I run a flag football league at the High School I teach at. There are about 250 kids playing. We have had an interesting situation crop up this season.

Several times in the last couple of days, two players on opposite teams have come down from a pass with the ball both in their possession. In some cases, at the lower level games, they just sort of stood there. In upper level games, they have tried to rip each other's arms off.

There is very little allowable contact in our league. A small amount of blocking can occur within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage - otherwise, incidental contact is about all that is legal after that.

I am trying to come up with how to handle this, since to the best of my knowledge, there is no comparable thing to a basketball "jump-ball" in football, and i'd rather not have the upper level games turn into wrestling matches, since someone will probably get hurt. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this? I'm open to suggestions! Thanks for any help in advance!

Dave Rinke
PIAA Basketball/Soccer/Swimming
NPCA Intramural Program

I don't have a rule book handy so I cant be going into too much detail .I can give you a quick rundown on what we do for regular High School football. If the ball is simultaneously caught or recovered, blow the play dead and award the ball to the team who was last in possession. In this case the offence.
Good Luck !

NCAA rules concur with James. A simultaneous catch causes the ball to become dead and the ball belongs to the team last in possession. Remember though, both players must have control of the ball and they both must return to the ground with one foot or some other part of their body at the EXACT time to rule siultaneous catch. If one returns to the ground first then that is a catch or intereption and the ball remains live.

Jason,

What the is an "intereption"? This is a new term to me and since I have only worked one year, I want to be sure to use the proper terminology when discussing things with my crew and coaches.

Jason,

What the is an "intereption"? This is a new term to me and since I have only worked one year, I want to be sure to use the proper terminology when discussing things with my crew and coaches. [/B][/QUOTE]


Just making sure everyone was awake. I guess my interpretation of the play meant to be interception. Attention to detail. Nice catch.

Simultaneous catch is awarded to the offense in your example.
Further, you should really emphasize the non-contact nature of flag-football and penalize one or both players for any wrestling or intentional ripping of the ball, esp. after the whistle sounds.

In flag football, there is NO slapping or ripping of the ball. That's a major foul, unsportsmanlike.

There is a sport body out there called NIRSA, and I think this set of rules is fairly good for flag football.
http://www.campusrec.uiuc.edu/intram...agfootball.pdf

Also, they have a variant for 4-on-4:
http://www.campusrec.uiuc.edu/intramurals/rules.html

I am not sure what set of rules you are following, but I've never heard of ANY allowable blocking in flag football (can only set picks).

Enjoy!