USA Football

Created by USA Football in 2012, this education and safety program covers fundamental skills and all-sport-relevant athlete health protocols offered nationally.^[6] More than 600,000 coach certifications have been completed through the program since 2012.

"Nine of the 10 largest U.S. public school districts – and 16 of 20 largest – ... enrolled in the USA Football program" in 2018 on either high school and/or middle school levels.^[7] For the second consecutive year, more than 3,000 high schools nationwide enrolled in Heads Up Football in 2018.

Heads Up football is supported by the ACSM, AMSSM, NATA, and the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society.^[8] The program’s significant momentum represents cultural and behavioral change.^[9] More Heads Up Football details reside here. Its educational components are:

• Concussion recognition and response
• Heat preparedness and hydration
• Sudden cardiac arrest
• Proper equipment fitting
• Shoulder tackling
• Blocking

USA Football’s 2020 Youth Coach Certification, nationally accredited by the United States Center for Coaching Excellence, was updated this year and is no longer referred to as Heads Up Football, but incorporates the aforementioned educational components in addition to some new content and resources.^[10]

USA Football’s equipment grant program is made possible through the National Football League Foundation. The NFL Foundation is the league’s nonprofit organization representing the 32 NFL clubs. Its mission is to support the health, safety and wellness of athletes, youth football and the communities which support the game.

USA Football’s grant program has delivered the following since 2006:

• Awarded more than $15 million in grants to school-based and youth football programs
• Benefited more than 500,000 youth and high school football players in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
• Assisted more than 9,500 youth and high school football programs in all 50 states

USA Football’s Youth Tackle Football Practice Guidelines, established in 2015,^[11] may be the only youth sports guidelines to have earned the endorsement of the following sports medicine associations:

• American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
• American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM)
• National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA)

Combined, these three organizations comprise more than 50,000 members across 90 countries spanning 70 occupations within sports medicine.

USA Football’s guidelines employ the innovation of defining levels of contact and establishes time limits on player-to-player full contact (“thud” and “live” contact).^[12] The guidelines define “thud”-level contact as “full contact” and limits it, unlike other practice guidelines on higher levels of the sport. These guidelines also address proper heat acclimatization, which was written with advisement from the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut.

In February 2022, Peter W. Chiarelli, a retired U.S. Army general, was named chairman of USA Football.^[13] He was preceded by Raymond Odierno, formerly the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, when he succeeded Carl Peterson in 2017.

As of June 2022^[update], USA Football's Board of Directors includes:^[14]

† Ex-officio member
‡ U.S. Football National Team Alumnus

USA Football is affiliated with the following sponsor-partnerships:^{[citation needed]}

In May 2017, after a split that created rival groupings of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF), an IFAF grouping based in Paris stripped its recognition of USA Football,^[15] citing disputes over anti-doping enforcement, and recognized the United States Federation of American Football (USFAF) as the governing body of American football in the United States.^[16] USFAF organized a collegiate team to participate in the 2017 World Games, in which it won a bronze medal. The grouping of the IFAF based in New York continued to recognize USA Football,^[17] and organized the 2017 Women's World Championships, which the American team won.^[18]

In March 2018, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) determined that the IFAF entity in New York was the proper governing entity and voided all decisions of the IFAF entity in Paris, including their decision to strip USA Football of its recognition.^[19] USA Football is currently the internationally recognized governing body for American football in the United States.^[20]

• List of leagues of American and Canadian football

• Official website