Next to the quarter-back the player of the greatest importance is full-back.  His duty first of all is to attend to the kicking end of the game.  For that reason he must practise constantly both with punts and drop kicks and be able to put the ball between the goal-posts from all angles and distances within reason.  A great many games are won by a good drop kicker making a field goal at a critical time, and such a man is of the highest value to a team.  As drop kicking, like pitching in baseball, comes largely from practice, the captain or manager of a team should see to it that any member of his team who shows any ability at all in this department should be given every opportunity and encouragement to develop his skill.  A good drop kicker can be used temporarily from almost any position in the line, whether he be guard, tackle or end.  As a rule, however, the full-back is the player who does most of the kicking.  He must also be a good line bucker and be able to gain the required distance when called upon.

In general, then, we choose the three centre men because of their weight, the tackles and ends for speed and ability in tackling, the quarter-back for his all around ability and his generalship, the half-backs because of their skill in rushing the ball, and the full-back for the kicking department.  Any man on the team may be chosen captain.  As his work is largely done in practice and in perfecting plays, unless a team is in the hands of a coach it is better not to add the duties of captain to the already overburdened quarter-back.  Otherwise he is the logical and ideal man for the position.

[Illustration:  A football gridiron]

There is no game in which team work is more important than in football.  Eleven boys of moderate ability and comparative light weight who can execute their plays with skill and precision can beat a team of heavier boys or superior players who may lack their skill and organization.  In the case of a school team it is almost always possible to secure the services of a coach from among the graduates.  If such a one has had experience on a college team so much the better.

A football field is 330 feet long by 160 feet wide.  At each end are goal posts set 18 feet 6 inches apart, with a crossbar 10 feet above the ground.  The field is marked off in chalk lines similar to a tennis court, these lines being 5 yards apart.  The centre of the field where the play starts is 55 yards from either end.  It is usually customary to run lines parallel to the sides of the field, also 5 yards apart, but as a field is but 160 feet wide the first and last of these lines are but 5 feet from the side lines instead of 5 yards.  The lines on a football field make a checkerboard effect and have given to the field the name of “gridiron.”