Football (Amateur)

The term football can refer to completely different sports depending on the geographic, cultural, and historical location in which it is being played. Football, for most, refers [Page 238]to a game that involves kicking a ball through the net of an opposing team. This sport is commonly referred to as soccer in North America. In Australia, the term football denotes a game that involves pushing a ball up an oval-shaped field through kicking, handballing, and running with the end objective to kick the ball through the goal posts of the opposing team. In Ireland, a form of football termed Gaelic football is played that involves a combination of carrying, kicking, and hand-passing a ball with the objective of kicking the ball through the uprights of the opposing team to score one point, or through the goal posts of the opposing team for three points. In various parts of the world, football can also refer to what North Americans generally refer to as rugby, which has numerous rule variations depending on where it is played, but generally involves moving a ball up a rectangular field through passing, running, and kicking, with the end objective of crossing the opponent's goal line.

In North America, the term football refers to a sport that is altogether different from the other meanings of football just discussed. The North American game of football is often referred to as American football or gridiron football. The term gridiron comes from the particular way that playing lines are positioned on the field. Gridiron can either refer to the field that the sport is played on or, in some countries outside of North America, it can refer to the sport itself. Gridiron football, and its various alternate forms, will be the central focus of this entry. While various forms of gridiron football do exist, the common features of each are generally that protective equipment is worn, the ball is passed forward by hand or by running from an ever-changing line of scrimmage through a system of downs, and the end goal is to pass the opponent's goal line or kick the ball through the opponent's uprights.

The different forms of football that have been discussed, including the soccer, rugby, and Gaelic forms, are all distinct and unique, although they also share a number of similarities that lend the same name of football to each sport being played. First, and most obviously, they each involve the use of kicking to advance a ball, thus inviting the name of football to describe the sport. The games are all played within a specifically designed space with a set time frame. Furthermore, they each involve scoring points by advancing the ball past an opponent's goal line or through an opponent's uprights. Lastly, each sport is immensely popular in the cultures in which they are played.