One of the most popular sports around the world, at Cal
Poly, Pomona as well, is soccer. Many people are not aware of where soccer
originated from though. There are a few debates as to where the sport of soccer
originated from. Some argue that the earliest signs of sport are a feet-based ball
game date back as far as 2500BC, during which time the Greeks, Egyptians and
Chinese all appear to have partaken in such activities. These games included
the use of hands, feet and even sticks to control a ball. Although theses
sports were a very primitive form of soccer, the sport that resembles our
current version of the game is the Chinese game of ‘Tsu-Chu’ or ‘kick ball’ as
it translates. Records of the game begin during the Tsin Dynasty (255-206BC)
and represent a game in which soldiers competed in a training activity featuring
a leather ball being kicked into a net strung between two poles. The main
difference between Tsu-Chu and soccer was the height of the goal, which hung
about 30 feet from the floor. Soccer began to evolve in modern Europe from the
9th century onwards and in England entire towns would kick a pig’s bladder from
one landmark to another.
For more detailed information about its origins, visit
