Life

Amateur American football league tackles heavy demand

By Todd Balazovic (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-17 09:19

It might be a non-contact sport, but clothes are shown little mercy in Flag Football. [Photos provided to China Daily]

With the hangover from the World Cup long gone, another kind of football, American Football, has been given growing interest amongst both Beijing's expats and Chinese.

The fall season for the Beijing American Football League began its second season last Saturday as ten teams, a balanced mixture of Chinese, Americans and Europeans, gathered to play at the fields in Ditan sports stadium.

What began as just five guys playing pick-up American football in Chaoyang Park has morphed into a movement for both amateur and well-seasoned football players piqued by the odd Western sport.

"The league has really started to gain some momentum," said League Commissioner and co-founder of the league Yoyao Hsueh.

A non-contact version of American Football, Flag Football involves fewer lines of beefed-up players donning several layers of padding as they run full bore into each other than its counterpart. Instead, the game relies heavily on quick movements, accurate throwing, and well thought out strategy.

"It's a completely different challenge. With Flag (Football) it is all about speed and your ability to maneuver around people," said league player Scott Cleland, who has played American football for most of his adult life. "The difference is between night and day."

The league officially began its first season last April with Hsueh working with the local NFL China league to work out the details in how they would set things up.

Having successfully acquired local sponsorship from the Blue Frog Restaurant, buying jerseys and flag belts, Hsueh said he is excited to see where this league can go.