Kaplan High will host first soccer game on Wednesday

KAPLAN - Kaplan High has long been known as a football school; now a group of students are trying to make it a fútbol school.
For the first time on Wednesday, a high school varsity fútbol (soccer) game will be played in Ed Douglas Memorial Stadium in Kaplan. The match features Kaplan High School against the Notre Dame Pios. The match begins at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students.
The teams will play two 40-minute halves.
The Kaplan High soccer program is in its second year of existence. Last year the team played a junior varsity schedule. This year will be the first year the Kaplan High Soccer Team, made of 17 boys and 7 girls, will play a varsity schedule.
This year, the Kaplan soccer team will play Abbeville twice, Erath High twice, Notre Dame three more times and David Thibodeaux High one time.
The co-head coaches are Kaplan assistant principal Ward Courville and volunteer coach Celeste Lambert.
There are many similarities and differences between football and fútbol.

Similarities

Both sports feature two opposing squads of 11. Soccer players form a single unit, while football players are assigned to offense, defense or special teams.
A regulation football field is 100 yards long by 53 yards wide. A soccer field is slightly larger, ranging from 100 to 130 yards long and 50 to 100 yards wide. Football fields feature markings every 10 yards and hash marks for single yards, while soccer fields mark out a kickoff circle, a midfield line and two penalty areas. Each sport features a playmaker, typically the quarterback in football and the central midfielder in soccer.
Offside rules in each sport require the team on offense to move down the field in rough unison, employing clever tactics rather than cherry-picking to elude the defense. Kickers and punters in football typically kick the ball using the laces of their shoes, soccer style.

Differences

Soccer play proceeds continuously through two 45-minute halves, while football consists of pauses of as long as 40 seconds between each play in the game, which lasts for four 15-minute quarters. In soccer, only goalkeepers can legally use their hands to touch the ball. Outdoor league soccer played under the rules of FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, only permits three substitutes per game, while football allows unlimited substitutions during stoppages in play. Tackles that are legal in American football would constitute a foul in soccer.
Soccer players wear jerseys, shorts, shinguards and cleats, while football players wear uniforms, helmets and shoulder pads.

Scoring
Scoring in football requires the ball to break the plane of the end zone for a six-point touchdown or two-point conversion. The ball must go through the goalpost uprights for a kick to count as an extra point or three-point field goal. In soccer, the ball must fully cross the goal line between the goal uprights and under the crossbar to count as a goal. Soccer fans roughly equate a one-point soccer goal to a touchdown and extra point, such that a 4-2 soccer game translates into the same amount of offense as a 28-14 football game.