Football

What is football?

Football is a competitive team sport in which each team tries to score points by carrying or kicking a football into the other team’s end zone.

How to play football

Football is played on a large field. One team at a time is on offense, trying to move the ball down the field and score points, while the other team tries to defend and prevent scoring. Each team has 11 players on the field. The team on offense might try carrying the ball, throwing the ball to a teammate down the field or kicking the ball into the end zone to score points. The team on offense will try to create room to score with hard hits to move the defenders, while the defense tries to stop this with hard physical hits on offensive players, including the players handling the football.

How to win

The team that scores the most points wins.

Equipment

Helmet – protects the head during frequent contact with the opposing team. It is made of hard plastic and has a wire faceguard
Shoulder pads – protects the shoulders, since most hits to an opposing player are delivered by a shoulder blow
Knee pads – protect the knees during contact with players and falls to the ground
Shoes – have special traction to help players move fast and turn quickly on the field

Sport lingo

Touchdown –a team carries the ball into the end zone, scoring six points
Field goal –a team kicks a ball through the goal posts to earn three points
Half time – the game has four quarters, with a long break at the midway point in the game called half time
Tackle –a player takes hold of the ball carrier and pulls him to the ground
Offense – the offense tries to score by carrying the ball or catching a pass in the end zone. The offense has four key positions. Protected behind the offensive linemen, the quarterback leads the attack and passes or hands the ball to the defensive backs or receivers who will then try to get the ball through the defense and into the end zone
Defense – the other team sends out their defensive players who are grouped into three sections: the linemen, who battle the offensive line to prevent opposing players from getting through; the linebackers, who are the next line to stop opposing players from getting through; and the secondary, the last line of defense, who spend more of their time chasing the receivers