FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Hello OAC Gang!

Just checking in to see how my "internet friends" are doing.   

Jr. has been getting letters for football from OAC schools (Heidi, JCU, Mount), and a few random contacts from out of the blue.  Thiel, Illinois State, and then........does anyone know what "sprint football" is?  He received an email from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, who is interested in him potentially playing for their sprint football team.  Evidently, it's a league that only allows players who weigh 172 lbs. or less.  The league consists of 10 or so eastern based teams, and includes a fair amount of Ivy League schools. 

Learn something new every day........

Stay classy my OAC buddies......have a great summer!

Yes, sprint football is for smaller kids, as you mention. It is not the same as a club football program at all, as club teams are generally full size players playing the same game everyone else does. Sprint football is huge at the service academies, along with the schools you mention.

There was an interesting piece in the New York Times some years back:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/sports/ncaafootball/15sprint.html

[skunks_sidekick]

Thanks for the link Pat!

[formerd3db]

Hello OAC Gang!

Just checking in to see how my "internet friends" are doing.   

Jr. has been getting letters for football from OAC schools (Heidi, JCU, Mount), and a few random contacts from out of the blue.  Thiel, Illinois State, and then........does anyone know what "sprint football" is?  He received an email from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, who is interested in him potentially playing for their sprint football team.  Evidently, it's a league that only allows players who weigh 172 lbs. or less.  The league consists of 10 or so eastern based teams, and includes a fair amount of Ivy League schools. 

Learn something new every day........

Stay classy my OAC buddies......have a great summer!

Yes, sprint football is for smaller kids, as you mention. It is not the same as a club football program at all, as club teams are generally full size players playing the same game everyone else does. Sprint football is huge at the service academies, along with the schools you mention.

There was an interesting piece in the New York Times some years back:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/sports/ncaafootball/15sprint.html

While it is correct that sprint football is designed only for the smaller sized players and has the specific size limitations, in reality it is the same as the club collegiate football programs in all other aspects (collegiate rules, eligibility, team rules, etc.) with perhaps the exception of not having a national championship structure (and for the fact that the schools who have club collegiate programs do so because the don't have a varsity program, unlike sprint football in regards to those Ivy schools -and service academies- that do). It's the same game, just for the smaller guys as the article outlines. Regardless, it still is a great venue for those students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in the game in that type of capacity. The article was very interesting and informative on the sprint programs and the history-thanks for posting it Pat as I had not seen that before.

[Pat Coleman]

Is it in the sense that it is not an NCAA sport but it's not the same in the style of play and also, some schools recognize sprint football as varsity.

[formerd3db]

Is it in the sense that it is not an NCAA sport but it's not the same in the style of play and also, some schools recognize sprint football as varsity.

Pat, I think I made that clear that I agree with you that it is not in the sense that it is not an NCAA sport.  That is great if some of the schools recognize it as a varsity sport as you mention.   Certainly some club collegiate teams are just that "club team" activities for the student-athletes, yet, it is definitely true that other colleges/universities that allow sponsoring of club collegiate football teams (and lacrosse and/or hockey) clearly recognize those teams as "virtual varsity".  The latter means that those programs are varsity sports in all sense with the exception of them being fully sponsored by the schools (most are only partially sponsored financially) and, again, that they are not NCAA sports, but rather involved in other sanctioned leagues with the same rules/regulations for eligibility, academic requirements, etc., etc..

We can argue/respectfully disagree with regards to these minor issues and/or semantics (obviously in the manner of a gentlemen's discussion ), however, from what the article described, I am not sure where you are coming from with regard to saying it is not the same style of play.  Unless I missed something, it is college football i.e. played the same way, same rules, same style; the student-athletes are expected to have the same standards both athletically and academically (i.e. on and off the field) as the other varsity sports at those schools, so in that sense, it is the same.  It might not be at the entire talent level of the main varsity teams (although I would dare say I'm sure there are some occasional smaller players who could play at that level for their respective schools). Yet it certainly is at the next level up from high school and not simply "glorified high school football" as some misguided persons have attempted to classify even DIII football (and NAIA) in some instances.

Regardless, while many of the club collegiate programs for the various sports at all sized schools/universities have been of a more recent origin, it is amazing that the sprint football program at the schools you've mentioned has been around since the 1930's as the article pointed out.  Of course, football is an entirely more involved type of program to sponsor for any school regardless of the classification and type program offered like we're discussing.  Yet, again, I think that is a great thing for some students to have that potential opportunity like the sprint programs (and/or the club collegiate programs) offer them if they desire to participate. 

