HAPPENINGS
Dad and Son Face Off for Football Laurie Griffen posted the photo below on her Facebook page, along with this note, “Fun way to start Will’s Sr. Year – showing his father a few moves during the annual Sprint Football Alumni game.” Will Griffen is a senior at Cornell University, the alma mater of both Steve and Laurie, co-owners of Saratoga Sod Farm, Inc., Stillwater, NY.
It reports, “Speed is the focus of the sport, rather than size. Players are fundamentally sound and provide fans with an exciting brand of textbook football. Tere are currently nine teams playing in the CSFL (Collegiate Sprint Football League). Army, Chestnut Hill College, Cornell University, Franklin Pierce University, Mansfield University, Navy, Pennsylvania University, Post University and Caldwell University play a full schedule of league games during the fall season.”
Te website further explains, “Sprint football was created to provide the average-size college age student-athlete the opportunity to play football. Every student on campus is offered a legitimate tryout, regardless of their previous background. Te sport attracts excellent student/athletes that would otherwise not have the opportunity to compete on the collegiate level due to size.”
Originally launched as a competition between teams fielded by Harvard and Yale to provide additional entertainment before their varsity game, Penn popularized the sport as “Football for All.” Eight lightweight teams competed in 1931. Te early league began in 1934 as the 150-Pound Football League with four teams and a weight limit of 150 pounds. Cornell University joined the league in 1937.
Tat post prompted a phone call to Laurie for more details. Laurie says, “Sprint football is a varsity sport, with all the standard football regulations, except the players need to weigh in like they do in wrestling. Te weigh ins are four days and then two days before the game and players must meet the weight limit of 178 pounds or less. It’s a fun alternative to heavyweight football for those who want to keep playing in college. It’s a faster game because all the players are closer to the same size. Steve played defensive end on the team during his college years in the mid-1980s when the weight limit was 158 pounds.” And Laurie reported another fun fact, Cornell’s current Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) Head Coach, Terry Cullen, was the head coach when Steve played.
Laurie referred me to the Cornell University Big Red website, in their “about the sport” section, (link shown below) for some background.
https://cornellbigred.com/documents/2017/4/24/ About_the_sport.pdf.
In 1967, the name was changed to the Eastern Lightweight Football League and the weight limit was raised to 158 pounds. In 1998, the name was officially changed to the Collegiate Sprint Football League and the weight limit became 166 pounds. In
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TPI Turf News November/December 2019
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