WHAT IS SPRINT FOOTBALL?

Division I Football For The Outstanding Student Football Player Who Weighs Less Than 175 Pounds

Sprint football is Division I varsity collegiate football. Sprint football has the same rules as all collegiate football, every player must weigh no more than 172 pounds both Monday and Wednesday every week of the season. This leads to philosophical differences in the sport. "It's not a faster game, but it is a much quicker game," said Cornell head coach Terry Cullen. "The players are all the same size." This is a fast, hard-hitting brand of football. Sprint football brings the game back to fundamentals. The focus is on technique and execution, not simply bulking up. Sprint teams regularly beat varsity JV teams, even when facing 300 pounders.

"It gives the smaller athlete an opportunity to play football," said Collegiate Sprint Football League commissioner Gene Taylor.

"The players are overachievers and all are highly motivated," said Cullen. "Overcoming size differentials on a football field and excellence in the classroom are the norm in this sport."

Cornell is one of five teams currently in the CSFL, along with Army, Navy, Pennsylvania and Princeton. Sprint football truly embodies the student-athlete ideal-an academic star and an elite football player.

Cornell Sprint Football

Cornell University first fielded a sprint football team in 1936 and has continued to support the program since that time. The Cornell sprint team plays a six-game schedule in the Collegiate Sprint Football League, in some of the finest athletic facilities in the Northeast. Home games are played Friday evenings at Schoellkopf Field, an AstroTurf surface. The team has 65 players (the maximum allowed by league rules), eight coaches, four managers, three trainers, academic advisors, academic tutors, a strength coach and full-time equipment personnel. Facilities include excellent locker rooms, meeting and film rooms and an outstanding varsity teams-only weight lifting facility. In addition, an indoor and outdoor AstroTurf field and a dedicated grass facility are available for practice.