Comparison of Basketball and Soccer

Everyone has different reasons for why they love sports. Some play sports because they enjoy the rush of energy. Others play sports because their parents make them, for exercise or simply to have fun. Athletes can have a long day, but once they get on the court or field they can let out stress and gain relief from the day. In a way, sports can relieve you of emotions. For example, if you are stressed out about an essay you have to write playing sports can make you forget about the essay and clear your head of the worries. In addition, players can just take out their emotions on the ball. Basketball and soccer are two main sports played from elementary school to college and beyond. If a player is lucky enough, the sport can become their job. Basketball and soccer are unique in their own ways, however, they have many things in common.

Basketball is all about strategy and plays. Every team member must perform their part of a certain play to score points. Basketball is nerve-racking to play, but athletes are perceived to be in control. When playing basketball players have the ability to zone out of the crowd. Players focus only on the court and other teammates, only sometimes hearing the crowd. Athletes have to drown out yelling from the audience and focus on their coach's instructions. On the court, there are five players on each team. If you think about it, everyone in the audience watches ten people, a measly number compared to the gargantuan audience. College basketball contains twenty-minute halves with a fifteen-minute halftime break. However, in the NBA, there are twelve-minute quarters with half-time lasting fifteen minutes. If basketball players become lucky enough they earn a salary of over $1,000,000 in a season. In fact, the average NBA basketball player earns around $3,000,000 per season with a contract that guarantees the salary for multiple years. Basketball can feel empowering when you make the right play, or heartbreaking when you mess up. Players can feel let down if they do not make the basket, or have a sense the whole team is disappointed. Since there are only five players on each team there is little room for error. Basketball is an energy-draining sport since players are constantly running back in forth on the court. Yet the thrill of the game creates a natural high for the players to maintain great stamina while playing.

Alternatively, soccer is about thinking ahead with every pass. After each pass, the player has to be thinking about how to get open for the next one. Most people do not understand the difficulty of soccer. The game of soccer is 90 minutes with a half-time break at 45 minutes. The clock counts up, which is different from other televised sports. On the field, there are 11 team members on both sides, resulting in less pressure on any one person. If the forward players do not do their job, opponents will have two more positions to reach until they get to the goalie. With each step you take soccer makes you feel relieved, like a weight being released from your body. Each pace forward athletes will find bursts of energy even when they thought they were worn out. Do not get me wrong, soccer is tiring, but if players perform their roles correctly, it will not be nearly as tiring as basketball.

Both basketball and soccer have positive and negative aspects. Even though they have their differences, they also have many things in common. For example, winning equally drives sports athletes to try their hardest to win the game. If you play competitively, or even just for fun, you must put forth your utmost efforts to help win every game. The athletes have to work for each play and each pass. Most importantly, everyone must earn and value each aspect of the game to be a well-rounded teammate. Ultimately, basketball and soccer equally drive athletes to bring home a trophy.