Soccer is Underrated in America
Being handed the power to create a unique project on any topic of choice, preferably one that has significant meaning to your life, comes with immense pleasure yet also distress. I chose to conduct a PowerPoint on the basis that the game of soccer is underrated and under respected in America in comparison to European countries who thrive off this grueling game. This project was intended for those Americans who have never played soccer before and may not quite understand what all the sport entails and requires of a player. The age of the audience does not matter, from kids to adults, if they have little to no respect for soccer as a sport; this project was addressed to them. I chose to address this situation via PowerPoint because pictures and words together are the most vivid way of expressing my opinion and getting the points across for this topic. Having painted a picture or played a video of a soccer match would not have expressed why soccer should be viewed equally in America, correctly; therefore a PowerPoint was the most accurate medium to use. In no way was this project produced to show that soccer is better than football, it is however there to show that soccer is equally skillful, physical, and important to society, and should be respected by those who don’t play or never have.
During the beginning stages of the development of the project I decided it would be most effective to write down the points I want to be made in the project. From there I was able to determine which points could most effectively be exemplified by pictures versus words or videos. This basic planning was the key basis to the creative development of my PowerPoint. I also knew that when making a professional based PowerPoint, it is more effective to use fewer words and let the internal meaning be interpreted versus being explicitly stated. Therefore each page has the minimal usage of words on them, allowing the viewer to understand the point but not be reading the point directly off the screen. These were all creative aspects put into the project intentionally.
Having such a broad range for an audience causes the effectiveness of my project to vary by the viewer. The use of pictures, large fonts, and contrasting colors may make the presentation more enjoyable for a young kid or teen while remaining professional; as opposed to an adult who may have wished to see a project with less colors and pictures and simply using words and videos. However, the photos used and the video played are directed towards a more mature audience. No matter what audience member is viewing the project, I feel as though the purpose of the project is clearly portrayed throughout the presentation, and is successful in that manner. However, an evident weakness is that information is generally personal opinion as appose to factual information provided by qualified media or individuals. This weakens a few points made in the presentation but does not take away from the overall clarity of the message being portrayed.
I thoroughly enjoyed having the freedom to produce a project of choice, allowing me to present an issue that has had a personal effect on my life. Having this freedom to work on a project of choice made the work involved more enjoyable and caused me to willingly work hard on this project. Even though the project was enjoyable to create, there certainly were difficulties that I ran in to throughout the process. One of the major bumps I ran into was that since this project is personal the points were clear inside my head but were hard to portray in a creative way that gets the point across to the viewer. I had to pay close attention to the display of each slide making sure that the viewer’s attention would not be lost immediately or at all throughout the presentation. There wasn’t much difficulty in finding pictures or videos to present, but the layout of each picture trying to place them in the most effective manner was tough. All in all the joy and pleasure gained from working on the project outdid the difficulties for a pleasant experience.
In doing this project I personally benefitted in that I gained new knowledge that I was not aware of before doing research for this project. I gained knowledge and facts about David Beckham’s effect on America’s soccer jersey sales even though he had little effect on the viewers of soccer matches on national television. His coming to America made top headlines, yet 99% of America did not watch the game, leaving 1% who most likely were already the soccer fans sitting alone by their televisions. I also learned that the number of Americans that tune in to the world cup is dramatically larger compared to regular season games played on ESPN. These facts were beneficial for me to know and better my knowledge on the topic of soccer being underrated in America, and pleasantly provide support that this bias against soccer is decreasing as the year’s progress. This project has hopefully opened up viewers minds and changed certain people’s opinions on the game of soccer, allowing them to have a new respect for the game seeing as though it is incredibly similar in action and ability to other sports played in America such as football, and that the only negative is that the amount of scoring in the game is limited but the skills applied are constant and thrilling for soccer fans to watch. Soccer is a game that has been a huge part of my life and has even had effects in the development of who I am today, and I will forever argue for the respect of soccer to increase in America as the year’s progress.
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