I like keepaway games. They are great for improving ball control, shielding the ball, supporting play and communication.
But straightforward keepaway quickly bores young players – there’s not much fun and no end result.
Keepaway Wars, however, is fun to play and it can get very competitive. My players love it!
Age group: U7s to U12s.
How to play:
- Divide your squad into teams of four and assign them an area.
- The players in each team choose a number and begin to pass the ball around in sequence, 1 to 2 to 3 etc.
Tip: Encourage your players to move into spaces and use all of their area.
- Call a number. The players with that number “invades” the adjacent area and tries to win the ball.
- The three players who keep their ball the longest win a point.
- Once all four players have defended, the team with the most points wins the game.
Variation: To make the game more realistic,’ place a goal or two just outside the playing area.
When invading players win the ball they can score a goal.
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