Essay Sample on Perceptions of Soccer by Players and Fans

Introduction

Soccer is a non-American term used to describe a sporting activity that has gained a global popularity. Global aspect in this context is used to imply the free circulation of highly skilled soccer players between nations and clubs (Milanovic, 2005). It is a popular sporting activity that entails a number of actions such as kicks, jumps, directional change, starts, and stops. According to Jensen and Limbu (2016), soccer is among the most popular sporting activity in the world with an estimation of 20 percent of the world taking part in the game in 2014. Different factors influence people to attend soccer events and associate themselves with football teams (Jensen & Limbu, 2016). With scheduling of soccer matches as either home or away games, both the players and the fans hold varying opinions with most of them believing in the idea of home advantage. in addressing the various perceptions that these two groups hold on to, this paper will address their beliefs concerning the playing surface, match-fixing, weather, and match schedule.

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Fans in sports usually have strong emotional attachments and response as compared to no-fans. Therefore, a sports fan can be defined as "an enthusiastic devotee of some particular sports consumption object" (Samra & Wos, 2014). Soccer players hold varying opinions when it comes to both home and away games (Waters & Lovell, 2002). They have a retrospective opinion regarding home advantage. Various factors influence the moods of the players regarding the home field advantage. These factors entailed metal preparation, referee bias, physical preparation, and lastly the crowd factor. Home advantage is defined as the consistency of the home teams winning in a sporting competition approximately half of the games structured under a home and away schedule. The extent of home advantage varies between different sports. However, soccer holds the highest at 64.5 percent (Waters & Lovell, 2002). The location of the soccer game either away or home can be used as a good predictor of the outcome.

Soccer players hold a negative opinion regarding travel prior to playing a soccer match. The travel ideation comes about when the players have to participate in an away game. They consider that traveling just before playing drains them. Soccer players prefer scheduling the traveling a day before the actual game and spending a night in a hotel to have rest would be better than traveling on the actual day of the game since they would not have enough tie of adjusting and settling down (Waters & Lovell, 2002). Thus traveling is showcased as a limiting factor to performance for away soccer matches.

The soccer players feel more satisfied when they win an away game. Away from soccer matches usually hold fewer expectations. The players are thus presented with a challenge which most of the players are enthusiastic about (Waters & Lovell, 2002). In case of a win for such matches, the soccer players feel more satisfied s compared to the same win for a home game. Additionally, the players felt less pressure when they are scheduled on an away game (Waters & Lovell, 2002). The poor expectations for the away matches could provoke anxiety and disturb the visiting players. The diversion of attention tends to affect high-level players more than any other players.

Soccer players hold an affirmative perception about home games. They tend to feel more anxious, confident, and positive when they are playing a home game as compared to an away game (Waters & Lovell, 2002). Most soccer players have a high regard for the home advantage. They believe that the home environment motivates them to assertively and attentively face their opponents (Anderson et al., 2012). The crowd factor tends to influence the psychological balance of the players in both the positive and negative manner. The players thought that the crowd has a major impact on their behavior (Waters & Lovell, 2002). They felt a lot more pressure when they play at home as compared to when they play away matches which are a negative contribution of the home crowd. On the positive end the home crowd, accentuated the performance of the home team when they post the poor outcome.

Similarly, the fans of soccer games hold a certain degree of perception concerning home games. The fans thought that the support and their familiar presence motivates as well as energizes their respective teams (Anderson et al., 2012). The fans can potentially inspire their teams to attain victory and in extension manage to influence the officials of the game and distract the opponents to their teams. High fans have been found to strongly associate with their fellow fans and their teams encompassed with an aspiration for a positive outcome. The noise generated by the crowd may consequently lea to referee bias as a result of errors in the processing of information. The crowd effect may influence the referee performance as he tries to please the home crowd. In most cases, the referees who operate in a noisy environment are less likely to award fouls to the home team as compared to those operating in a silent environment. The fans of the soccer games would prefer their teams to win. According to Anderson et al. (2012), soccer fans are so strong that they have a positive contribution in the winning quest for their teas. The best example of the fans support for a soccer game involved the South Koreans during the 2002 world cup games. A number of media stations described the cheering of the South Koreans as remarkable and they were branded as the red devils since they put on the red jerseys. As a result of the massive support from the fans, the Korean national soccer team managed to reach the semifinals. The Koreans were thrilled and felt happy about the performance of their team. Furthermore, the fans regarded the crowd support as the main factor when it comes to home matches.

