A Flag Football Cheat Sheet


Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Jason
Senior Marketing Manager


We realize Flag Football has a lot of rules; some very obvious, while others are more subtle. If you are new to the sport, or have played casually, we can also appreciate that Flag Football can perhaps be a little intimidating. We have always touted ourselves as a one stop shop for all things sports, regardless of your sporting background. With that in mind, we’d like to take this opportunity to provide you with a quick snapshot of some of the fundamentals of our rulebook.

  • On a non-kick scrimmage play, if the ball touches the ground, it is immediately dead.
  • The offence must put the ball into play within 30 SECONDS of starting their huddle.
  • The quarterback/offence has only 10 “STEAMBOATS” to make a play.
  • There are two methods of scoring points: a touchdown or converting a touchdown:
    • Touchdown: When the offensive team advances the ball (in bounds) into the opposition’s end zone via a running or passing play, they have scored a touchdown and are awarded 6 points. A touchdown is immediately followed by one additional scrimmage play where the offence attempts to ‘convert’ the touchdown for additional points.
    • Convert: The convert play is always a running/passing scrimmage play. The object of the convert is to advance the ball into the opposition’s end zone for extra points.1 point is awarded for a play originating from the 5 yard line, and 2 points are awarded for a play originating from the 10 yard line.
  • The offence has 4 ‘downs’ or scrimmage plays in which to score a touchdown.
  • A FEMALE player must be an integral player in at least 1 play of the 4 downs if they use all 4 downs.
  • A player is considered ‘down’ when:
    • One or more flags is missing from his/her belt.
    • The player’s body touches the ground anywhere from the knee up (hands are excluded).
    • The player goes out of bounds. A player is out of bounds when any part of the player’s body touches the ground on the out of bounds line or beyond.
  • ‘Pick Plays’ are illegal by the offensive team.
  • Blocking and physical contact (includes pushing out of bounds) MUST be avoided at all times.
  • A ball carrier cannot guard his/her flag with his/her hands. Furthermore, they cannot jump in any fashion to avoid having their flag pulled. Jumping consists of one or both feet leaving the ground.
  • If there is a defensive foul on a 4th down play, the offensive team will choose to either place the ball at the spot of the foul or replay at the line of scrimmage, and the offensive team will get to replay the 4th down.
  • If a team does not use a female player in their 4 downs, the defence gets the ball from where the last play occurred and if the offence scored points, they do not count.
  • A defender is not allowed to prematurely take the flags off of an offensive player’s belt or slow a player down by grabbing onto the body or clothing.

We hope this helps you and your team have as much fun on the gridiron as possible!