aren't aware of the rich history behind the game, from the way that the game is played to the soccer ball itself. People have been playing with some kind of ball for a very long time. There are dozens of different types of balls in many different cultures. Even native South Americans a very long time ago used an elastic ball. (

http://www.soccerballworld.com/History.htm#Early)

In ancient China players used a ball made from animal skins and played a game with a net. There were old Egyptian games that were similar to modern day football, and ancient Greek games that were similar to modern soccer. Legend has it that during medieval times players would kick around a human skull instead of a ball. Another medieval custom that stuck around for a long time was to blow up a pig's bladder and kick it around. This was similar to the game of hacky sack.

When Charles Goodyear got a patent on rubber, it wasn't long afterward that the first real rubber soccer ball was made in the year 1855. Beforehand, these soccer balls had been made of out of animal bladders that were blown up. These supposedly caused problems like cancer and were dangerous to handle. Some of the problems with pig's bladders were that they didn't always come in a good shape and that would affect how accurately they would respond to being kicked.

There were also leather balls that were created later on. These were hard and difficult to control. They were not elastic like the early rubber balls that were used in South America by the natives. Even if they were made of leather, it was still very difficult to make them a good shape. When they are in a bad shape it makes them much more difficult to control. (http://www.soccer-fans-info.com/history-of-soccer-b alls.html)

Right now at every World Cup there is a new state-of-the art soccer ball released every time. They have been made lighter and out of more controllable material. There are always newer balls coming out and being released into stores. Soccer is a financially strong sport that is always rising in popularity and there are balls being created every year that favor certain players.

Soccer will always be a popular sport and there have been similar games to this all throughout history. There was even an infamous game of soccer played during medieval times after and execution that was played with the deceased head. Soccer is a game near to the hearts of people all over the world.

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