There is no tackling, no tucking of the ball after a catch, no pushing nor shoving allowed. There are only seven on the field for each team at a time, and twenty yards are needed for a first down.

It is not your normal football game, but the abnormality has not stopped intramural flag football from becoming increasingly popular on Northern Kentucky University’s campus.

“For girls, I think it’s because we never really got to play football in high school; and for the boys, they can almost relive their glory days,” said Danielle Kelsey, sophomore marketing major and team captain for Delta Gamma. “I like playing because I’ve never had the opportunity to play before and I found that I’m good at it.”

Participation in the sport was at its all-time high in 2010, the first year played at the NKU Soccer Stadium. The sport continues to grow as more teams and students take the field this year.

“Word is getting out about the overall experience,” said Jeremy Chipman, coordinator of campus recreation. “It is a neat environment with the [stadium] lights on. It is an inviting time and an inviting atmosphere.”

This year, there are 50 teams and around 600 students playing, which is an increase of almost 100 students from last year.

There are five different leagues that play on a certain day each week, who play between 6 and 10 p.m. The men’s teams play on Sundays and Mondays, sorority/women compete on Mondays and the fraternity and co-rec teams take the field on Thursdays.

Each team will participate in five regular season games and in the playoffs, provided they meet the three requirements mandatory for playoff eligibility: the captain must attend a captain’s meeting, the team must have an average rating of 4.0 out of a possible 5.0 in sportsmanship and the team cannot have any forfeits (defined as absence without notice).

New this year for intramural football, as well as for all intramural sports, is the website http://imleagues.nku.edu. This website allows for individuals and teams to communicate with each other and to keep up with their records and stats for the year. According to Chipman, this will make it easier for students to keep track of their team and help make his job easier as well.

Changes are still to come with the building of two intramural fields to be used as early as 2013.