Split your players up into four teams of three. Place four or more ‘pieces of gold’ (balls) in each pocket.
Each team begins the game at its own pocket of gold. On your command players are free to ‘pick’ other teams pockets by sprinting to steal balls and taking them back to their own pockets. (Each player must deposit the ball they stole themselves.)
Play for about 90 seconds. The teams win a point for each ball deposited in their pockets and the team with the most balls in total gets a bonus point. Play a number of rounds until a team reaches 20 points.
Objectives
Improves running with the ball and dribbling.
Key Skills
Good sprinting, ball stealing with a good turn, decision making (run with ball or dribble depending on space), good control at the pocket. Development improves head up quality of technique on long pass high or low, and first touch (from aerial control).
Set Up
Area: 50×50 yards square with four 5×5 yards pockets in each corner
Players: 12
Equipment: 16 or more balls
Players sprint to the other teams’ pockets to steal the balls and return them to their own pocket.
Each player must deposit the stolen balls themselves. The team with the most points wins.
Allow the players to use a lofted ball or driven pass to a team mate waiting at a pocket.
What To Call Out
“Attack space”
“Keep control”
Development
Randomly introduce two or three extra balls to guarantee a winning team.
Once a player steals a ball he has the option of finding a team mate who is positioned near the team’s pocket. The player can either play a long lofted ball or driven pass to his team mate who then deposits the ball. At any point in either development you can introduce stealing any loose balls or block tackles.
This session helps players brush up on their passing, their runs off the ball, dribbling and close range finishing... oh and they have to avoid the alligators in the river. MORE
Sometimes the break can be annoying for teams that have been playing well - first the coronavirus has stopped the season then along comes the winter holiday. But to give the kids a break it is always a good idea to do things they love to play and have fun at the last training session of the year. MORE