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Instead of having the players too close to the ball in the normal version of this game, I construct a field and have the players line up at opposite corner flags of a field about 10 yds x 25 yds. On the whistle a player at opposite corner flags race down the sideline and come through their own goal to attack the ball on the half way line. Because they have to run about 40 yds to get to the ball, differences in speed ensures that one player gets to the ball sooner so there isn't the usual collision. The player getting to the ball controls it and heads towards the opposite goal. The slower player then has to initially defend the goal, rather than simply attacking the player with the ball. Of course, some players attack the ball anyway and usually get beaten by the player with the ball.
After running them through this a couple of times we demonstrate sheparding the player away from the goal, and try to re-inforce not simply dive into the ball when they are the only player between the attacker and the goal. Another variation is to blow the whistle once, wait about 5 seconds and blow the whistle again to get a 2v2 situation in the small field. Of course, one still gets two equally quick players who end up almost simultaneously at the ball and crash into one another. Actually it is good to have an unequal number of players at each corner flag, say 6 v 7, so that the players are ensured a different opponent at each cycle. I know there's a lot of standing around, but the girls enjoy it and it is competitive.
Thanks To: Alec McKay, (Lansdowne U-10G and U-16G)
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