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American Football has been a pastime of American’s for over 100 years. The NFL (National Football League) is the major source of football in the United States and has been so since it merged with the AFL (American Football League) in 1966. The popularity is growing year to year, and before any newcomers can begin to enjoy the sport, they must understand the basic rules and how the game is played.

Object of the Game

There are two teams, with each team protecting one end of the field from their opponents. This area is called the “endzone” and is where a team attempts to get the ball when it is in their possession. There are 11 players from each team on the field at one time and they are separated into “offense” or “defense”.

When a team is on offense, they are given 4 attempts (commonly called “downs”) to attempt to move the ball 10 yards at a time. If they are successful, the downs will reset to 1 and they will attempt to move another 10 yards until they reach the endzone. If the defense is able to stop them from moving 10 yards after 4 attempts, then their team will now get a chance on offense.

The offense is allowed to throw or run the ball to try to move it into the endzone and it is the job of the defense to tackle the player with the ball to the ground in order to stop them from advancing.

Scoring

Similar to most major sports, the object of the game is for one team to score more points than the other team; however, in American Football there are many ways to accumulate the points that make up the final score. Here is a description of each:

Touchdown (6 points) — this occurs when a player from one team is able to cross into their opponent’s endzone with possession of the ball.

Field Goal (3 points) — if a team is unable to get into the endzone, but it close enough to be able to kick the ball between the two goal posts positioned at the back of the endzone, they may attempt to do so.

Extra Point (1 point) — after a touchdown, the scoring team is able to attempt to kick the ball between the opponent’s goal posts to add one point to their score.

2-point conversion (2 points) — after a touchdown, the scoring team can choose to try to get the ball into the endzone again instead of kicking for the extra point. If successful, they are awarded two points.

Safety (2 points) — if an offensive player is tackled into their own endzone by the other’s team’s defense, then the opposing team will be awarded two points and are then given possession of the ball.

Length of Game

The game lasts for 60 minutes and is separated into 2 halves of 30 minutes each. Each half is broken into 2 quarters of 15 minutes each. Each team is awarded 3 timeouts per half which allows them to stop the clock from moving and to give their player’s a rest.

If a team does not use all of their timeouts in the first half, they do not carry over into the second half. If the score is tied at the end of the game, then there will be an overtime period consisting of 15 minutes. The the first team to score any points in overtime will win the game. If nobody scores during this period, the game will be called a tie.

There are many more details which make up the game of American Football, but the above basic rules will be enough to get you started to enjoy and understand the game. Now all you need to do is pick a favorite team and cheer them on!

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Recruiting Has Gone Mad in Youth Football

The private coaches/team clinics I do all across the country for youth football teams are interesting to say the least. Many of the coaches share thought provoking stories of their teams, leagues and opponents. While I always enjoy working with the coaches and kids, what I enjoy most is going out to dinner with the coaches after we get done and just listening to these stories, sharing a few laughs and learning about the nuances of how things are done in their neck of the woods. The trip I’m speaking of and the story you are about to hear made me laugh so hard I think the waitress and patrons thought I was having some kind of attack or maybe had choked on some food and needed the Hymlich Maneuver.

A fairly recent trip showed me the extent youth football coaches will go to put a winner on the football field. I’ve been coaching youth football for about 15 years and coached in 3 different organizations in 3 different towns in 7 different leagues. I’ve been to football clinics from California to Florida and talked with literally thousands of youth football coaches, I thought I had heard it all, but this story takes the cake. During a very tasty dinner at a local restaurant, coach shared with me a rather amazing story about the extent one youth football coach in his league went to so his team could maintain their dominance in the league. Many competitive youth football teams have to recruit players every year to get enough kids to put together a team or teams. While it is a necessity for most, it is a year-round obsession for others and for some they go off the deep end.

This story starts out with a very big and fast running back that moves from the local area his team is in, to a town right at an hour away. This new town mind you is a hotbed for youth football and has plenty of quality teams the boy can play for. But instead of playing for a team in his new home and making new friends, the player continues to play for his old team over an hour away. In addition to this wackiness, the coach drives the hour to pick him up every Friday, has him sleep at his home and then drives him back home after the game on Saturday. This coach logs 4 hours of drive time every weekend so this player can play on his youth football team. Is it just me or does this sound lame to anyone?

To have such little confidence in your team and coaching abilities that you would spend 4 hours driving every weekend to pick up a kid to “carry” your team is just weak in my mind. This kid only came to games, he did not practice with his team during the week. Why not play a local kid, coach everyone up and make due with the team you have? What kind of message is this sending to this teams players and to this “superstar”? You guys can’t win without the star, football is a one man game, you don’t have to practice to play, teamwork counts for nothing etc etc. A good coach adapts and will figure out a way to compete with the hand that was dealt him, not rely on one superstar to carry his youth football team. This came from an organization that dominates this youth football league. But a coach this desperate for wins is vulnerable, obviously he doesn’t think much of his coaching ability and thinks talent is all that matters in youth football. What’s next, flying kids in for games?

