1  The history of soccer in Saitama

     The global history of modern soccer is very old.  It was born in the United Kingdom in the 14th century, and people called the game “football.”  But the King of England didn’t like football and sometimes ordered not to play it, as it was too noisy!  He was also worried that young people wouldn’t prepare for wars, as they were too busy playing football!  In spite of this, football became more and more popular in the UK .  In the 19th century each university had its own rules, so the people from different universities couldn’t play football together.  The Football Association was founded in 1863 to make the rules of football.  Ten years after that, General Douglass of the British Navy visited Japan and introduced football to Japanese people.

  Now, over one hundred years later, some high schools in Saitama have very strong soccer teams.  There are also two professional soccer teams in Saitama―Urawa Red Diamonds and Omiya Ardija.  Soccer is becoming more and more popular. Soccer has come a long way in Japan and has a truly bright future.  ( 301語 )

host　主催する   held  開催される　　gather  集まる　　Belgium  ベルギー

historic　歴史に残る　　kingdom  王国　order  命令する　　worry　心配する

prepare  準備する　　in spite of 〜  〜にも関わらず     UK  the United Kingdom

association  協会　　founded  設立される　　Navy  海軍     education department 教育学部

Minoruは さいたま市 の中学生。英国から来たJudyとは同級生です。今日はMinoruがJudyに電話をしています。