Is there a minimum number of players a high school football team must have in order to field a team? If it matters by state, the state in question would be New York.
Is there a minimum number of players a high school football team must have in order to field a team? If it matters by state, the state in question would be New York.
while I don't have an answer for you, I think it safe to assume and point out that the 'code' of football you are talking about is 'Gridiron' of American football. as opposed to the half dozen other codes I've come across around this ever smaller globe. I hope you get a clear answer soon, I'd be more than ideally interested in the answer as a purely trivia related view.
best of luck
F.
There is actually no real answer for this, as there is no minimum number.
However, the maximum allowed on the field at a time is 11. And each team can have no more than 100 suited up at any time (each with their own number, 0-99).
So while technically they can take the field with only 1 player, odds are if there are less than 8 or 9 the referees will call the game for the safety of the players. And this is nationally, as American High School Football is regulated by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
There are some schools that are not members of the NFHS, but all follow the same rules to allow for matches between member and non-member schools. Almost all public schools are members of the NFHS, but most private and religious schools are not.
And to complicate things a bit more, many smaller High Schools with small enrollments play a variation called "Eight-man Football". And this can be played either on a standard field (53.3x100 yards), or a reduced field (40x80 yards).
There are also rules for 6 and 9 man football.
While there are 6, 8, and 9 player variations for football. a "standard" "American Football" team should have at least 50 players.
11 Offense players
Starting Line-Up
1 Quarterback, 1 or 2 Halfbacks, 1 Fullback, 0 or 1 Tight End, 1 to 4 Wide Receivers, {Linemen} Nose Tackel (Hiker), 2 Tackles, 2 Guards
Back-ups
13 Players more than just one per position to be able to vary the personnel in the backfield. More Receivers (and possibly Tight Ends) for a Pass Play (Halfbacks and Full backs may also receive the ball)
A "small" 50 player team might only have 5 or 6 Receivers (possibly as few as 4 in a "Run Heavy" Offense). Tight Ends and Fullbacks tend to have a particular build and skill set; it is possible to not field these positions. A back-up Left Takle may have to play Right Takle, or Left Guard, due to injuries or other evets.
Defensive "Schemes" may have variable numbers of Defensive Linemen, players in the Midfield, and players in the backfield.
(4-3-4) is a common set-up
4 Def Linemen: L/R Def Takle, L/R Def Guard
3 Linebackers (in the Midfield)
2 Safeties and 2 Defensive Backs
13 Back-ups so that the team may alter the Defensive Scheme
Also (at least) 1 Place Kicker and 1 Punter
Don't forget "Special Teams" for Kickoffs (placekicks), Punts, Extra Points, etc. {even on Professional Teams at least some of the players will come from the Offensive or Defensive teams)
Rarely there are extraordinary players who will play Both Offense AND Defense in the same game, or even immediately after having played say, Halfback, then play as a Linebacker on Defense. (Smaller teams may have to have some players play both Offense and Defense but would try to let them rest. For example, a backup Halfback who only played a single down on offense, then play a down or two on defense.
Only Professional Teams, top Universities, and some High Schools may be able to field some 75 decent players; allowing them to mostly have players in dedicated positions.
Most teams want to have (at least) 3 Quarterbacks because during a typical season it is prudent to presume that either your primary or backup QB will be injured and out for the rest of the game, and probably miss one or more games. Thus, you would want to have a backup QB (or "backup for the backup). The "3rd" QB for Kickoffs and Punts (to avoid putting your "real" QB at risk). However, many teams are Lucky to get even 1 QB who is capable of throwing well (accurate, and at least more than 15-20 yards past the Line of Scrimmage), and capable of Leading the Team; let alone 2...
That is a simplistic overview.
Only Professional Teams, top Universities, and some High Schools may be able to field some 75 decent players;
I didn't look up colleges but the NFL (American professional football) teams have a MAXIMUM of 53 players on the team, only 48 of whom are allowed to suit up on game day.
NFL (American professional football) teams have a MAXIMUM of 53 players on the team, only 48 of whom are allowed to suit up on game day.
