Bring all the elements into the game

Organisation

• Organise the players into a circle; one player starts off as a tagger
• The tagger moves around the circle tapping players (gently) on the back; when he/she touches a player on the head, that player then chases around the circle and the tagger tries to return to the empty spot in the circle before getting caught
• The taggers and runners can move in different ways, e.g. hopping, skipping, jumping or slalom, and also while dribbling a ball at the same time
• Provide praise and positive feedback,  encouraging the players to play with confidence

Ways to make the exercise easier

• Players can be seated in the circle to begin with, or lying down, so the runner has a head start while the chasing player gets up off the ground

Ways to make the exercise harder

• The players have to  dribble a ball while chasing (if you have enough balls for one each)

Great questions to ask the players

• Can you react quickly if you are tagged?
• Can you tag someone who will challenge you to move faster?
• Can you choose a way to move around the circle?

Safety Points

• Create a safe space to play

Organisation

• Organise two teams of equal numbers, who work opposite or diagonally to each other with a 20m gap in between. The coach stands in the middle. Players on both teams are given the same numbers (e.g. 1-6 for 6v6)
• The players begin by passing the ball between one another in any order
• When you call a number, the relevant player runs to the opposite group and becomes a defender, trying to intercept the passes
• When you shout the next number, the players are replaced and quickly return to their team
• Passing teams should try to set the highest score for the number of consecutive passes
• Start with throw and catch and then move on to passing by feet
• Provide lots of praise and positive feedback, encouraging the players to play with confidence

Ways to make the exercise easier

• Make the areas bigger at each end, so it’s more difficult to intercept

Ways to make the exercise harder

• Smaller areas
• Two players can be defenders at once

Great questions to ask the players

• Can you try really hard to intercept the passes during your one minute of defending?
• Can you think of clever ways to try to intercept passes?
• Can you create angles to receive the ball when you are passing as a team?

Safety Points

• Make sure the players keep their heads up and observe others when running quickly in between groups
• Create a safe space to play

Organisation

• Organise 2 teams onto a pitch with 2 end zones, - play 4 v 4 in middle zone and in each end zone each team has a target player who must be passed to in order to score a point. The object of the game is to get the ball from one end to the other to score a point
• Combine as a team to get the ball to the target player - when the target players receive the ball they can then swap with the outfield player who passed it to them so that the target players continually rotate
• To win the game, score a number of points, or make a rule that every player must play as the target player before you can win, meaning that every outfield player has to make a point scoring pass to the target to win.

 Ways to make the exercise easier

• You can start with throw and catch and each team has a ball each - make a race for every player to have a go in the end zone to win.

 Ways to make the exercise harder

• Only one ball between the 2 teams
• Teams have to get to target player and back again to score a point
• Teams can only pass the ball by feet

 Great questions to ask the children

• Can you recognise opportunities to make an early pass to the target player?
• Can you find ways to reach the target player with a clever pass?
• Can the target player move into spaces to make yourself more available?

Safety Points

• Create safe zones between pitches