Kent Phoenix
Youth American Football Club
Youth American Football Club
An American Football field measures 100 yards long and 53 yards wide. The field has white markings called yard markers which help the players, officials, and the fans keep track of the position of the ball. We’ll explain why that’s important in a moment.
Yard lines cross the field every five yards, and are numbered from each goal line counting up towards the 50-yard line, or midfield. Two rows of lines, known as ‘Hashmarks’, parallel the side lines near the middle of the field. All plays start with the ball on or between the hashmarks depending on where the previous play finished.
The most important part of the field is the ‘Endzone’. It’s an additional 10 yards deep and there is an Endzone at each end of the field.
Like many sports, the aim of the game is to score more points than the opposition.
There are various ways to score points but the main way 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. You can kick the ball through the goal posts for one point (much like a conversion in Rugby) or try for two points by having a single attempt to advance the ball into the Endzone from the three yard line. So from each touchdown you can score a maximum of seven or eight points.
If you can’t reach the Endzone, you can try to kick the ball through the goal posts for a ‘Field Goal’. Field Goals are worth three points. They are similar to a penalty kick in Rugby.
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. The team that has possession of the ball (the ‘Offense’) has four attempts to advance the ball 10 yards towards their opponent’s end-zone. Their opponents task while on ‘Defense’ is to prevent them advancing those ten yards. Each of these attempts is known as a ‘Down’.
So your first attempt is described as ‘First Down and Ten’. It’s your first attempt with ten yards to go. If you gained six yards on that play, your next attempt would be described as ‘Second Down and Four’ because you still have four yards to go out of the ten that you needed.
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 gains ten (or more) yards, it gets another four attempts to get another ten yards. So it continues down the field until they reach the Endzone and score or the Defense stops the Offense. If the Offense fails to gain a First Down 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.
As you will have realised, it’s crucially important to be able to measure if the Offense has moved ten yards or more. That’s why an American Football field has hashmarks every yard and the grid of the yard lines every five yards. You always know where you are and how far you need to get to keep possession of the ball.
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. The other players on the Offense are entitled to block for the ball-carrier and try to prevent the defensive players from tackling them. The most common way this happens is with the Quarterback handing-off the ball to a player called the ‘Runningback’. This player’s specialty is all about running with the ball. The other players then block to help him get free of the Defense and to advance the ball.
Passing the ball
The other method of advancing the ball is through a forward pass. 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.
Not all of the players on the Offense are permitted to catch the ball. The players who are generally there to block, commonly known as the ‘Offensive Line’ are not generally allowed to be thrown the ball. They are there to protect the passer. Meanwhile, other players – often known as ‘Receivers’ 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. If they catch it, the rest of the Offense is allowed to block for them, much like a running play.
A professional game of American Football in the NFL is divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each making an hour’s play in total. However, the game clock can stop for a number of reasons which means that the average NFL game takes between two and three hours of actual time to play.
In the UK, the length of the game varies with the age of the teams. The maximum length is 15 minutes per quarter as per the professionals but younger age groups play shorter quarters, or sometimes play two halves (rather than four quarters). 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.
Once you understand the basic rules of the game, it’s then possible to understand some of the adjustments that are made to the rules to enable children and young people to participate. On our ‘What is Flag Football‘ page, you’ll find an explanation of the adjustments to the rules for children and young people (which apply to both kitted and flag codes) as well as the basics of Flag Football itself.
