By Susan T. Spencer ~
Now that it won’t be long before the NFL football season is upon us, starting to learn the basics of football on the beach might just be the push you need to get into the game. Why learn football?
Football is the most watched professional sport globally. More than 111 million TV viewers in the US watched the Super Bowl in February this year breaking a 27 year record held by the last episode of Mash. More than twice as many viewers watch weekly telecasts of professional football games than any weekly prime time show.
Football is an American phenomenon and it’s time you got on the bandwagon with the 20% of other females who have already figured out the career benefits of being able to “talk football.” Once you can talk football you can start a conversation with anyone, anywhere, and at anytime. If you are single it is a great door opener for meeting men who are hooked on football.
Using a beach ball to play football is quite a challenge but will help you understand the basics of what professional quarterbacks do on the field—quarterbacks handle the ball more than any other player during a game. So here you are—the quarterback on the beach.
As the quarterback you can run with the ball, pass the ball to someone else or hand the ball to another player on your team to run with it. For the beach, I suggest you pass the ball to a teammate more than half the time you have the ball. Quarterbacks in the NFL pass the ball 56% of the time.
In beach ball football you need at least 3 players on each team. You are the quarterback and both the other players on your side can catch your pass or you can hand one of them the ball to run with it. Call one the runner and the other the receiver but both of these teammates can catch or run with the ball. On the opposite side are 3 defensive players. They are facing all 3 of you, (quarterback, runner, and receiver) and are trying to knock down the one with the ball and even take it from them.
You score when you or a team member carries the ball into the water. So set up your game with the one who has the ball to start facing the water. Your team gets 4 tries to carry the ball and reach the water, if you fail to reach the water or you lose the ball before you get to score the ball goes to the other team and you and your teammates switch places and now you are the defense trying to prevent the other team from scoring by reaching the water when they have the ball.
Learning football is an opportunity you can’t afford to miss …. especially on the beach. Once you start there will be lots of men who will want to “teach” you the game. So take advantage of the rest of the summer to get into football … it will make your life richer, your loved ones will be really impressed, and you will be well on your way to adding a new and exciting dimension to your life by making every Sunday—football Sunday!
In fact, below is a list of terms that can be used in beach ball football and even in life. This glossary of football terms can be used by Beach Ball Football “players” to impress others on the beach and even in the boardroom:
Offense: The team that has the beach ball and is trying to score
Defense: The team that is trying to stop the offense from scoring
Interception: When the beach ball is caught by a player on the defense
Turn Over: Losing the beach ball in any way to a player on the defense results in turning the beach ball over to that team
Sack: When the player holding the beach ball gets thrown to the sand by a player on the opposing team
Shake and Bake: A player with quick and elusive moves on the sand while running with the beach ball
Huddle: When the quarterback(who is the play caller for the offense) gets her other players together in a tight circle to tell her teammates what her next move will be
Touchdown: When an offensive player reaches the water with the beach ball
Roughing the passer: When someone on the opposing team throws sand in the passer’s face
Lockout: Hosts of beach ball football game escort the opposing team to their cars and refuse to allow them to play the game
Free Agent: Beach ball player that is not under contract to the hosts and can play for either team
Susan T Spencer is an entrepreneur, award-winning author of BriefcaseEssentials, lawyer, and former minority owner, GM and VP of the Philadelphia Eagles Football Franchise. Spencer has spent the last 25 years owning and running her own companies in exclusively male dominated industries after turning her back on the “corporate world.” Her stories and examples are authentic, and her advice for women in business, who own a company, or who are thinking about starting a business is direct, practical, pioneering, and barrier breaking. Spencer attended Boston University where she earned a BA. She later received her MA in Education/Economics from Hofstra University and received her law degree from Villanova University. Susan can be reached at SUSANTSPENCER1@aol.com. Follow her football talk on QB Talk http://susanspencer.audioacrobat.com/rss/susan-spencer-talks-football.xml