Congrats to Season 1 of American Football in Costa Rica. That’s right folks, no longer is American Football only played by a large group of American expats on the beach, there is actually a Costa Rica Federation of American Football (ACFA). It’s amazing how the times are changing!

The season officially began for the American Foodtball league in Costa Rica back in March 2009, when the first game was held on a Sunday afternoon. However, the teams started training much earlier than that.

The league is made of up 6 teams and 80% of the members are Ticos. The teams started training for that Sunday in March back in October of 2008. Unlike American football, the Costa Rican version gets played on an 80 yard soccer field, as opposed to the standard 100 yards we Americans are used to.

The young Ticos on the team don’t exactly look like your standard football player… most are under 200 lbs. The rules of regular football apply here as well, meaning most Tico players had to learn the rules from 0.

For the next season it is anticipated that 4 more teams will be joining the 6 team Costa Rica Federation of American Football, making for a total of a 10 team league. Not too shabby for a place that lives and breathes “futbol.” There are hopes of instituting the leage at all levels: professional, university, high school and youth levels.

For a look at the Costa Rica Sharks click here.