Football requires speed, jumping ability, strength, quick reactions and teamwork. To play the game well, players and coaches have to know the rules. This is especially true when the game is played by children who are trying to learn and master the fundamentals, and safety should always be a priority.
Safety Rules
The most important thing about football at the youth level is to keep players safe. Football can be a dangerous game. When played at the youth level, coaches, parents and players themselves emphasize doing everything possible to emphasize safety so catastrophic injuries can be avoided. The primary safety rule is do not tackle, block or lead with your helmet. Spinal-cord injuries occur when players drive their helmets into their opponents to make a tackle or a block. This will be whistled for a penalty every time, and players who engage in unsafe play will be forced to the sidelines and lectured before they are allowed to play again.
Holding Rules
When it comes to offensive football, blockers are not allowed to grab their opponents to block them. Blockers must have their hands inside the frame of their own shoulders when blocking opponents. If the blocker puts his hands on the defensive player under those conditions, that's acceptable. However, a player that reaches out to pull down a pass-rusher who is on his way to the quarterback, or a linebacker who is going to tackle a running back, is guilty of holding, and his team will be penalized 10 yards.
Offsides and Illegal Procedure
Every play starts with the football being placed at the line of scrimmage. Players on the offensive line must be set for a full second before the ball is snapped, and only one player can be in motion before the snap. If offensive players are not set at the line of scrimmage, an illegal-procedure penalty is called. That includes players who move before the ball is snapped because they have gotten the snap count wrong. Defensive players may not leave the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped. If a defensive player jumps across the line before the play starts, he is offsides. Illegal-procedure and offsides penalties each result in a penalty of 5 yards for the offending team.
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