Canadian Football

Canadian Rules Football often known as CFL or gridiron football is a Canadian sport that is played on a rectangular pitch by two teams of 12 players each along with a goalkeeper.

In Canada football refers both to American and Canadian football and specifically to any of them, depending upon the context. Both the sports are of same origin but have significant differences.

To outscore the opponent team by winning more no. of points through goals in order to win the play.

Events

Men’s and Women’s participate separately for the sport.

Participants

The match is played between two teams of twelve players on the field at any time of play.

Playing Area

The Canadian football field measures 137 m in length and 65 59 m width, within which the end zones are 18m deep, and the goal lines are 101 m apart. At each goal line is a set of 12 m high goalposts, which are a set of two uprights connected by a 5.6 m crossbar which is placed 3 m above the goal line.

The goalposts are H-shaped although in the higher-level competitions the tuning-fork design (supported by a single curved post behind the goal line, so that each post starts 10 feet (3 m) above the ground) is preferred. The sides of the field are indicated by white sidelines, the goal line is marked in white, and white lines are drawn parallel across the field every 4.6 m from the goal line.

Gameplay

At the beginning of play, there are two teams of 12 on the field. The team in possession of the ball is the offense team, and the team defending is known as the defense. The game starts with a backwards pass through the legs by the player of the offensive team, to another player of the offensive team. This attempt is usually made by the quarterback or punter, but a "direct snap" to a running back is also very common. If the quarterback or punter receives the ball, he can then do any of the following:-

• Run with the ball, attempting to run farther down the field.

• The ball-carrier may run in any direction he sees fit.

• Drop-kick the ball, dropping it onto the ground and kicking it on the bounce.

• Hand-off—hand the ball off to a teammate, typically a halfback or the fullback.

• Punt the ball; dropping it in the air and kicking it before it touches the ground.

Scoring

The methods of scoring are:-

• Touchdown
• Conversion
• Field Goal
• Safety
• Single (Rouge)
• Game Timing

The game constitutes of two 30-minute halves, divided into two 15-minute quarters. The clock counts down from 15:00 in each quarter. Rules of the time change when there are three minutes remaining in a half. A short break interval of 2 minutes is given after the end of each quarter while a longer break of 15 minutes is allotted at halftime, and the two teams then change the sides.

Officials

Referee

Also known as the head referee or the chief crew, the referee is responsible for conducting the game within the laws of the sport. He is the final authority on all the rulings and also has the final authority on the score and the down number in case of any dispute or disagreement.

Umpire

He stands behind the defensive line and line backers and observes the blocks by the defensive line and defenders who are trying to break off the blocks. The umpire is situated at a place where most of the actions occur, and is considered to hold the most physically dangerous officiating position.

Head Linesman

Stands at one line of scrimmage and is responsible for watching the receivers near his sideline. To a point that is five to seven yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Line Judge

He assists the head linesman for the other end of the line of scrimmage while looking for possible offside, encroachment, and other fouls before the snap.

Back Judge

Stand behind the defensive secondary in the middle of the field and judges the action of nearby running backs, defenders, and receivers.

Side Judge

Works downfield behind the defensive secondary on the exact sideline as the head linesman.

Field Judge

Works downfield behind the defensive secondary on the same sideline of that of the line judge