With the Super Bowl over, you may be looking at ways to satisfy your football fix. While you could still watch the sport in the means of the Alliance of American Football, what if there was another way to enjoy football? The only thing better than watching football is playing football. Playing football can provide you with many physical and mental health benefits. Now you may have a million excuses of why you can not play full-contact football, but there is another, and safer, way to play: flag football.

The Fun of Flag Football

For many people, there is at least one reason that they are not playing in the NFL. Flag football, however, can give you an opportunity to play the sport without the concerns of full-contact football.

Reasons To Play

As an obvious reason, your physical health will improve as a result of playing flag football. Football uses a lot of your muscles sometimes in ways you would not normally do. Playing can be a way to add an additional depth to your workout or start you on your path to being more in shape. Flag football also helps your cardio. With all the running that occurs, your heart health will improve.

Aside from the obvious physical activity, playing flag football provides other positive benefits.

For starters, you will improve your skills of communicating within a team. Since football is a team sport — even people like Tom Brady cannot win by himself — you will need to communicate within your team and work together to have a chance at winning. Even if you are playing with people you have never met before, the same level of communication and teamwork is necessary. Using these skills can be beneficial to you off the gridiron.

In addition to improving communication skills, it can also benefit your social life. Whether you are playing with friends or strangers, interacting with people can have positive effects on your health. For many adults, work may limit interaction with other people, so getting out to play a fun game of flag football can you a regular source of communication.

Level of Experience

Compared to some other sports, flag football does not require much experience. While different levels of competitiveness may require different knowledge of the sport, in its basic form, flag football can be played by anyone. With different positions available, there is a spot for even for some completely unfamiliar with the sport. Playing flag football may even lead to a new interest in the sport.

Flag football can also be a place for former players. If you played the sport in high school or college but stopped playing for a specific reason, flag football can you a chance to play the sport you love. Flag football can be an opportunity for anyone to play, regardless of experience.

Where to Play

Since little equipment is required to play, it can be played just about anywhere with enough room for a field. Pick-up games are common amongst recreational users. For basic games, the space to make the field, flags, and a football are the only necessities.

For more serious and competitive games, recreational leagues can be found around the country. These leagues have the option to sign up as a team or a free agent. The leagues also may have different levels and they may be more inclusive by having co-ed teams.

Safety Concern

While flag football is a fun sport to play, there are some safety concerns that exist. Since you will be physically active, it is important to stay hydrated and stretch your muscles before and after playing to help prevent injury. Since tackling is not allowed, pads and helmets are not needed. This could lead to possible injuries to occur by running into other players. Playing smart and being aware can go a long way to limit these type of injuries. Wearing a mouthguard is still recommended to limit damage to your mouth.

Last Word on Flag Football

For many, flag football can be a fun activity to do with friends to help stay healthy. While typical football rules apply, looking for rules online can provide many variations to play. Both teams knowing the rules, whether you just made them up or printed them out, is all that is required to start playing. Flags and footballs can be found in most stores that sell sporting goods, as well as other equipment you may want. So grab your friends and play some flag football this weekend!

Main Image Credit: