LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A perfect combination of speed, strength and power can be found on gridiron.
“It’s the same football everyone is used to, field’s the same, four downs, quarters are 15-minute quarters,” said Harold Davis, head coach of the Bellarmine University sprint football team.
The only difference between the Bellarmine University’s sprint football team and traditional football program is the weight limit.
“Before I came here, I was almost like 190, around that area and then I came here and cut down to 170-175,” freshman Louinel Plaisir said. “It wasn’t too hard. You just gotta put the work in, drop it down a little bit and play ball.”
The Midwest Sprint Football League consists of six private colleges, including Bellarmine, where players are required to meet the 178-pound weight limit. Players can weigh up to 183 pounds if they meet additional required metrics.
It’s a safer alternative to traditional football as 22 total years of data collected from the four existing teams shows the average number of concussions in a year was only two.
“I think the biggest part is everyone getting used to everyone and for coaches figuring out where we can play these guys,” Davis said. “Most of them were skill players, very few that we have ever played offensive line.”
For sophomore Brock Snead, it’s a second chance he’d never thought he get.
“I was looking to play some college ball, different colleges, was getting recruited and had a back injury near the later end of my senior year so that kind of delayed me off,” Snead said.
For many like Plaisir, that meant moving thousands of miles away to make their dreams a reality.
“I was a little kid telling my dad I was going to go to the NFL, and I came to a college sport trying to go for the dream,” Plaisir said.
He hopes to ultimately put Bellarmine football on the map.
“It’s an incredible experience, just thinking about being the first team to ever play here, being on that first team. This could pop off in the next couple years and years to come after that. It’s a big deal,” Snead said.
The Midwest Sprint Football League will play its inaugural season this fall. Bellarmine University’s sprint football team is set to kick off its season Sept. 17 at Midway University.