IntroFootball has been a very important part of American culture, especially over the past 50 years. Football is now the most followed sport in America. There are many different levels in which football is played. For example, there are professional, semi-professional, college, secondary and pop alarms. Fans around the world are passionate at all levels of football. Professional and college football are by far the most popular and have the largest fan base. It can easily be said that high school football has some of the most passionate fans. Origins The concept of football began in the late 1800s from what we call rugby. Over the coming years, football evolved more and more as we know it today. The first official football game took place in 1869, when Rutgers and Princeton played each other. Walter Camp, who was Yale's coach at the time, was the first person to develop some of the sport's early rules and regulations. Camp came up with many concepts that we know today, such as the try system, the use of eleven versus fifteen players, and the size of the field. Other rules implemented by Camp were the concept of line of scrimmage, safety, and forward pass (Bellis, 2014). Around the same time that college football was starting across the country, high schools were also joining in on the game action. High school football was to be played the same as college football, but with some changes. The National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS) decided to establish the rules that high schools must follow. The NFHS decided that quarter lengths were going to be shortened to 12 minute quarters instead of 15. Kickoffs were moved to the 40 yard line...... middle of paper ......to decrease in years to come. (Châtelain, 2013)ConclusionEight-a-side football is an entertaining and fun-to-watch sport that resembles many of the same concepts as conventional eleven-a-side football. It is played in many small towns and small private schools across the country. It is a growing sport due to many small communities becoming even smaller. This is because many people are moving from these small urban communities to the city. Eight-man football is a great way for student-athletes and schools to continue to have the opportunity to play football, even if they come from a small community. Even though eight-a-side football isn't quite conventional football, it's still fun to watch and play. People who know and have played eight-a-side football are just as passionate about the sport as those who have played eleven-a-side football..