Flag Football Equipment

Flag football, a true American sport, has risen in popularity in the past few decades. No one really knows when it started, but variations of the sport have been played since the middle of the twentieth century. Once you find at least eight individuals who want to play you can get a game started. There is also not a great deal of flag football equipment that is needed to institute play, either.

So, just what type of equipment is needed to play flag football? Let’s answer this question by looking at three categories of the game: basic game play equipment, players’ equipment, and field equipment for more advanced, official play.

BASIC PLAY EQUIPMENT

For the sake of basic play with four men on each side (the most basic style of play) utilizing an open sandlot or unmarked field the amount of equipment is relatively simple. It is important to note that the list of equipment shown illustrates what must be used, or else the game you are playing is not flag football. You generally need the following items:

• A leather ball fashioned after the style made by the Wilson Sporting Goods Company, NCAA 1001 Traditional, model number F1001
• A flag belt for each player with two removable flags attached. The flag belt should be patterned after the style sold by the Flag-A-Tag Company. The general style is one flag on each side of a player, however there are teams that play with a triple flag belt system which allows for a third flag that hangs in the middle of the belt to the back of the player. The flags are attached by means of a hook and loop type of fastener or the patented ‘sonic’ release that the Flag-A-Tag Company has made popular.
• For basic play soft, flexible pylons should be utilized as goal markers to designate the goal lines, end lines, and the sidelines of the field.

PLAYER EQUIPMENT

The above list must be had in any or all attempts to play flag football. Without the basic equipment there is no flag football. The following items extend to the individual players and what they should have in a more advanced style of play at a level above the basic game.

• Each player must wear regular football jerseys with number in a blocked solid format on the front and back of the jersey. Titeus Cornell has a website at www.titeus.com that specializes in football jerseys typical of the style used to play flag football. Players of opposing teams should wear colors that contrast with the other team.
• Shoes made from canvas, leather or a synthetic material sufficient to cover the whole foot with a leather, rubber or composite sole material. Rubber cleats are permitted, but are not necessary.
• Headgear consists of stocking caps or ski caps.

FIELD EQUIPMENT

For the most advanced play, consideration should be made for field equipment as warranted by the United States Flag Football Association. All equipment that has been mentioned above must be utilized along with:

• Boundary lines designating inbounds and out-of-bounds as well as the end zones. The marking of the lines can be done with a field marker such as a chalk marker or an acrylic latex paint field marker.
• Goals in the form of two uprights extending twenty feet above the ground and twenty-three feet four inches apart (inside to inside measurements). A horizontal bar shall connect the two uprights at a measurement of ten feet above the level of the field.
• A down marker to mark the farthest advance of a down and to indicate the number of the down

This list is the fullest extent of all flag football equipment. There is nothing else needed to play the game either at a basic form of the sport or at its most advanced sanctioned league play as put forth by the United States Flag Football Association.