Bellarmine is playing sprint football. Here's what you need to know about the sport
Bellarmine University is making history with its new sprint football team. While the sport isn't NCAA-sanctioned, the team functions under the athletics department, not as a club sport. Former DeSales coach Harold Davis and the Knights kick off their inaugural season on Sept. 17 at Midway University in Midway, Ky.
What is sprint football? Sprint football is American football played under the same rules.
Then what’s the difference? Unlike a college team that may have athletes over 230 pounds, especially on the offensive and defensive line, all players must be 178 pounds or less.
How will that change the game? The game will be more about speed and agility - and the hits may not be as big since there won't be a larger lineman trying to take down a smaller back.
So it’s still 11-man football? Yep.
The field is still the same length? Mmhmm.
More:Why a winning high school football coach is starting a little-known sport at Bellarmine
A touchdown is still six points? You got it.
How do weigh-ins work? Players must weigh 178 pounds Monday and Wednesday before a Friday game (Tues/Thursday for a Saturday game).
It’s kind of like wrestling weigh-ins? Kind of. All “weight certifications” as the Midwest Sprint Football League (MSFL) calls them, are completed by the athletic training staff.
Is this a new sport? No. The University of Pennsylvania first started a team in 1934. There’s been a league on the East Coast played by Ivy League and military academies since. This is the first sprint football team in Louisville and you could call it a tie for first in Kentucky. Midway University also launched a sprint football team this year as part of the MSFL.
Why is Bellarmine playing? Adding sprint football allows the university to add football to the university's athletics roster while not having to necessarily compete for the same players as other universities.
More football:Looking back at Mark Stoops' milestone wins en route to a Kentucky football record
Any notable former sprint football players I might recognize?
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States
Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S. Secretary of Defense
Beau Biden, President Joe Biden’s oldest son
Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots
Stephanie Kuzydym is an enterprise reporter at The Courier Journal. Reach her at skuzydym@courier-journal, 513-445-2625 or on Twitter @stephkuzy.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: What is sprint football, and why Bellarmine University is playing it
