This EPUB edition published 2013

  First published in 2003 by

  MACMILLAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

  15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra 3141

  Visit our website at www.macmillan.com.au or go directly to www.macmillanlibrary.com.au

  Associated companies and representatives throughout the world.

  Copyright © Felice Arena, Phil Kettle 2003

  All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

  Park soccer.

  ISBN 978 1 4586 4715 3 (EPUB)

  Project management by Limelight Press Pty Ltd

  Cover and text design by Lore Foye

  Illustrations by Gus Gordon

  Visit www.macmillan.com.au/primary to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks online. You will also find subject catalogues, teacher support material and news of professional development events.

  Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  Saturday Selection

  CHAPTER 2

  Start-up

  CHAPTER 3

  Time to Rest

  CHAPTER 4

  The Shoot-out

  CHAPTER 5

  What’s Next?

  EXTRA STUFF

  Park Soccer Lingo

  Park Soccer Must-dos

  Park Soccer Instant Info

  Think Tank

  Hi Guys! (Author Letter)

  When We Were Kids

  What a Laugh!

  CHAPTER 1

  Saturday Selection

  Best friends through the week, Billy and Sam become weekend sport rivals. The park at the end of the street turns into a sporting arena. Saturday mornings can never come fast enough for these two champions.

  Billy “You wanna play soccer?”

  Sam “Yeah. Guess that’s why you brought your soccer ball.”

  Billy “So Hot Shot, what country do you wanna be?”

  Sam “I think Italy. ‘Forza Italia!’ How about you?”

  Billy “I’ll be Brazil—they won the World Cup.”

  Sam “Only because they didn’t get to play Italy.”

  Billy “Yeah, really. Let’s pick teams—I’m first. I want Beckham.”

  Sam “Beckham? He plays for England—you’ll have to get a transfer for him if he’s playing for Brazil.”

  Billy “He told me England can’t play anymore and he wants to play for Brazil, as long as I’m captain. He thinks I’m heaps good.”

  Sam “Whoever told him that hasn’t seen you play.”

  Billy “We’ll see, loser.”

  Billy and Sam pick their teams. Billy goes for Beckham because he thinks he’ll want to transfer from England to Brazil. The game is ready to begin!

  CHAPTER 2

  Start-up

  The boys make out they’re sport commentators …

  Sam “It’s a colourful sight here at the ground. Both teams have just completed their warm-ups. The crowd is a little restless waiting for the great game ahead but it won’t be long now …”

  Billy “The grandstands (mostly referred to as big trees) are filled with fans (commonly known as birds), all cheering for their favourite team. The goal posts (or rubbish bins to those in the know) have been lined up and the game is ready to go.”

  Billy “Who kicks off?”

  Sam “Me.”

  Billy “Why you?”

  Sam “Because you asked and I want to.

  Italy has won the toss and they’ve decided to kick off first. Sam, the greatest player ever for Italy, hopes to take advantage of the lack of skill shown by Brazil in recent games.”

  Billy “Brazil, captained by Billy the Brilliant, hopes that Italy might have eaten too much spaghetti before the game and will be slow to start. This could give Brazil the chance to kick some great early goals. Well, go on Sam, kick the ball.”

  Sam “Just waiting for Renaldo to get into place. Yes! and Supremo Sam passes to Renaldo. He passes the ball back to Sam. Renaldo knows how good Sam is, moving like a champion. Then Sam slips past Billy.”

  Billy “Italy and their captain don’t know how good Brazil’s captain is. Billy tells Beckham to get the ball. Beckham stops to check his hair—it feels good so it must look good. Beckham lets Billy attack Supremo Sam. Billy runs through Renaldo—that’s easy. He drops to the ground holding his leg. Billy keeps going, determined to get the ball from Sam.”

  Sam “You’ve got no chance of getting the ball from me. You’re too slow.”

  Billy “Me too slow? I’m a lot faster than you are.”

  Sam “In ya dreams.”

