Sprint Football

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Sprint Football, or Lightweight Football is a version of American football where no player may weigh more than 172 pounds. It is played by teams of the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL). The sport was developed in 1934. The weight limit, originally 150 pounds, is informally pegged to the average weight of a college-aged male and has risen regularly since the sport's inception. The league was originally called "The Eastern 150-pound Football League". In 1967, the name was changed to "The Eastern Lightweight Football League (ELFL)", and then again to its current form in 1998. Currently there are five teams in the Collegiate Sprint Football League: the United States Military Academy (Army), Cornell University, the United States Naval Academy (Navy), Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania. The league has an impressive list of alumni, including Jimmy Carter, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Kraft and George Allen. The league has had 13 different schools participate throughout its existence.^{[citation needed]}

On October 5th, 2007, Mansfield University announced they would field a Sprint Football team starting for the 2008 season.^[1]

As with wrestling, players over 172 pounds have an incentive to temporarily lose weight to pass the weight limit, typically through dehydration. To address concerns for the players' health and safety, and especially to discourage dangerous weight-loss techniques, players must not only meet the 172-pound weight, but they also must have a minimum body fat content of 5.0% by weight and a urine specific gravity of 1.020 or less.

Cornell, Princeton, and Penn all hold alumni games in which sprint football alumni return to campus for a full-contact scrimmage against the varsity squad. The alumni games serve the dual purpose of raising funds to support the team and maintaining alumni interest in the program. Typically, the alumni have to pay a weight penalty fine for weighing above the 172-pound limit.