[bluenote]

While it is correct that sprint football is designed only for the smaller sized players and has the specific size limitations, in reality it is the same as the club collegiate football programs in all other aspects (collegiate rules, eligibility, team rules, etc.) with perhaps the exception of not having a national championship structure (and for the fact that the schools who have club collegiate programs do so because the don't have a varsity program, unlike sprint football in regards to those Ivy schools -and service academies- that do). It's the same game, just for the smaller guys as the article outlines. Regardless, it still is a great venue for those students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in the game in that type of capacity. The article was very interesting and informative on the sprint programs and the history-thanks for posting it Pat as I had not seen that before.

formerd3db....I really appreciate your post, that made a lot of sense to me! Thanks again !   Blue.....

[Knightstalker]

Hello OAC Gang!

Just checking in to see how my "internet friends" are doing.   

Jr. has been getting letters for football from OAC schools (Heidi, JCU, Mount), and a few random contacts from out of the blue.  Thiel, Illinois State, and then........does anyone know what "sprint football" is?  He received an email from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, who is interested in him potentially playing for their sprint football team.  Evidently, it's a league that only allows players who weigh 172 lbs. or less.  The league consists of 10 or so eastern based teams, and includes a fair amount of Ivy League schools. 

Learn something new every day........

Stay classy my OAC buddies......have a great summer!

Army and Navy both have sprint football teams, they play at Kean quite often.  It is a very good game, fast paced and hard hitting.

[formerd3db]

Bluenote:

You are welcome.

Also, I appreciate Pat posting the article on sprint football.  That was very interesting and a good overview for everyone here (including me) as to the history of the sprint program and how it works.  Kind of interesting that the Ivy group of schools and the service academies led the way for this concept that long ago.

Knightstalker:

Also interesting that the two service academy sprint teams you mention play at Kean at times.  I assume that would be against Kean's JV team? (without looking at one of the schedules right now).

[badgerwarhawk]

Wow, that's way cool.  I'd never heard of it before.  Thanks, Pat.

[Knightstalker]

Former DB, no actually they play the Army Navy sprint game at Kean most years.   It is close enough to both schools to bus there and Kean' stadium is probably the best small football venue in NJ at this time.  Kean' facility is also one of the ones used for the NJSIAA State high school playoffs.

[Pat Coleman]

A college JV team isn't going to be the same as a sprint team. Total mismatch along the front. This is actually exactly what I was referring to when I mentioned they don't really play the same game -- the NYT story mentions how a team had trouble blocking an opponent's safety and found the center could come out and make the block.

That doesn't happen in full-size football.

[skunks_sidekick]

I was doing some research, and came up with this......


http://sprintfootball.com/index.html

[formerd3db]

A college JV team isn't going to be the same as a sprint team. Total mismatch along the front. This is actually exactly what I was referring to when I mentioned they don't really play the same game -- the NYT story mentions how a team had trouble blocking an opponent's safety and found the center could come out and make the block.

That doesn't happen in full-size football.

Pat:
When you define it that way, I totally understand.  We inadvertently, I think, misunderstood each other in discussing/trying to compare the various aspects of sprint team football.  I certainly agree with you that if a sprint team were playing a JV team, without question there would be the mis-matching that you're talking about and most likely other aspects as well and, indeed, that is different i.e. a different game (although perhaps there has been some very rare isolated times in a game somewhere perhaps among the worst of some DIII or NAIA teams where a center has actually blocked a safety? - just kidding ).  At the same time, my point was that the playing of the game of college football and the overall management of the league is the same - but again within the parameters of that league's own weight limits.  Also, as I mentioned, I did not look at the schedule of the sprint league when Knightstalker mentioned they play at Kean - which was the reason for my question as to if that meant they played the Kean JV team.  Obviously, he meant they simply played the game at Kean's facilities as he pointed out in his most recent post.  So again, you most recent point is right-on in that regard.  Thanks for the clarification.

Knightstalker:  Thanks for your clarification also.

skunks_sidekick:  Thanks for posting the link.  Everyone has an another source to refer to now in addition to the article that Pat posted.
   

[formerd3db]

I'll just mention one last (hopefully ) comment.  Wow, the sprint football league rules seem to be as meticulous regarding the weighing process as it is for wresting teams in high school and college! 

[formerd3db]

Pat (and others here):

On a completely different topic, have you or anyone else heard any updates on those potential/theoretical models the NCAA administrators we initially exploring regarding long range planning for Div III (the potential rearrangements, some schools wanting to do a Div IV, etc.) that you had discussed a year or two ago?  I did not get the opportunity to discuss this with our coaches (I don't think any of them went to the annual NCAA convention in January this year).

However, I haven't heard or seen anything of recent (admittedly, I have not checked the NCAA website either).  Nonetheless, I was just wondering if you had any "new" news, realizing, of course, that those plans were not anything that were going to happen soon, but again, rather just preliminary exploratory ideas.