  Billy “Renaldo gets to his feet. Billy runs at him again. Renaldo hits the ground. Billy’s tackle is so fierce that he knocks all Renaldo’s hair off, except for the little front bit. Billy’s eyes are on Sam’s hips, watching to see which way he turns.

  “Billy the Brilliant slides and takes Sam’s legs from under him. Sam hits the ground. Now the trainer is running onto the field. He looks a lot like Sam’s dog. He’s licking Sam’s face. This must be the latest technique in sports medicine to fix sore legs. Sam gets to his feet.”

  Sam “Do that again and I’ll come and practise my Kung Fu on you.”

  Billy “We’re playing soccer not Kung Fu fighting. Maybe we can do that next week.”

  Sam “At least I get a penalty shot at goal.”

  Billy “I never heard the ref’s whistle blow.”

  Sam “Well it did.”

  Sam takes a firm stand. He refuses to play anymore until he gets his penalty shot at goal. The boys decide that they should have a break.

  CHAPTER 3

  Time to Rest

  The boys walk away from the park.

  Sam “So what are we going to eat?”

  Billy “Let’s go to your place. Your mum makes heaps good cakes. I really liked those ones we had last time.”

  Sam “Well I liked what your mum gave us last time. I know what we should do.”

  Billy “Yeah? What?”

  Sam “Let’s have some at my place, then some more at your place.”

  Billy “Cool. You wanna swap shirts?”

  Sam “Nah, mine’s good luck. But I like yours. Where’d you get it?”

  Billy “Renaldo gave it to me.”

  Sam “I really believe that!”

  The boys go to Sam’s place. They eat as much as they can, then they go to Billy’s place. Billy’s mum gives them some cookies which they demolish in a few seconds. They head back to the park.

  Billy “You wanna finish the game?”

  Sam “I’ve got a penalty in front of goal.”

  Billy “Why don’t we say the game was a draw.”

  Sam “We could form a different team. Maybe we could call the team Australia and we could both be the star players.”

  Billy “So who’d be captain?”

  Sam “We should both be captains—that would make us the best team in the world.”

  Billy “How about we get Renaldo and Beckham to play for us. They’d love to play in a great team like ours.”

  Sam “Yeah, with two great captains like us!”

  The new captains of Australia walk back to their spot.

  CHAPTER 4

  The Shoot-out

  The boys continue to call the game.

  Sam “After a long hard final in the World Cup soccer, which has lasted five minutes, the siren rings. Australia and England are nil all.”

  Billy “We have to have a shoot-out.”

  Sam “How many shots at goal do we get?”

  Billy “As many as we like—it’s our game. We make the rules.”

  Sam “Let’s have four shots each. What about Renaldo and Beckham?”

  Billy “They can miss out, they never did much in the game—we were the stars!”

  Sam “Yeah, we were much better than them. They didn’t even show up and they still got paid heaps of money.”

  Billy “All we get is cakes and cookies.”

  Sam “I’m going to go first because I didn’t get to have my penalty shot when I was captain of Italy.”

  Sam and Billy take their penalty shots. Of course they get all their shots in. England has lost another final and Australia, as usual, has proven that they are the best in the world. Billy and Sam celebrate their great win, running around the park, waving their shirts above their heads.

  Billy “We won! We won! We’re the champions of the world!”

  Sam “We played so well. You were pretty good.”

  Billy “I know. So were you. We’re an awesome team, probably the best in the world.”

  Sam “We’re the coolest. I reckon our shirts really brought us good luck.”

  The boys start to walk home from the park, undefeated champions of the world.

  CHAPTER 5

  What’s Next?

  Billy and Sam think about their next big decision …

  Sam “What’ll we do now?”

  Billy “You still hungry?”

  Sam “Yeah, a bit. Let’s go to your place for some more of your mum’s cookies—I really like them.”

  Billy “Look at your dog. It won’t stop peeing. It’s just peed on three trees in a row. It must have drunk the biggest bucket of water.”

  Sam �

�Dogs pee all the time.”

  Billy “So what’ll we do next weekend?”

