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Canadian Football

Canadian football is a Canadian gridiron football code. Two 12-player teams use snaps, forward passes, running plays, kicks and three downs to gain territory and score touchdowns, field goals, safeties or rouges.

LevelVariant FamilyFootball Codes CategoryBall sport

Representative sports image for Canadian Football — D'Arcy Norman from Calgary, Canada · CC BY 2.0 · Image source

Classification

Category Ball sport

Family Football Codes

Level Variant

Getting started

Kurzbeschreibung Canadian football is a Canadian gridiron football code.

Geeignet für Fits if you like tactical team duels, territory and set plays, you know American football but find the Canadian down and field logic interesting, you realistically plan for contact, equipment and club/school structure.

Cost Low to medium for flag/touch; high for tackle because of protective equipment. Club/school fee, equipment, mouthguard, travel and league/camp costs. Football club, school/university, provincial sport organization or flag league. Flag or rookie training is the best entry before full contact is added.

First progress Flag basics quickly; playbook, contact and position play need season training.

Fitness level medium to high

Was du brauchst

Canadian football, marked field, coach, team, mouthguard; for tackle also helmet, shoulder pads and rule-compliant protective equipment.

First steps

Start with flag, touch or rookie practice: learn snap, routes, catching, pursuit, safe tackling basics and the three-down logic before full contact is added.
Look for Football Canada, provincial sport organizations, school/university teams, CFL-adjacent community programmes, flag-football leagues or local tackle clubs.

Look for Football Canada, provincial sport organizations, school/university teams, CFL-adjacent community programmes, flag-football leagues or local tackle clubs.

Start only in the appropriate source-described context and follow local rules.

Weitere Angaben

Tags team, outdoor, canadian-football, gridiron, three-downs, 12-player, ball-sport, football-codes

Rules and format

Die Grundlagen

Ziel

Gain territory and score more points than the opposing side.

Teilnehmer

Two teams with offense, defense and special teams.

Teamgröße

12 players per side in Canadian tackle/CFL context.

Spielfeld

Canadian football field with 110 yards between goal lines, 65 yards wide and 20-yard end zones.

Dauer

By league/age format.

Wertung

Touchdown, convert, field goal, safety and rouge/singles.

Gewinnbedingung

More points after time.

Ausrüstung

football
helmet
shoulder pads
mouthguard
protective gear
field

Wichtige Regelpunkte

offside
holding
pass interference
illegal contact
delay

Regelquellen

Federations and sources

Rulebooks & Rule Changes Football Canada · official-rulebook-hub · high
2025 Official CFL Rulebook CFLdb / Canadian Football League · official-rulebook-conversion · medium
Beginner's Guide To Football Gridiron New Brunswick · beginner-guide · medium