Run Nation

Various contact sports have become aware of the dangers that their players face from the effects of concussion, particularly repeated concussions, and so they have been trying to introduce rules that reduce the likelihood of such bruising encounters.

Run Nation has taken the opposite approach and picked up an element of Rugby League to feature it as a sport in its own right.  The hit-up in football is a tactic in which the player with the ball runs hard into the line of the opposition without attempting any avoidance manoeuvre in an effort to draw the opposition to him and create space elsewhere.

This is the basic element of Run Nation.  One person faces off against another, they both run straight at each other and engage in a tackle.  There are rules about where body contact can and cannot happen and the players are vetted for their fitness but the frequency with which concussion is the end result is of concern. Astonishingly the sport has had, from small beginnings, a sudden surge in popularity.