If you sponsor a child, especially a boy, odds are you’ve read that his favorite sport is football. In almost all cases, this means soccer. The sport is on the minds of many, seeing as the 2010 FIFA World Cup begins tomorrow (June 11) in South Africa. Rivalries run deep, and questions are rampant: who will win it all? Does the US stand a chance against England in the first round?

And why do Americans call it soccer anyway, when the rest of the world calls it football?

The short answer: In an attempt to unify a sport with many variations, a group in Britain settled on a set of rules and called the sport association football. Some dissenters, who felt the soul of the game was lost if they couldn’t carry the ball or kick opponents in the shins, formed another set of rules and formally created rugby.

Not to be outdone, Americans later blended the two British sports, crafted a different set of rules, and built the sport we now know as (gridiron) football. To eliminate confusion (or at least attempt to), we adopted a British slang term for the game known as association football; the word soccer is derived from the soc in association.

The British exported association football around the world. In countries with strong American influence, such as the Philippines, the sport is called soccer. 

Even if you don’t know much about the sport, your sponsored child almost certainly does. Have you asked who his favorite player is? What team does he follow during the regular season? Who is he rooting for during the World Cup?

The World Cup will most likely be over by the time your letter reaches your child – but it is still a great conversation to start. Your sponsored child will be thrilled to talk about a sport he loves, and you will gain more insight into futbol fever.