English 101
Compare Contrast Essay
December 1, 2014
Two Games. One Opinion.

Playing sports is as American as apple pie. Playing sports is almost a second nature to most people regardless of where they are living. Although, there are many different forms of sports, I believe volleyball is one of the best to play. Volleyball is a better sport than other sports, specifically soccer, due to the training that prepares the players, the goals they strive to achieve and the game itself. The game of volleyball has its own technique on how the team trains together as well as individually. Training together consists of ball control and learning the position of where the players stand, which is called the rotation. As an individual on the team, training consists of working on the player’s core and focusing on both bumping and hitting the ball. Another technique for individual training is called setting, which is one of the key components to the game. It is vital to the team that every player shows up to each practice that is being held to get better as a whole team. Training for soccer is quite different than the training for volleyball. Training for soccer begins with many hours of conditioning to expand the capacity of the lung size in order to run back and forth for a long periods of time. Together, as a team, the players work on goal kicking and strengthening their leg muscles. The only similar training technique the two sports both have would be ball control. Ball control is different for the two sports but is a very important aspect in order to play each game. In the game of volleyball, many goals are set to achieve during the game time. The first goal in the game of volleyball is to be the first team to reach 25 points in as few sets as possible, this being two or three depending which team wins the first and second sets. Another goal of the game is to get the ball to the setter for the second contact, so the setter can then set the ball up and allow the hitter to hit it over the net to attempt to get the point. It is important during this game that all comments, positive or negative, are kept to oneself. In the game of soccer, the main goal is to score as many goals as possible and to make sure the opposing team gets the least amount of goals as possible. It is important for the player to keep their body parts to oneself, such as arms or hands, this way the player does not get tempted to push or touch the ball. The games of these two sports are played much differently than one another. The game of volleyball originated in Massachusetts. The game is usually played inside a humid gymnasium on a freshly waxed court. There are six players at a time on the court on each side of the net, twelve including both teams. The game has two or three different sets that are played which depends upon on how many sets each team has won. Each of these sets goes up to twenty-five points and the first one to reach twenty-five is the one who wins that set. In order for a side to get the point the ball can only be contacted three times by three different players and has to go over the net without it returning it to the serving side of the net. Soccer originated in England. The game is played outside usually on a soccer field or football field, sometimes even just a big enough grass area. There are eleven people from each team on the field at a time, twenty-two including both teams. The game is played until the time on the scoreboard runs out. The team with the ball does not have to pass the ball to their teammates for help in order to score a goal. The team with the ball is also allowed kick the ball until the ball is kicked into the goal or until a player from the opposing team takes it from them Although the two sports are very different in how they are played or even where they are played, I believe overall volleyball is a better sport to be involved with than soccer, due to the training that prepares the players, the goals they strive to achieve and the game itself.