Let me start by clarifying the issue of the differences in terminologies.
Football in the USA means a type of game played with both hands and legs. In Nigeria, the game of football is, also known as soccer, where the use of hands, is reserved for only the Goalkeeper during the course of the game. The use of hand by other ten players is ruled, a foul by the referee. Simply put, soccer in the USA is football in Nigeria, where soccer also means
football.
Growing up in Nigeria, soccer (football) is
everyone's favorite. My friends and I often played
until we could no longer move our legs and feet!
Generally, playing soccer in Nigeria is a serious
business and different from playing soccer in
America. In the US high school, there are many
issues in the process of being allowed to play for
your school team, regardless of your talent and
skills level. These include health issues and
fitness, school grades, coaching, and good
conduct. These are some factors, which could
determine a student's eligibility to practice or
struggle for a place on the team.



Health Issues and Fitness
To be eligible to play on your high school's soccer
team in the US, you need to obtain a medical
certificate of fitness from your Doctor after a
thorough health check, before you are allowed to
get on the practice field to compete for any
position on the soccer team. This is not the case
in Nigeria, where you are not required to bring any
medical information or doctor's note to join your
secondary school soccer team. A simple "I have
no injuries" will be enough to put you on the
school's team, if you are skilled in the game of
soccer.
The danger of improper certification to play had
caused many problems in the secondary schools
in Nigeria. There had been many cases of students
telling the coaches that, they were physically ready
to play or that they had fully recovered from their
injuries, knowing fully well that they were lying.
Health issues are major aspects of playing different sports in America, at any level. Players have to worry about getting their doctors' certification, for them to get involved in sport activities of any kind.

Players have to under-go series of medical tests
with their doctors, to be eligible to play on school
teams, or professional teams. Students without
due certifications will not be allowed to join the
team. During a soccer game, the school is fully
responsible (insurance) for anything that happens
to the players on the field. This is the reason why
health information on each player is often
requested by the school, before a player is eligible
to join the soccer team.


School Grades
In the US, one of the important conditions for
acceptance to play soccer in high school is the
academic standings of the interested players. This
is not the case in Nigeria. School grades are very
important to those students who want to play
soccer in high school in America. To be eligible to
play soccer on the school's team, each player has
to reach a minimum grade point average set by
the school to qualify to join team.


Coaching
Coaching is also one of the things that
differentiates American school soccer from
Nigerian school soccer, either in high school or at
the college (university) level. Coaches have the
ability to make or break their teams. It starts from
their tactics, to their pep talks and speeches when
they get to the soccer pitch. Coaches in the US are
strategic and tactical than the coaches in Nigeria.
They spend more time on explaining game plans
and giving steps on how to score a goal or win a
game.

Coaches in Nigeria are more relaxed, because they
know that most of their players actually watch
mainstream soccer of countries like England and
Spain on TV on a daily basis. Coaches also believe
that, their players have been exposed to soccer
their whole life and that, they know what to do in
every game. Coaches in America are always
serious, they are always desperate for a win at all
cost and forget to pay attention to the flow of the
game. American soccer has no such option as a
draw, like other games such as basketball, if after
90 minutes, both teams have equal scores (tied/
draw), the game goes into extra time until a team
wins. This could be an advantage or a
disadvantage to coaches and players, depending
on the circumstances of the game.


Good Conduct
Before students, are allowed to participate in any
sports and represent their high schools, they must
be of good conduct. Students must be able to
serve as good ambassadors for their high schools.
Students found to be morally bankrupt are, not
allowed on school teams in all sports. The players
in different sports are important people in the high
schools and teams. The players have to know the
rules of the game, to play the game so as not to
run into conflicts with referees and sports officials.
Soccer Development in Nigeria

Another difference between Soccer in Nigeria and
soccer in America is that small children develop
interest and start playing soccer early in life.
Children start by playing with used old tennis balls
or even 'handmade paper balls' on the streets and
other open spaces around their homes. Older
children play soccer with Toronto (rubber balls)
until they are strong and physically fit enough to
play the real leather balls. The love for soccer in
Nigeria is as great as the popularity of the
American Football is. Today, Nigerian players are
regularly being 'exported' to the diaspora. Soccer
players have turned themselves in to export
commodities, as players travel overseas to find
better opportunities to play soccer at an
internationally competitive level.


Despite the high level of interest and skills
development in soccer, it is a paradox that the
Nigerian football league is so bad, that the stadia
(stadiums) are almost empty during games. This is
because of the high level of poverty and the
inability of the soccer enthusiasts to afford the gate fees. One hopes that when people can afford the gate fees, the patronage of soccer stadia will
improve to give the needed boost to the game of
soccer. The Nigerian governments must also
encourage the soccer national leagues.

It is surprising that the government has not been
able to come to the rescue of the national league.
This is why Nigeria, ranks 52nd in the FIFA world
rankings despite the high enthusiasm and great
interest of many Nigerians. Encouraging soccer
development from the secondary school level will
boost soccer development in Nigeria. The cutting-
edge facilities in the US high schools will
eventually give soccer development in the US an
advantage over the Nigerian soccer if the
government of Nigeria will not give a better
support to soccer development in Nigeria
commencing from the secondary school soccer.
In conclusion, playing soccer in the US high
school is radically different from playing soccer in
Nigerian secondary school. The health issues,
school grades and coaching rigours are big factors
that differentiates soccer in America from soccer in
Nigeria.

True