  Sam “Why don’t we build something.”

  Billy “Yeah, maybe a new kennel for ya dog. And Dad said he’d take me to watch the soccer. Wanna come?”

  Sam “Will Beckham and Renaldo be playing?”

  Billy “I think they might be busy—I’ll ask them! I’m starved.”

  Sam “So, what’s new?”

  goalkeeper Not the person who makes sure the goals are on the pitch before the game starts! The goalkeeper is the player who stands in the opposing team’s goal area and tries to stop the other team from kicking a goal.

  goal When the ball is either headed or kicked into the goal area.

  manager The coach of a soccer team. When you start to play serious soccer you have a team manager.

  pitch The playing field you play on when you have a game of soccer.

  You can have as many players as you like in each team.

  All players are to be referees.

  Goal posts can be rubbish bins, or even two jumpers put on the ground.

  If the ball gets kicked into a tree, the person who kicked it has to get it.

  Take plenty of food to the park.

  Have as many food stops as you like.

  Sometimes it is good to stop midway through a game and have a kicking contest. See who can kick the soccer ball the furthest.

  Referees don’t need whistles in park soccer. They just have to yell really loud.

  You can wear any sort of jumper you like when you’re playing park soccer.

  Make sure you have a lot of fun—that’s always the most important rule when you play park soccer.

  The longest time spent spinning a soccer ball on one finger is 4 minutes and 21 seconds.

  The furthest distance travelled while controlling a soccer ball is 42.2 kilometres.

  Brazil has won the most soccer World Cups. They have won five—1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002.

  The professional soccer field of play is 100 metres long and 64 metres wide.

  The width of the goalposts is 7.32 metres and the cross bar is 2.44 metres off the ground.

  The goalpost and the crossbar must be made out of wood.

  A soccer match is played by two teams of 11 players each, with one player on each team as a goalkeeper.

  The first professional soccer game was played in 1885.

  1 What shaped ball is used in soccer?

  2 How many players are in a soccer team?

  3 What does a goalkeeper try to do?

  4 What happens if you foul a player?

  5 Which country is the best at soccer, England or Australia?

  6 How many points do you get for scoring a goal in soccer?

  7 Are you allowed to touch the ball with your hands when you play soccer?

  8 What team is the best team to play for in a game of soccer?

  How did you score?

  If you got all 8 answers correct, then you might be the next captain of the Socceroos.

  If you got 6 answers correct, then it’s park soccer for you.

  If you got only 4 answers correct, keep trying or maybe fishing’s your game.

  Hi Guys!

  We have heaps of fun reading and want you to, too. We both believe that being a good reader is really important and so cool.

  Try out our suggestions to help you have fun as you read.

  At school, why don’t you use “Park Soccer” as a play and you and your friends can be the actors. Set the scene for your play. Find some props and use your imagination to pretend that you are at your local park about to start your first World Cup soccer match.

  So … have you decided who is going to be Billy and who is going to be Sam? Now, with your friends, read and act out our story in front of the class.

  We have a lot of fun when we go to schools and read our stories. After we finish the kids all clap really loudly. When you’ve finished your play your classmates will do the same. Just remember to look out the window—there might be a talent scout from a television station watching you!

  Reading at home is really important and a lot of fun as well.

  Take our books home and get someone in your family to read them with you. Maybe they can take on a part in the story.

  Remember, reading is a whole lot of fun.

  So, as the frog in the local pond would say, Read-it!

  And remember, Boyz Rule!

  Felice “Did you play soccer as a kid?”

  Phil “Never, I only ever played Australian Rules.”

  Felice “I think you would have made a great goalie.”

  Phil “Why’s that?”

  Felice “Because of your brilliant marking ability in football now.”

  Phil “Thanks mate. I agree—I was a natural at most sports.”

  Felice “Don’t go overboard. You’re not at World Cup level yet.”

  Phil “What about park level?”

  Felice “Definitely!”

 

 

  Felice Arena, Park Soccer

  Thanks for reading the books on GrayCity.Net