
Street football, also known as backyard football or sandlot football, is an amateur variant of
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
primarily played informally by youth. It features far less equipment and fewer rules than its counterparts and, unlike the similar
touch football, features full
tackling
Tackle may refer to:
* In football:
** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football
** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football
** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...
.
Main rules
An organized version has seven players to a side, such as in the American 7's Football league (
A7FL), while other versions have six players on offense and seven on defense. However, such organization is rare, as players per side can range from as few as one to dozens. Teams are typically assembled from
scratch, with participants
playing both offense and defense. Most forms of backyard or street football use ''
ad hoc
''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...
''
house rule
House rules are unofficial modifications to official game rules adopted by individual groups of players. House rules may include the removal or alteration of existing rules, or the addition of new rules. Such modifications are common in board ...
s that vary from location to location and/or game to game. Rules vary greatly across neighborhoods and are customarily set before each game.
Penalties are rare and are usually only enforced in the most egregious cases, such as serious injuries or blatant
pass interference
In American and Canadian football, pass interference (PI) is a foul that occurs when a player interferes with an eligible receiver's ability to make a fair attempt to catch a forward pass. Pass interference may include tripping, pushing, pulli ...
. Most games use the
honor system
An honor system, trust system or honesty system is a way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust, honor, and honesty.
The honor system is also a system granting freedom from customary surveillance (as to students or prisoners) with ...
in lieu of a referee and/or an officiating crew. The game ends when a pre-determined number of touchdowns or points has been scored, or an arbitrary time is reached (for instance, dusk or the start of school).
Field of play
Games are played on fields generally ranging from as short as 10 to as large as 50 yards, with the occasional game being played on a full-size regulation 100 yard field such as in the A7FL. Generally, the larger the field, the more players that can be incorporated into the game. The A7FL plays on a full-size regulation field in regards to length; however, the width of the field is narrowed, from 53 yards to 40 yards, in order to accommodate fewer players on the field.
Downs and scoring
As in regular American football, each team usually has four
downs per series. In order to achieve a series of downs, backyard football requires the team with the ball to complete two passes or reach a certain point on the field. Few games include enough people, or the proper equipment, to run a
chain crew to maintain the 10 yards familiar in most organized leagues. These structures encourage
passing plays over
running, as does the usual lack of an
offensive line and
defensive line. Popular
passing plays include going long, the hook, the hook and go, and the
down and out. A well-practiced pump fake by the quarterback often accompanies the hook and go.
The use of a
center is optional, depending on the rules set forth, and other ways to start the play (e.g. the quarterback picking up the ball directly, or holding the ball out prior to starting play, then pulling it back to begin) are often used in lieu of a
snap. When a center is used, that player is an
eligible receiver. Also, the "center sneak"—wherein the center snaps the ball to touch the quarterback's hands, but retains possession and then rushes—is legal. Most teams that use a line opt for three down linemen, a center and two
guards. Some organizations that don't require the center to snap the ball to the quarterback use two linemen.
Play continues until there is a
turnover (usually an
interception
In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...
), a
turnover on downs (e.g. the offense fails to complete two passes in four downs), or the team on offense scores a
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
. Touchdowns are worth one, six, or seven points depending on the rules set out before the game. In some instances, depending on factors such as the size of the field, more downs are used or teams are given a certain number of downs to score. For instance, a team might be given eight tries to score a touchdown. Also, the length of a first down may differ due to the lack of a pass rush. For instance, a team may have to advance 15 or 20 yards to get a first down.
Kicking
To start a game, the two teams organize on opposite sides of the field for the
kickoff. Because of skill, field size and other issues, this is usually not a kickoff, but rather a "punt-off" or a "throw-off". Many versions skip this process and start the offense at a certain point, similar to that following a
touchback
In American football, a touchback is a ruling that is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to travel ...
in organized leagues.
Field goals and
extra point
Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film
* The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film
Literature
* Extra (newspaper), ...
kicks are nonexistent, as streets and backyards have no goal posts. In games played on regulation fields, these kicks can be attempted, but only in certain scoring systems.
Punts can happen frequently, usually during situations where the offensive team cannot earn a first down (for example, in games played using a "two completions in four downs" rule to earn a first down, reaching fourth down with zero completions).
In the event a touchdown is scored, the team on offense will normally stay in the
end zone
The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...
in which they had just scored and the other team will go into the main field and field the subsequent kickoff (or variant thereof). This convention is sometimes known as "losers walk". Thus, until an interception or turnover on downs occurs, both teams defend and attempt to score on the same end zone.
Rushing
There can be a rush on the quarterback (commonly called a
blitz in this context) depending on the rules set out before the game. Usually, if rushes are allowed, one of two rules is commonly applied:
* ''Blitz count''—the defense must count out loud to a certain number before they can rush. It is also called "Mississippi rush" as the blitzing player must insert the word "
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
" between numbers (e.g. one Mississippi, two Mississippi, etc.) to prevent the defense from counting rapidly, which would give the quarterback little to no time to attempt a pass. Alternate counting words include "apple" and "banana". In Canada, the word "steamboat" is generally used.
* ''Call rush''—the defense must signify their intent to rush by calling out "blitz" in a loud voice before the offense snaps the ball. However, doing so allows the quarterback to get out of the pocket and run without having to pass or
hand off the ball. In some variants, the quarterback can call out "
shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...
" before the snap, which precludes the quarterback from running but requires the defense to delay (by counting to a certain number, as above) before they can rush.
The above methods may be combined or adapted, depending on local rules.
Conversions
Two-point conversions usually are not applied, but if they are, there are several conversion systems, including single-point, pass-run, yardage, and runback. The single-point is the simplest, in which any successful conversion is worth one point following a touchdown valued at six (or sometimes seven) points. Pass-run is used in some youth leagues and awards two points for a pass and one point for a run. Usually, all pass-run conversions are attempted from the one- or two-yard line. Another conversion system is the yardage system, similar to that used in the
XFL playoffs, the
Lingerie Football League, and the
Stars Football League
The Stars Football League (SFL) was an American football league that operated primarily in Florida from 2011 to 2013. The league was headquartered in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
It was a single-entity league and players were paid a few hundred dollar ...
. In the yardage system, one-point conversions are attempted from the one- or five-yard line, and two-point conversions are attempted from the two- or ten-yard line. The runback is the most rare of the conversion rules, and is most often implemented in one-on-one games. In this version, the play does not end once the ball crosses the goal line; instead, the player with the ball must change direction and advance it all the way back to the other end zone for two points.
Leagues
Street football is usually played as a pick-up game and has very little organization. However, organized "sandlot" football has been around since the early 20th century. In 1908, a circuit was launched in
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, after the city banned
high school football
High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...
in its schools. The circuit produced a team known as the
Rochester Jeffersons, who later joined the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) as a charter member in 1920, as well as several other teams that lasted into the 1930s. Minneapolis, too, had a vibrant sandlot league, and in 1905 the
Minneapolis Marines first played in the city's sandlots; the Marines joined the NFL in 1921.
In video games
Street football has been used as the basis for two very different video games.
EA Sports
EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...
's ''
NFL Street'' is a rules-light version of football played by NFL stars, similar to the
''Blitz'' series created by
Midway Games
Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known simply as Midway) was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (franchise), Ra ...
.
Atari
Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...
's ''
Backyard Football'' series, on the other hand, is a more kid-friendly game with players including child versions of NFL stars.
Notes
References
External links
Backyard Football League3-on-3 example game via
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
{{American football concepts
Variations of American football