Soccer players hold different perceptions towards physical recovery after injuries, and the contribution of the surface on injuries when they play on artificial turf and when they play on natural grass (Poulos et al., 2014). Playing soccer in itself poses a risk of sustaining an injury that is a result of the interplay of a number of factors. The soccer players perceive that the risk of getting and sustaining an injury is dependent on the type of surface. They also believed that there is an increased risk of suffering from a non-contact injury when they play and train on artificial turf (FT) as compared to natural grass (NG). This implies that risk injuries are higher o FT than NG. ). The type of non-contact injuries mostly suffered by the soccer players includes joint and muscle soreness. The recovery times for injuries obtained from the artificial turf also tend to be longer.

The various surface factors associated with artificial turf that contribute to the injury according to the soccer players include surface stiffness, metabolic cost and surface tension (Poulos et al., 2014). These factors were pointed out by the players and were associated with injury. These factors were reported to have a higher magnitude on artificial turf as compared to the natural grass. This is the reason that the players perceive, joint and muscle soreness, rates of injuries and the tie taken to recover to be higher for the FT than the NG (Poulos et al., 2014). Additionally, the players feel that the climatic conditions and the quality of the surface have an influence on sustaining an injury when they play on FT as well as NG.

Soccer players perceive that the weather and climatic conditions play a role in affecting injury on artificial turf surfaces (Poulos et al., 2014). Despite the fact that FT has the ability to retain a considerable quantity of heat when the weather is hot, wet weather bears a great contribution to the sustenance of injury on such surfaces (Poulos et al., 2014). This is because the wet weather increases the acceleration of the ball which translates the speed of play. To keep up with the pace, the players have to work harder to keep with the motion thereby straining their bodies more. The situation is worse on artificial turf than on natural grass.

Soccer players hold different perceptions about the artificial turf in the way the game is played. A number of studies have looked into the playing style on FT ("Effects on Playing Style and Perceptions", 2018). the surface of the field has a significant impact on the how the game feels with most players suggesting that with artificial turf, the ball movement is faster and they are able to make clean passes("Effects on Playing Style and Perceptions", 2018). Playing on turf according to most players is demands a lot of physical involvement which changes the manner in which the game is played. These astounding perceptions reveal that soccer is more of a metal sporting activity and does not entirely depend on training.

With the inception of match-fixing in the soccer game, fans have portrayed varying feelings in a match that they support. Fans have turned out to be skeptical (Lamberti, 2014). They think that soccer has lost its purity as a result of the reputation that it has earned. The fans thus doubt whatever they see as the game that they adored has been marred by corruption. Match-fixing which has become a rather rampant phenomenon in today's soccer has tainted the reputation of the once cherished sport (Lamberti, 2014). The diminished sense of trustworthiness has been as a result of consistent cases of scandals, controversial decisions and match-fixing in the soccer game. The feeling soft disappointment become evident among the fans upon the realization that the purity that soccer once had has been eroded which results in de-escalation.

Soccer fans believe that the referees in soccer games have much to do in the restoration of credibility. As compared to other sports, the referees have the capacity of ensuring transparency in the game by shunning bribes from the match fixers (Lamberti, 2014). The fans also believe that holding the referees accountable is a way of restoration of sanity in soccer.

The effect of corruption in soccer game has elucidated a feeling of favoritism among the fans. The current era of matches being fixed has majorly contributed to the cultivation of such negative feeling (Lamberti, 2014). Match-fixing, as defined by Lamberti (2014), refers to a soccer game that is being played to an already predetermined result.

Concluion

Overall, this paper gives an insight into how the fans and the players perceive the soccer matches. The revealed feelings and perceptions are either negative or positive. Both the fans and the players of the soccer game are of the opinion that the home environment for the home games positively contributes to the winning quest of the team. The home advantage favors the home team and they are more likely to win as compared to when they play an away match. Fans feel that they contribute towards the winning quest for their teams by motivating the players and influencing decisions made by the referees. It should be noted that the fans are high on this particular subscale as compared to the players. The soccer players perceive artificial surfaces to sustain injury more as compared to the natural grass. The encroaching of corruption into the soccer game has corrupted the once esteemed game resulting in rampant cases of match-fixing. The effects of this rot translate to the fans who become skeptical about the game and think that transparency and holding the referees accountable is the surest way of restoring sanity. Soccer players also perceive that artificial turf is more likely to sustain injury as compared to natural grass as it is associated with the following three factors: surface stiffness, metabolic cost, and surface...