This same “coach” often tries to pull the rug out from under the teams in his league. My friend learned this the hard way, this opposing coach actually showed up at the homes of several of his players to convince their mothers to come play football for his team. This coach actually drives by my friends practice field, goes into the neighborhood to ask where the kids live and shows up on their doorsteps with his song and dance about playing football for him. Fortunately for my friend, his players and parents just adore him so the only thing generated from these escapades in an immediate phone call from mom to my friend to report the shenannigans. This “coach” even had the audacity to “be in the neighborhood” when my friend put on his team barbeque, he even stopped by to say hello and talk some football. My friend is more patient with this person than I might have been.

While recruiting is necessary in youth football, it can be overemphasized to the detriment of the program. Many youth football coaches mistakenly think they HAVE to have the best players to win championships. When their teams lose games they often look at personnel as the reason they lost rather than looking at schemes to counter the other teams personnel or improving their own team. Good coaches concentrate their effrots on working on the aspects of the game they can control. Blaming losses on personnel mismatches frees the youth coach of personal blame, (he can’t control the talent levels of the other team) while in reality no youth football team should allow one player to beat them. Recruiting star players or driving 4 hours to pick one up every weekend are shortcuts to success, it is the easy way out. Good coaches put the time in to become better coaches so they don’t need star players to win or have to cut corners and make accomodations for “star” players.

In youth football I see less talented teams competing and beating much better teams every week. I see this in our league as well as in every league I’ve ever coached in and in the regional and national tournaments I’ve gone to. I see it in the tapes and DVDs people send me every week. Good coaching nearly every time trumps talent in youth football. Now I’m not saying the weakest team can win it all, But the weakest of teams if coached well can compete and finish .500. The average talent team can vie for and even win league titles with good coaching. Meanwhile the best talented teams and poorly coached teams don’t always win it all and can in fact end up to be a .500 team.

If recruiting is allowed in your youth football league, most often you need to recruit. But don’t obsess over it and don’t get down if you don’t recruit the monsters of the midway. My most satisfying seasons were by far the ones we clearly had very little size or talent, yet came together and played very well. Nearly all well coached youth football teams can compete if they have the right priorities, scheme and well defined vision for success and if you have average talent you can even win championships.

Click here to sign up for Dave’s free youth football coaching newsletter filled with great football coaching tips:
Youth Football [http://winningyouthfootball.com/author]

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NFL football betting is practically a part of the entire National Football League itself. A football game will not be complete without football enthusiasts and fans rallying and placing wagers on their favorite football teams. To the audience, this is a side game to the main game itself; their own battle during the season. Many casinos and online gaming sites take advantage of this situation, and for that, the nfl football betting has spread all over for all the audiences to enjoy and fight over for.

Despite how it looks like or probably how you perceive it as a simple gambling, this sort of betting does not rely on luck alone. It needs careful analysis and keen perception, and most importantly, decision making that you will base on plenty of records, numbers, and performances. You will probably find it troublesome, but it is also for this reason why there are a lot of sports analyst who are successful these days. Although you, yourself can do it too, there is always the assumption that the words of a person whose philosophy, prediction and analysis are all based on past records every single team performed. A sports analyst will usually give their own predictions on the results of the game. It is their responsibility to track the team previous performance and be able to point out flaws or success in the team that is essential.

In order to emerge victorious on having a wager on the national football league teams, there are various key points one should always keep in mind as they make a decision on who to place a bet on. There are two main lines you should take a look at: In the aspect of offense and defense.

Generally a good team must have a good sense of balance when it comes to attacking and defending the field. Basically, when it comes to attacking, always take note of the team’s previous performances, if they won or lost against the opponents. Their past performances usually serve as a good data to determine whether or not they will be able to do the same this season.

The second line you must look out for is the defense among the involved groups. The one with the toughest defense will have an upper hand when the time of battle comes into place.

Popularity of the group is also something that you should consider. A group which has a lot of supporters will most definitely somehow snake its way to victory, and along with that, of course, be able to help you win.

There are more than three tips and strategies that you must take note of. To win in an nfl football betting is something both you and the winning team would most definitely enjoy. But in selecting a good online casino, make sure that such site is supported by the government and that it will not be done in a way that will compromise you. Place as many bets as you could, and avoid placing everything in one single team so that you will be able to avoid losing a larger amount of sum in case your prediction fails to take place.

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