Nine-a-side footy is a sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 based on Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 played informally by Aussie Rules clubs but not yet an official sport in its own right.

9-a-side games are sometimes played on half size fields that are typically rectangular or more commonly rugby fields, with 9 players on the field at any one time, typically consisting of 3 forwards, 3 backs and 3 centre players. Often two games are played at the same time on a single Australian Rules or cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 pitch. Other times, 9-a-side makes use of the full space of the field when a full complement of players is not available. This variety is a more open, running variety of Australian rules.

Rules

The following rules apply in 9-a-side footy as played by Aussie Rules UK

Aussie Rules UK

Aussie Rules UK was a United Kingdom organisation set up in April 2005 to introduce children in the UK to Australian rules football via an adaptation of the sport for use in schools...

:

• Up to 9 players on each team, with 3 players each designated as forwards, centres and backs
• After each goal the players must be in their respective third of the pitch but may rove freely after the ball-up
• Goals and behinds may only be scored from within the forward zone
• Players may bounce the ball only once before disposing of it
• If the ball goes out of play (whether on the full or not) the nearest opponent shall kick the ball back into play

All other rules remain unchanged.

Advantages

Australians Rules football has struggled to develop outside of Australia partly because the game is highly resource intensive. A game requires the use of a large cricket oval, many players (40 including interchanges) and several officials. The adaptation of the game to rugby fields requires far fewer players and a pitch that is more readily available, and as a result, many more people are being introduced to the game outside of Australia.

9-a-side leagues and tournaments

Examples of official tournaments held under these rules include:

• The EU Cup
  EU Cup
  thumb|Logo of the 2007 EU CupThe EU Cup is an international Australian rules football tournament played between European national teams. Played under 9-a-side Footy rules, the tournament was first held at Chiswick Rugby Club in London, England in 2005 as an extension of the Central European...
  
  
• Bali Nines
• Aussie Rules UK National League

Existing formats

• Rec Footy
  Rec Footy
  Recreational Football is a non-contact version of the Australian rules football game sanctioned by the Australian Football League...
  
  , sanctioned by the Australian Football League
  Australian Football League
  The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
  
   is the non-contact game.
• Touch Aussie Rules
  Touch Aussie Rules
  Touch Aussie Rules is a non-contact version of Australian rules football that is currently played in London, UK and organised by Aussie Rules UK.All skills are used in Touch Aussie Rules, including kicking, marking, handballing and bouncing....
  
  , sanctioned by Aussie Rules UK
  Aussie Rules UK
  Aussie Rules UK was a United Kingdom organisation set up in April 2005 to introduce children in the UK to Australian rules football via an adaptation of the sport for use in schools...
  
   is the non-contact game played in the UK.
• Metro Footy
  Metro Footy
  Metro Footy is a modified version of Australian rules football rules played on gridiron football, rugby or Association football fields, predominantly in the United States of America...
  
   is a 9-a-side game played on gridiron
  Gridiron football
  Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
  
   fields in the United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
  .

See also

• Eight-man football
  Eight-man football
  Eight-man football is a type of American football, generally played by small high schools. Rules and formations vary greatly among states and even among different organizations, but the one constant is eight players from each team on the field at one time, as opposed to eleven-man football, which...
  
   (Gridiron)
• Seven a side football (Soccer)
• Rugby sevens
  Rugby sevens
  Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
  
  
• Rugby tens
  Rugby tens
  Rugby tens, also known as ten-a-side and Xs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of ten players, typically five forwards and five backs. Matches are much shorter, often of two ten-minute halves...