Kent Phoenix
Youth American Football Club
Youth American Football Club
Flag Football is a non-contact version of American Football. The players don’t wear protective equipment and tackling is not allowed. Instead you pull a flag from the belt of the ball-carrier to simulate a tackle.
Because there are no helmets, protective padding, kicks, blocking or tackling, Flag Football is a similar, but distinct, sport with more speed and less injuries. Overall, there is a general understanding that Flag Football is a speedy pass-orientated sport and a great way for children and young people to master the basics of passing, catching, running and positional play before they are physically ready to engage in greater physical contact in the kitted version of the sport. The most important aspect of the Flag Football rules is to avoid any significant collision contact.
For Flag Football (as well as kitted football in younger age groups), the field is shorter and more narrow than a full-sized American Football field. For Flag football, the field measures 70 yards long and 25 yards wide.
As with the kitted (full contact) version of the sport, the most important part of the field is the ‘Endzone’. In both codes, the Endzone is 10 yards deep and there is an Endzone at each end of the field.
There are also fewer players on a Flag Football team. The game starts at the younger age groups as 5 on 5. Flag stays that way throughout the age groups, but kitted football moves from 5 a side at under 16 to 7 a side or 9 a side (depending on the tier of competition).
The basic methods of scoring are the same as the adult version of the sport. However, Flag Football does not have any goal posts. So it’s not possible to kick extra points or field goals.
The main way to score is to advance the ball all the way to the opponents’ endzone. This is called a ‘Touchdown’ and is worth six points. It’s similar to scoring a try in Rugby although, unlike rugby and despite the suggestion implied by the name ‘Touchdown’, you don’t touch the ball to the ground. It’s sufficient to run into the endzone while in possession of the ball or catch the ball when you are already in the Endzone.
After you score a touchdown, you have a bonus chance to add to your score. Because there are no goal posts, you can try to score one point by trying to advance the ball into the Endzone from the five yard line, but this is called the ‘No Run Zone’ which means you have to pass the ball forwards into the endzone to score. Alternatively, you can try for two points by starting from further back. Again, you have one chance to get the ball to the Endzone and you can either run or pass. But if you’re successful, you score two extra points. So from each touchdown you can score a maximum of seven or eight points.
The last and most rare way in which you can score is called a ‘Safety’. If you are in possession of the ball and are tackled in your own Endzone, it’s the game’s equivalent to an own goal in Soccer. A safety is worth two points.
Advancing the ball in American Football is similar to the six-tackle rule in Rugby League. Starting at their own five yard line, the team that has possession of the ball (the ‘Offense’) has four attempts to advance the ball to midfield. Their opponents task while on ‘Defense’ is to prevent them advancing to the halfway mark of the field. Each of these attempts is known as a ‘Down’.
A play (or Down) ends when the ball-carrier scores, the ball-carrier is tackled or a pass falls incomplete (see below). If the ball-carrier is tackled, the next play begins from the same yard line where that previous play finished. If the pass falls incomplete, the next play goes back and starts from the same spot as where the previous play started.
If the Offense gets to midfield within their four downs, they get another four attempts to get to the Endzone. So possession of the ball continues down the field until they reach the Endzone and score, or the Defense stops the Offense. If the Offense fails to reach the necessary goal after four attempts, it loses possession of the ball and the other team go on Offense and have the chance to move the ball the other way towards their opponents’ Endzone.
There are two main ways to advance the ball down the field. You can run with the ball or throw a forward pass.
Running with the ball
Any player on the Offense is allowed to run downfield while holding onto the ball. The Defense will try to tackle them to end the play by grabbing one of the flags that the player wears on their hips. Unlike the kitted (full contact) version of the sport, the other players on the team are not allowed to block for their team-mate. The most common way of running the ball is for the Quarterback to hand-off the ball to a player called the ‘Runningback’. This player’s specialty is all about running with the ball. He then tries to avoid the Defense and advance the ball.
Passing the ball
The other method of advancing the ball is through a forward pass and all the basic rules in Flag are the same as kitted Football. The Offense can throw the ball forwards only once on any given play and it has to be thrown from behind the ‘Line of Scrimmage’. The Line of Scrimmage is the line on the field where that particular play began. So, if the play began on the 10 yard line, the forward pass has to be thrown from behind the 10 yard line.
However, unlike the kitted (full contact) version of the game, any player in a Flag team is permitted to catch the ball. While the passer looks to throw the ball, all the other players are allowed to run downfield and try to find space for the passer to throw them the ball. If they catch it, they are then allowed to run with it as far as they can until they are tackled.
The most common way this happens is with the Quarterback throwing the ball to a ‘Wide Receiver’ or a Runningback.
Flag Football games last a total of 40 minutes in two 20 minute halves.
In some cases, they might also play with a ‘running clock’ which means that the game doesn’t stop so often and a whole game can be played more quickly. This is particularly important for younger groups who might play tournaments against two or three teams on the same day.
