World Cup Soccer 2010

Source: Lindsey Tate

(34 ratings)

As June heats up and school winds down kids everywhere vibrate with excitement at the approach of the long summer vacation. For freedom from homework and school night bedtimes, for the sheer potential of three months without school. But for some kids something else is brewing too. World Cup fever. The countdown is on to the world's biggest sporting event of the year, World Cup 2010, kicking off in South Africa - and a TV screen near you - on Friday June 11th. Thirty two soccer teams from all over the globe will play a total of sixty four games until on July 11th just two teams and one game will remain. And the great news is - you don't have to be soccer-mad to enjoy it.

During the last World Cup in 2006 my two daughters, one a soccer player, one not, couldn't get enough of the event. On returning to school and writing about her favorite summer moment my non-soccer playing first grader simply wrote "we watched the World Cup." Clearly, she expected the magic of the event to be conveyed by those few words.

Reluctant to let your tweens watch TV when they could be enjoying the great outdoors? Relax - the World Cup is not just sports and it's not just TV. It's a great way to bond with your kids and learn more than just a little about world geography, history, and culture. And they have the rest of the summer to take their soccer skills to the park. Read on to learn how to make the upcoming world cup a memorable experience for your whole family - you included.

Celebrate a historic moment: This year's tournament takes place in Africa for the first time ever. Appreciate this fact with your tweens as this soccer-crazy, poverty-stricken continent delights in hosting the tournament and building hope for its future. Nelson Mandela will attend the opening match. Games will be played in 10 different stadiums all over South Africa (five newly built), and six African nations will participate: Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Africa.

Learn the basics: There are two stages to the World Cup: the group stage and the knock-out stage. For the first, eight groups (A-H) are each made up of four teams based on seeding and geographic criteria. The teams play the others in their specific group thus playing three games. Based on the results (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a loss) the top two teams advance to the second stage of the tournament, the "knock-out". There teams advance towards quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals by winning each match - either during 90 minutes of play, or in extra time, or in penalty kicks.

Print out a schedule and remember to convert to your U.S. time zone. Africa is 6 hours ahead of EST.

Grab an up-to-date world atlas - and see if you can find all thirty two countries in the tournament. In 2006 my younger daughter, Antonia, was intrigued by the country Trinidad and Tobago and after hunting down the tiny nation on a map included them on her "teams to root for" list. Sadly they didn't qualify this year.

Pick a team - or two. This year the USA squad, The Yankees, is ranked 14th in the world and with top players Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, and Jozy Altidore on the side, could do well. Certainly they should make it to the "knock out" stage. They share Group C with England, Slovenia and Algeria and play their first game against England on June 12th. But the wonderful thing about the World Cup is that it brings out our true colors: maybe we are immigrants to the USA and have a different national team to support. Antonia and I support my native England, while Sophie supports France along with her dad who grew up there (but is Anglo-American). Last time we supported Turkey too as our beloved corner fruit seller was passionate about the game and his native country. Some people support the underdogs, or like me when I was much younger, they pick a team because they like the color of their shirts (The Netherlands) or if you're a 14 year old girl you seem to support Italy... Whatever your reasons, you'll find a team to root for no matter who's playing.

Wear a team shirt outdoors - and start a conversation. You'll find that many people like to talk about the World Cup, and complete strangers will comment - with excitement - on a team jersey. Even if it's not the team they're supporting. And then they'll tell you proudly and passionately about whom they're going for. The U.S. is a melting pot and it becomes evident. Soccer here has a way of unifying people.

Find the story behind the players and teams and talk about it: Didier Drogba from the Ivory Coast helped to end a civil war in his country, Tim Howard of the US has a medical condition called Tourette's syndrome, this is North Korea's first World Cup in 44 years, Serbia and Slovakia will compete for the first time in the cup as independent nations. Find good web coverage on FIFA.com and ESPN.com/worldcup

If you're traveling overseas during the event - be prepared. Depending on where you visit get ready for a national frenzy, huge outdoor screens showing games, nations grinding to a halt when their team is at play. My daughters painted their faces and nails with Union Jacks while in England, and joined the huge crush of jubilant French at the Arc de Triomphe after France's surprise victory against Brazil. Embrace the excitement and join in - it's an experience.

Sit back and enjoy world-class soccer. No, it doesn't have the high scores of more traditional American sports but it's gripping and inspiring and even beautiful to watch. Just hope that the winner is not decided by penalty kicks this year - high drama and emotion and many tears for the losing side.

Between games take a ball to the park. You won't be alone. Many will be inspired to greatness or otherwise and you'll see them in the park practicing their dribbling skills or setting up goals between two trees. Maybe you'll find others to start a spontaneous game.

Sign up for a Fall soccer league. This could be the most watched World Cup in the U.S. - the USA-England game is expected to draw one of the biggest audiences in the history of televised sports - and maybe, finally, the U.S. will embrace the sport of soccer. And just by watching the World Cup with your kids you can be part of a movement to make that happen.

Lindsey Tate is a children's book author and freelance writer living in New York with her family. She will be in England for the knockout stage of the World Cup showing her true colors.