Guiding Questions

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

How do the players communicate?

What signals they use?
What rules the game as?
Who is the expert?
How does everyone participate?

Jottings and Descriptions

Each player must sign in with their 49er ID card for attendance and statistics
purposes. When I arrived I spoke with my friend about the game. After that the
team began to discuss the game plan for the match. I gave them some input on the
players on the other team because I knew them from my hometown. Once the
discussion was over, the captains went to center field. The ref alongside the
captains flipped a coin deciding who gets ball first. My friends team was defending
at the start of the game. Each team played seven versus seven players on the field
at a time. I quickly noticed since it was flag football, that they werent allowed to
block using their hands. They could only stop the player with their chest and arms
behind the back. Once a player pulled a flag off the opponent that has the ball, the
play was over. Like in regular football, they have four downs, but instead of going
ten yards they had to go twenty yards for the next first down. Also I noticed that the
field was only eighty yards in between end zones compared to one-hundred yards.
Since there was not a coach, it was up to the players to make their own
substitutions for other players to participate. I noticed that the players had a key
phrase to reference a play. Once a player scored a touchdown the ref had to pull on
the flags to make sure the scorer was not cheating. Also, the touchdowns were
worth six points except they dont have goal posts so they had to go for two extra
points instead of one. Sportsmanship, for the most part, was expressed throughout
the game. There were a couple occasions of excessive celebration. After the ball is
hiked the quarterback has a couple of seconds where he can throw it before the
defense can rush the passer. The game was pretty close until the end when an
interception occurred. This interception lead to the game winning touchdown.
Analysis
When I was observing the flag football game, I learned many rules and regulations. I
saw the hand signals and plays the teams ran. The roles of each player were key to
the teams success. The touchdown rule was the first rule that stood out to me. I
first noticed who the captain was when I showed up. The captain was giving the
speech before the game. Everyone participates by making their own substitutions
so everyone has a chance to play.
Reflection
I learned a lot about the sport of flag football through my observation. It was fun
doing the research because it was mostly done by watching the game. The players
were welcoming when I introduced myself and why I was there. I talked with the
team about a couple of players I knew from my hometown that were on the

opposing team. This observation helped me learn about this discourse community
that I was not a part of.