Video football and soccer games with financial literacy tossed in too

By Dian Vujovich

There us bothing like a good game to people all fired up. Heck, you don’t have to dial back any further than last night’s championship basketball game between the Cardinals and the Wolverines to get a sense of that.  But now that that season is behind us, it’s football and soccer time. So  in the spirit of those upcoming games, let’s throw in some money to make things more interesting.

Making money off a game is no big deal. People do it all the time when they’re betting on which team is going to win whether they place those bets at home, among friends, in office pools, online or with their local bookie.

But let’s put the gambling side of sports aside for a minute and think financial literacy—as in learning about money basics and building wealth rather than spending it  betting on a game.

I’ll be the first to tell you that I find the term ‘financial literacy   a huge turn-off. There’s nothing sexy or enticing about it and when said out loud —or read— creates a dull-as-dirt image in my mind. Fortunately, the folks at Visa know how to put some spin on the subject. Maybe that’s because they’ve got a lot of skin in the game. (Okay, bad joke.)

Anyhow, Visa is the mastermind behind the financial literacy website Practical Money Skills for Life. It’s an informative site that’s worth visiting more than once.

Two of the games you’ll find there that  any of us can play without strings attached are Financial Football and Financial Soccer.

In the first, you get to test your financial knowledge and learn a thing or two about money when playing this NFL-themed online video game.It is simple enough for anyone to play and  begins by picking a team, then the opposing one, a couple of field positions and from there it’s off to selecting the level of football plays you’d like to deal with.

That’s all I’m going to tell you about the game because I want you to visit the site and play it. And do it with your 5-year old son or grandson.  Girls are welcome  to partake as well. Even folks older than 5. After all, sports and money aren’t segregated by gender or age.

You’ll find the same fast paced game play -with interspaced money questions requiring an answer—when playing Financial Soccer, too.

All in all, I’ve got to hand it to Visa for getting on the financial literacy bandwagon and creating both games that reach out in an elementary yet playful fashion to jocks and jocketts of all ages.

Play Financial Football at: www.practicalmoneyskills.com/games/trainingcamp .

Play Financial Soccer at: /www.financialsoccer.com .