TOCHITO BANDERA: HISTORY, RULES, CHARACTERISTICS AND HOW TO PLAY - ARTE - 2025

The flag tochito, ribbon tochito or flag football is a variation of American football that is played without tackling, that is, without strong impacts that knock down the opponent. Instead of tackling, the defensive modality consists of snatching one of the two ribbons or flags that the rival protects on both sides of the waist.

The ribbon or the pennant are the main distinctive of this modality, since its use replaces the popular down that sets the standard in American football. Personal protection utensils are not used in the flag tochito. Therefore, helmets, face shields, knee pads or shoulder pads are not used.

It can be played by men and women indistinctly, even the configuration of mixed teams with players of both genders is allowed. It is an extremely common practice in the United States and Central America, especially in Mexico, Honduras, Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

History of the flag tochito

origins

The tochito Bandera, also known as flag football or flag football, is derived from American football, whose rise dates back to the mid-19th century in the United States.

By then this sport gained great popularity among Americans. However, not everyone interested in playing American football had the ability to afford the personal protective equipment necessary for it.

Consequently, flag football emerged as an evolution of American football, with a lower requirement in terms of protective equipment and the organization of highly elaborate game strategies.

The tochito Bandera maintains the essence of American football when it comes to the adrenaline of the game in all its dynamics: passing, catching, sprinting with the ball, etc.

The only basic modification is the snatch of the flag or ribbon, replacing the tackle. The rest of the execution of the game is very similar.

Development in military bases

The rules of flag football as they are known today were developed on American military bases in the early 1940s.

It was originally conceived as a recreational activity for the military, given its popular origins and because it is an accessible modification of American football. In addition, its practice offered notable advantages for military personnel, since the players were not in danger of being seriously injured before going to war.

After World War II, recreational leagues were developed to coordinate flag football tournaments throughout the United States.

Subsequently, flag football had a great boom as a recreational activity on university campuses in the United States, extending its practice beyond the borders of this country.

How do you play?

- The tochito flag must be practiced by two teams of seven players each, on a rectangular field with the following dimensions: 100 yards long by 40-53 yards wide.

- The field must be divided into six sections: two end zones of 10 yards each, at both ends of the field, and in the middle four sections of 20 yards each.

- Each team must have at least 5 active players, who must remain on the field until the end of the game. Otherwise, the game will be won by the opposing team by the forfeit rule.

- It is played with an oval-shaped inflated ball made of leather (natural or synthetic). This must be thrown from the air to alternate possession of the ball between players of the same team.

- There is no such thing as a tie. In case the two teams have the same score at the end of the two halves, the winner of the game will be determined by sudden death.

Game rules

Duration

The game takes place in two halves, each one lasting between 20 and 30 minutes. It has an intermission that will count between 5 and 10 minutes.

In addition, each contestant may have three "timeouts" in each half of the game, each lasting 45 seconds, which will be used at the discretion of each team.

The last 2 minutes will be timed, that is, the clock will stop counting if there is a time-out, an injury to a player, or any situation that warrants it according to the referee's criteria.

Team Captaincy

Each team must designate one player as captain on the field of play. Only the captain may bring the team together at the times when he deems it appropriate.

Likewise, the captains are the only ones authorized to deal directly with the game officials.

Punctuation

The score on the flag block goes as follows:

The extra point is understood as the opportunity to score an additional point or two after having scored a touchdown. The scoring occurs when a player has the ball in legal possession and reaches the goal line of the opposing team.

Likewise, the safety or self-score occurs when an offensive player carries the ball into the end zone of his own team.

The fourfitte or disqualification for breaking the rules occurs when the presence of a player on the field is detected that has not been previously registered with the competent authorities.

If a player in legal possession of the ball makes untimely movements with his arms or hands to prevent the opponent from snatching the tape from his hips, the team of the player taking this action will be penalized.

The applicable penalty is to delay the player's travel by 5 yards, in addition to the loss of the down.

Players clothing

The players of each team must wear shirts of a similar color, to facilitate visual identification of the participants. The color of the jerseys must be different from that of the team ribbons.

All players must wear shorts, preferably shorts, solid colors and without pockets. These pants must also be a different color than the team's ribbons or flags.

Participants must wear closed shoes that fully cover both feet. The use of heels is not allowed. The use of accessories, watches, chains or protrusions on clothing is prohibited.

References

1. Basic Flag Football Rules (nd). Recovered from: csuci.edu
2. Flag Football (sf). Recovered from: lths.net
3. Flag Football Rule Book. (2016). Recovered from: flagflagfootball.com
4. Garza, S., López, O., Maza, M., Rodríguez, H., and Orozco, R. (2015). Rule Book for Flag Football. Recovered from: flagmorelos.com.mx
5. History of Flag Football (nd). Recovered from: studentweb.cortland.edu
6. Rules Tochito Bandera (2009). Recovered from: flagfootballmexico.es.tl
7. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2018). Flag football. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org