American football in the United States

There is no single national governing body for American football in the United States or a continental governing body for North America. Fact|date=July 2008 There is an international governing body, the International Federation of American Football, or IFAF, but it does not have much influence in American football in the United States. American football is the most popular sport in the United States, but does not get as much recognition around the world.

Organization in the United States

Befitting its status as a popular sport, football is played in leagues of different size, age and quality, in all regions of the country. Organized football is played almost exclusively by men and boys, although a few amateur and semi-professional women's leagues have begun play in recent years.

Professional and semi-professional

The 32-team National Football League (NFL) is currently the only major professional American football league in North America. At least two new professional American Football Leagues are slated to begin playing in 2009, the All-American Football League and the United Football League. The NFL does not operate any developmental leagues currently since the folding of NFL Europa. Players unable to make an NFL team sometimes play in other leagues such as the Arena Football League or Canadian Football League, both of which have rules differing somewhat from those of the NFL.Fact|date=July 2008

Several leagues supporting women's semi-professional football play have existed. The National Women's Football Association (NWFA) was formed in 2000, and now consists of 34 teams across the nation. The Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) was also formed in 2000 and currently consists of 40 teams nationwide. The Women's Professional Football League (WPFL) started in 1999, but appears to have ceased operation in 2007 with 14 teams in its final year.

University and collegiate

College football is also popular throughout North America.Fact|date=July 2008 College football in the United States is governed by the NCAA. Most colleges and universities have football teams, often with dedicated football stadiums. These teams mostly play other similarly sized schools. The largest, most popular collegiate teams routinely fill stadiums larger than 75,000 [http://www.ncaa.org/stats/football/attendance/2005/2005_football_attendance.pdf] . Four college football stadiums, The University of Michigan's Michigan Stadium, Penn State's Beaver Stadium, The University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium and Ohio State's Ohio Stadium, seat more than 100,000 fans and usually sell out. The weekly autumn ritual of college football includes marching bands, cheerleaders, homecoming, parties, the tailgate party; it forms an important part of the culture in much of smalltown America.Fact|date=July 2008 Football is generally the major source of revenue to the athletic programs of schools, public and private, in the United States.Fact|date=July 2008 The top college football players enter the NFL Draft after their college careers are over, in hopes of signing with an NFL team.

High school

Most American high schools field football teams. High school football is popular; top schools regularly fill stadiums holding over 10,000 fans, and can afford artificial playing surfaces.Fact|date=July 2008

High school teams generally play only against other teams from their state (notable exceptions include matchups between nearby schools located on opposite sides of a state line and occasional matchups between two nationally-ranked teams for television purposes). Still, some private Christian high schools play for national championships through organizations like the Federated Christian Athletic Association.

Adult Amateur Football

The North American Football League (NAFL) is an adult amateur American football league. Its teams are located mainly in the Eastern, Midwestern and Southern United States.

Youth leagues

Football is played recreationally by amateur and youth teams (e.g., American Youth Football and Pop Warner little-league programs). There are also many "semi-pro" teams in leagues where the players are paid to play but at a small enough salary that they generally must also hold a full-time job.Fact|date=July 2008

Due to the speed and violence of the sport, many non-organized football games involve variations of the rules to minimize contact and risk of injury.Fact|date=July 2008 These include touch football and flag football.

US National American football team

The US National American football team is ranked number 1 in the world.Fact|date=July 2008 The team was founded in 1984, and first competed in the American Football World Cup in 2007. They finished 1st, defeating Japan, 23-20 in overtime in the final. This included a 77-0 win over South Korea in the group stage. USA Football was only able to choose from the top amateur players in the nation.Fact|date=July 2008

External links

* [http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2006/2006_football_rules.pdf NCAA's complete college football rules; available as a PDF file]
*National Football League [http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/signals Official Signals] .
* [http://www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/SurveyofFootballInjuries.htm Annual Survey of Football Injury Research]
* [http://www.americanyouthfootball.com American Youth Football]
* [http://www.football-rules.com American Football rules and History]