Sports Then and Now

Less than 24 hours after the World Health Organization declared the spread of the coronavirus to be a pandemic the sports world is coming to a screeching halt as sports leagues and college conferences struggle to deal with this intersection between public health and the sports world.

It started Wednesday afternoon with the NCAA announcing that all of their upcoming championships would be played without fans.

With most of the premier Division I conferences having started their men’s basketball tournaments earlier this week, it didn’t take long until they all announced that they would not admit fans starting on Thursday.

However, after a Wednesday evening address by the President as well as continued uncertainty on how best to address the growing crisis, by soon before game time on Thursday most conferences, including the ACC, Big Ten and SEC had all canceled the remainder of their tournaments. The Big East tipped off their first game on Thursday (Creighton against St. Johns), but the game and tournament were later canceled.

 So, what is typically one of the most exciting weekends for college basketball now looks to be an opportunity to catch up on shows from Netflix or Amazon Prime.

College basketball is not the only major sports group impacted by the growing crisis.

After two members of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the virus the game Wednesday night between the Oklahoma Thunder and Utah Jazz was postponed and the NBA later announced an immediate suspension of their season.

By the end of this month, the final groups for Euro 2020 will have been decided and all eyes turn to the tournament starting in June. This year’s final competition will be multi-hosted, commemorating 60 years of European Championships. 1960 marked the inauguration and since then, 10 different nations have won the trophy with Germany (formerly West Germany) and Spain the most prolific winners with three championships each. The football betting odds are currently in England’s favour, but let’s go back in time to some of the most iconic finals.

1964

In the 1964 European Nations’ Cup Final, Spain became the first host nation to win the tournament. They faced the maiden winners, the Soviet Union in the final and prevented them from becoming back-to-back winners. It took extra time for Spain to secure their place in the final, as they beat Hungary 2-1, while the Soviet Union hammered Denmark 3-0 at the Nou Camp. 

The cauldron that is the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid played host to the final, which was won within 90 minutes. A one-goal lead is always a fine margin, and so it proved again as the hosts were immediately pegged back after taking the lead through Jesús María Pereda – Galimzyan Khusainov equalising within two minutes to set up a thrilling encounter. It took six minutes for Spain to take the lead, and six minutes from time they restored their lead, through Marcelino. 

We’re now into a new decade and Liverpool are on route to shattering English Premier League records left, right and centre but how else has the game evolved over the past 10 years?

VAR 

The technology in the Premier League is unquestionably one of the hottest topics on people’s lips this season. The introduction of VAR – video assisted referees – came in at the start of the 2019/20 season and it’s fair to say everyone is divided on whether or not it’s a good thing for the game. The concept was well received but the manner in which it’s being used is killing the game for many fans as celebrations are being put on hold and goals are being determined by the smallest margins with offside decisions becoming laughably tight. 

Then, of course, there is the length of time it takes for decisions to be reached. This and the lack of engagement with fans in the grounds are the biggest complaints with the argument regularly made that the same issues don’t occur in other sports such as the NFL where Super Bowl 2020 will be televised globally in the coming weeks to prove how tech can enhance the game just to rub salt into the wounds of soccer. 

Goal line technology 

Despite the teething issues with VAR it would be too much of a sweeping statement to claim that soccer can’t do technology. In 2013, goal line technology was introduced and has been a roaring success as it transmits a signal in milliseconds to confirm when the ball has crossed the line. Sure, you no longer get talking points like the infamous ‘ghost goal’ but key decisions, such as potentially title deciding decisions like in last years match between Man City and Liverpool,  are correct.

Whether your neighborhood team needs a new coach or you want to participate more with your own children’s soccer team, coaching a youth soccer league is something you shouldn’t take likely. Here are some tips to help you coach a youth soccer league, even if you’re not an expert soccer player. 

Set Ground Rules Before the Season Starts

Before the season, gather all of your player’s parents, your coaches and assistants together in a meeting. You can do this with or without the players present, depending on their age and level of participation. The goal of this meeting is to set ground rules before the season starts. Include things such as sideline behavior rules to discourage overenthusiastic parents from picking fights or causing problems, the responsibilities of your assistant coaches, how to contact players who might be tardy or absent and any other things you can think of that might apply to your league and its members. Get the parents involved, especially when coaching young players. You can always adjust these rules as the season progresses, depending on your needs. 

There is no better feeling for a soccer player than scoring an absolute cracker from range be it in training or the real match. Having the ability to produce powerful shots can give you an unexpected advantage against your opponent when your team is under pressure. Look how important goals scored by Steven Gerald or Frank Lampard were to their respective teams.

When a team has a player or players with powerful shots, they benefit in several ways. Half chances can be converted to goal scoring chances. You can kick shots that are extremely hard for a goalkeeper to save and also demand attention from opponents, allowing your teammates to roam freely.

Being able to hit a powerful shot is one thing, but the work behind that is the real deal. In this article, we have compiled the best exercises that will help you add speed and power to your shots.

Front squats

Squats are one of the most essential workouts for anybody into physical fitness. When incorporated with some variations, squats can produce results that most workouts cannot deliver. For soccer shooting power, front squats work better on your core and quadriceps than back squats.

The football market is heating up this season, measured attendance from fans is already set to be one of the highest in recent years.So far In the top 5 leagues, there has been an increase of about 7% in the total attendance per match compared to last seasons attendance. 

The increase in attendance can be attributed to the substantial rise of international sport travel, the diminishing costs of travel and accommodation in order to reach top locations and cities all over Europe toped with the addition of the rise of platforms such as Airbnb has helped fans travel from all over the world to watch their favorite teams play not only in the big competitions such as the Champions League but domestic matches as well.

A recent study was conducted by SeatPick.com a ticket comparison site for live events in order to find which countries have the highest amount of fans traveling to catch a football match across the globe in 2019.The results showed that the top traveled destinations by football fans are:

1) London

2) Barcelona

3) Madrid

4) Paris

5) Milan

London maintains its status as the most traveled city in Europe to catch a football match, this can be attributed to the fact that it is quite easy to catch two sometimes even three matches in a single weekend with teams such as Chelsae, Arsenal, West-Ham and Tottenham fans are likely to catch a very competitive clash between the top Premier League teams such as Liverpool and Manchester City when they come into town. Coming in second and third is obviously the Spanish cities of Barcelona and Madrid,the combination of the beautiful and tourist accommodating cites as well as the powerhouses Fc Barcelona, Rela Madrid and the ever-improving Atletico Madrid    has been attracting many tourists from all over the world and Fc Barcelona is the most sought after club worldwide by a significant margin.