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Chester Romans Chester Rugby Club Chester 

We play at chester rugby club and please find our fixtures below for the upcoming 2009 season.  We were formed in 1986 and play in the British American football League (BAFL). Our games are free to attend and it is a great sport for the whole family to enjoy. We always welcome new supporters and a bar is open for drinks and snacks on game days.

Basics

Each game is an hour long, and split up into four 15 minute quarters. After each quarter the teams swap ends of the field. After the second quarter is half-time.

Aim

Like most sports, the idea is get more points than the other team. In American Football, the team has to edge their way towards the goal (or 'end zone'). After the kickoff, the team has four chances of making 10 (or more) yards down the pitch (and closer to the end zone). If they don't make the 10 yards required, then the ball is turned over to the other team, who then have their go of making 10 yards. If they do make 10 (or more) yards, then they get another four goes at making another 10 yards, which is called a 'first down'. This continues until the team has scored, doesn't make the 10 yards or the other team steals the ball.

Field

The field is 100 yards long and 53 yards wide. This is then divided into two equal halves, and these halves divided into five sections of 10 yards each. These sections are marked out and labelled, with the '50 yard line' as the centre, and each 10 yard line after that is indicated with the amount of yards left to the endzone, like so:

To be clear, the darkened area at the end of the field is the end zone. This is the area the player has to run the ball into to get a touchdown, which brings us nicely on to…

Scoring

So, the idea is to score, but how?

Touchdown: These are worth 6 points. They are scored when a player runs the ball into the oppositions' end zone.

Extra Point: Once the team has scored a touchdown (yay!), they have a chance to get a PAT by kicking the ball through those funny shaped goalposts, known as uprights, to get 1 point.

Two-Point Conversion: After the touchdown the team could try to get 2 points (instead of the PAT) by lining up again and try to run the ball back into the end zone.

Field Goal: If the team thinks they won't be able to get a first down (the next 10 yards to continue playing) and if they think they can reach, they will kick a field goal by kicking the ball between the uprights. These are worth 3 points.

Safeties: Worth 2 points, a safety is scored when the defence forces the ball to go down in the oppositions' end zone. Basically, the offence screws up and the ball is down in the wrong end zone!