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Soccer is over 2,000 years old. In ancient China, soccer was called 'tsu chu', meaning "to kick the ball with the feet". The Chinese used a leather ball and had goal posts 30 feet high. The Romans called soccer 'harpastum'. In eleventh century England, two villages would play against each other; up to 500 people would be on each team. The game would begin at the mid-point between two villages. Instead of a ball, the players hit a human skull; they later used an inflated animal bladder. The game ended when a team hit the center point of the opposing village. Today, a soccer team consists of eleven members: eight offensive and three defensive players. The offensive players are outside and inside right forward, center forward, outside and inside left forward, right halfback, left halfback, and center halfback. The defensive positions are goalie, right fullback, and left fullback. The responsilbility of the offensive players is to score goals, while the defensive players are to keep the other team from scoring any goals. Soccer rules are different from other sports rules. One rule that has stayed the same since soccer began is only the goalie may touch the ball with his hands.
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