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Flag football is a version of American Football that is popular across the United States . The basic rules of the game are similar to those of the professional game, but instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a down. In most organized play, players wear a belt with flags around the waist, but the number of flags varies from league to league. Like Touch Football , flag football was designed in an effort to minimize injuries that playing tackle football could bring. Over the years, however, contact leagues have emerged, where offensive and defensive players can block in certain zones or downfield, adding to the myriad styles of the game. The game is now common among many High School Gym classes as an alternative to contact sports. Recently, flag football has become increasing popular with high schools girls. In Florida, flag football is now a state sanctioned sport with its own championship. RULES Rules of flag football vary greatly, depending on the sanctioning body that establishes the rules. Several regional and national bodies have developed rules for flag football. A brief overview of some key rules: VARIATIONS Chiefly because there is no dominant sanctioning organization for the sport, the game has mutated into literally dozens of variations: 9-man, 8-man, 7-man, 5-man, and 4-man on a side; with kicking and punting and without; with point-after conversions (including some with 1, 2, and 3 point tries) or without; and field sizes that vary from full NFL size (120 yards long by 53 1/3 yards wide) to fields a third that size. An important distinction is whether Linemen are allowed to catch passes ("Eligible Linemen") or, as in the NFL , are not allowed to do so ("Ineligible Linemen"). Flag (and Touch ) football may also be divided into "contact" or "non-contact", depending on whether or not Blocking is allowed; if allowed, blocking is usually restricted to the Chest . Organized flag football leagues follow a number of sets of rules, with variants including:
COMPETITIONS The sport has a fierce amateur following and several national and international competitions each year, including the International Flag Football Federation sponsored World Cup Of Flag Football featuring teams from the United States , Mexico and several other nations. Mens Championships Womens Championships The NFL conducts their own Youth World Championship for kids 12-14 years of age. Held in different nations around the world, it is five man no contact football played between ten countries. Previous NFL Flag Football World Championships have been held in Toronto, Cologne, Mexico City, Tokyo, Vancouver and Beijing. The NFL has also at times sanctioned "Air It Out" competitions aimed primarily at its fans in which tournament-winning teams were allowed to compete against retired NFL All-Pros . The largest cash prize in the history of flag football ($25,000) was awarded in February 2006 by ZFOOTBALL . EXTERNAL LINKS
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