Whether you want to polish up your skills for a league game or you and some friends want to pick up a game on a Saturday afternoon, you can enjoy an energetic game of football in your own backyard. Most backyard football games require little more than a football and a basic understanding of traditional football rules. These games, though, offer hours of outdoor entertainment for everyone involved.
Flag Football
Flag football is a common backyard variation on the sport. In flag football, each player wears a loose belt covered with ribbons, or "flags." Instead of tackling opposing players, you capture a flag off an opposing player's belt. Teams can consist of anywhere from three or four to eight or 10 players, and a game usually lasts for a total of 48 to 60 minutes, which is divided into two halves of 24 to 30 minutes. Teams use cones or other convenient markers to show where the end zones are located. In the book "The Everything Kids' Football Book: The All-Time Greats, Legendary Teams, Today's Superstars -- and Tips on Playing Like a Pro," author Greg Jacobs explains that "flag football can be played by people of all ages and with all sorts of different rules."
Touch Football
Touch football serves as another common backyard variation on the sport of football. In touch football, a player touches a ball carrier with both hands in lieu of tackling. When this touch occurs, the play ends. As with other types of backyard football, denote the playing field and end goals with cones or some other marker. Games can last for an hour or more, and only a football is needed for play. Touch football teams operate best with between five and seven players, but as few as three or four can make up a team. If you have an odd number of players, Jacobs recommends making the best ball thrower an all-time quarterback for both teams. He suggests that "if several people want to play quarterback, then rotate who gets to be steady QB every four touchdowns or so."
Speedball
Speedball serves as a more energetic version of traditional football. Played with a football, speedball requires that the quarterback always pass the ball during a play. Receivers, likewise, must move the ball toward the goal and can do so by passing the ball anywhere on the playing field. Mike Yaconelli and Wayne Rice, in "Best of Play It! Over 150 Great Games for Youth Groups," explain that speedball has two important rule variations: The football can only be advanced by throwing, not by running, and a team can earn a first down by completing two passes, either in a single play or in two subsequent downs. Speedball can otherwise be played like touch football or traditional football in regard to interceptions, kickoffs, hikes and punts as well as team size and playing field.
References
- "The Everything Kids' Football Book: The All-Time Greats, Legendary Teams, Today's Superstars -- and Tips on Playing Like a Pro"; Greg Jacobs; 2010
- "Best of Play It! Over 150 Great Games for Youth Groups"; Mike Yaconelli, Wayne Rice; 2000
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