Elmuzamil Suliman

March 10, 2015

Mr. Arnold
UWRT 1102
Midterm Reflective Essay

The only knowledge that I had before doing my inquiry project about soccer was what I
watched on television about soccer or how soccer was depicted in video games. Recently
I visited the recreational fields at UNC Charlotte so I could observe the soccer players
that play there. This research gave me great insight on how the culture of soccer shapes
who people are. When I mention shape I mean how they perceive the world and how they
act. Most of the soccer players that were there looked very respectful and looked like they
just came out to enjoy some soccer and have fun. In many other sports players get violent
very quick because of all the contact. Prior to this inquiry process I believed that soccer
was not a contact sport. I was surprised to find out that there is a ton of contact in soccer
and that they dont really complain about rules and just move on with the game. The kids
playing would yell different terminology between each other so the other person on their
team would have a better chance at understanding them. For example, I heard a player
yell man on which meant that there was another player from the opposing team quickly
approaching to steal the ball. Furthermore, this just proved that soccer improves your
communication and teamwork skills. These characteristics could be used later on in life
by allowing somebody to be more vocal or work in a team more efficiently. I wasnt
surprised to find out that soccer requires a lot of stamina and endurance. You need to be
able to run for a very long time without getting tired. This proves that by playing soccer it

can improve ones overall physical fitness and health. While observing the players I
noticed that they were all of various races and ethnicities and still came together to play
soccer. This gave me the idea that there is no room for discrimination in the sport of
soccer. Another one of my menu items was interviewing a local player. Matthew Neft is a
student that attends UNC Charlotte and enjoys playing soccer at the recreational fields. I
thought it was best to interview him because it shows how the game of soccer has
impacted his life personally and gives the readers of my inquiry project a way of
comparing that influence to other soccer players. An issue being debated within the
discourse community is the popularity of soccer in America as opposed to Europe. From
research, I found out that with increasing competition of soccer matches in the MLS, the
popularity of soccer has increased in America. More research has showed that soccer
influences more people in Europe because it is more popular there. This popularity is a
result of continuous advertisement within most everything that surrounds their daily life.
The journal entries that I have done so far has helped me with my research by showing
me what I should elaborate on and what each on my main body paragraphs should focus
on. The peer review helped me get new ideas such as adding a new perspective into my
third body paragraph about how people view soccer. When I grew up I didnt watch
soccer as much so I didnt understand how soccer players behaved when they play. There
were some teams on the fields that played very aggressively but most teams on other
fields looked like they were playing for the love of the game. The knowledge that Ive
gained is due to me assessing the similarities and differences within the discourse
community. I assumed that I would see many players having on the same uniform. I
didnt realize that in soccer people express their love for their favorite teams by wearing

scarves, hats, and even backpacks with the teams symbol on them. When I interviewed
Matt I tried to compare his answers to the global perspective of soccer. From what I
believed, soccer is a global pass time and a form of expression through sports. The way
Matthew was speaking about soccer made me believe that he was only playing the game
to get some exercise in each day. A difficulty that I was having with this inquiry process
is finding enough people to interview. When I interview more people it will give me a
broader outlook on the culture of soccer instead of the subculture that I am choosing to
portray with one interview.