That's on the official roster. Then there are players on waivers, or on injured reserve. If John Doe is out for the season, he'll be placed on reserve, and then someone else gets called up to take his place. They're not 'gaming' the system, it's simply having people who were ALMOST good enough for the team during the preseason available to call up when shit happens DURING the season.
I didn't look up colleges but the NFL (American professional football) teams have a MAXIMUM of 53 players on the team, only 48 of whom are allowed to suit up on game day.
Universities/Colleges and some high schools may "Red Shirt" players, or have a "Scrimmage Squad" in addition to JV Teams.
Similar to the Pros, the Scholarships are what strictly Limited.
As per the National Federation of High School Associations rule book from 2012 - which I have downloaded as a reference, but I don't have the link for it any longer - teams on field may consist of 6, 8, 9, or 11 players.
For 6, 8, and 9 player teams, midfield is the 40 yard line, but my be adjusted by the individual state.
ETA: Obviously, Article 3 only applies to full strength teams.
ART. 3 . . . Each team shall begin the game with 11 players, but if it has no substitutes to replace injured or
disqualified players, it may continue with fewer.
1. The numbers shall be clearly visible and legible using Arabic numbers 1-99 inclusive and shall be
on the front and back of the jersey.
That's one of the reasons states have different designations - typically 1A through 6A - because a small school with an enrollment of 200 may only have 15 kids available, while a school with 2,000 students could have 150 who can play, and thus have both a varsity and junior varsity.
And I can tell that is an old copy, as a few years ago they added the number 0, bringing the total from 99 to 100 players.
that is an old copy
That's why I specified what year it was from. At the same time, I was trying to find rules from earlier than that, for the obvious reasons. That's the same reason I had to use NCAA rules from 2000, and I'm using the actual Stanford playbook from 1993. We use what we can.
I'd actually suggest asking Tenderloin if you have any actual football questions, since he officiates games IRL.
I went to look on the official New York high school sports association website to read the rules for myself. But they wanted $6 to download the rules.
I kinda lost interest after that but Marius-6 gave a great answer so I'll take it.
My high school team - at the highest number had 19 players. Due to injury we started some games with only 14 or 15. That included a kicker who did nothing else.
So, on those teams, some players had to play both offense and defense. Right?
I can remember when college football teams in the U.S. played what they called "single platoon" football - where all players played both offense and defense and special teams. There were rules about substitutions. I believe that substitutions were limited to replace injuries (and the injured player could not return to the game) and at one time in each half (at the 4:00 mark, I think) when some limited number of substitutions were allowed.
My high school in the seventy's suited up
22 to 25 players. I played left and right Guard on offense and nose Guard and inside linebacker on defense along with special teams.
We were located in eastern North Carolina and played teams as small as ours to teams that suited a 100 players.
We really should have been playing 6-man football: even 8 man would have been too many. My previous school, another small private 1-12 school) had a 6-man team but the league dissolved.
In Texas there are a couple hundred 6 man teams and throughout the Midwest there are a couple thousand schools that play 8 or 9 man.
I found this, but it's from an info site, not official rules.
The NFHS doesn't limit the total number of players that can be on a high school roster.
The only rule they have is that two players with the same number can't be on the field at the same time.
What this means is that the roster size is usually limited to 99 players, although it can technically grow to more.
As the USA is a meritocratic country, is it fair to assume these rules apply equally to girls' and boys' teams?
AJ
There are no football teams for girls at the high school or college level.
A very, very small number of girls play football as a kicker or (I've heard of one) at quarterback.
ETA: Apparently some girls have also played full contact positions - there's a wikipedia article with a list.
I was surprised to learn recently that England has a women's American Football team. Seems redundant to me, with England's small but flourishing Women's Rugby Union. I guess if there's a sport, someone, somewhere, of any sex, will want to play it.
In the UK, women were banned from playing football for a long time by our own Football Association.
I'm surprised more women don't play American Football in the USA since some claim it's supplanted baseball as the national sport.
AJ
There is, or was, a semi-pro football league for women. I actually knew through business the woman who ran it.
The reason more women don't play is that they don't have the muscle mass of boys and don't want to get injured or killed.
It still exists: https://wfaprofootball.com/
They have quite a few teams in several divisions (Pro, Division 2 and 3, and 'developmental').
Haven't seen a game; have seen ads around town for them.