Soccer Fans: Please Be More Welcoming to New Fans.

I have recently, in the past few years, decided to start learning about the sport. My attempts at watching it cold turkey a couple of years ago were met with extreme confusion. So I've attempted to learn the rules, understand how the game is played, and it has increased my enjoyment of the sport tenfold. I don't know everything, and I still have a lot of questions, but what I've discovered is a game where there are a ton of strategic positioning, defenses, and ebb and flow to set up opportunities for scoring. It can be very exciting, especially for a new fan.

So a word of advice to long time soccer fans: When a new soccer fan, or someone gaining interest because of the World Cup, comes along and gets excited about it, don't be an a-hole about it. If they have questions on how the game works, answer them. Encourage their understanding. I've seen for years soccer fans bitch about the lack of exposure of the sport in America, and when it finally starts to get there, they turn around and act all smug because people are excited about it. My Facebook news feed is littered with "where were all you people when we were excited about soccer years ago?" posts. I was sitting at the bar in Chilis the other day at lunch conversing with another guy about the game on when we were told by another gentlemen very condescendingly "I bet you two have never seen a match before today."

Just saying, folks.