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Practice games

Find the Space

You can only get the ball when you are alone in a square, so keep moving to find an empty one.

Practice 10 min 6 to 16 players Cage Half pitch Hall 2016 to 2021

Off the Ball Work hard Lift each other

Find the Space: set-up 15 m by 15 m

A receiver sharing a square moves into an empty one, and a passer finds them there.

Set up

  • Mark a grid of 5 m squares with discs: nine squares for up to 9 children, sixteen for more.
  • Half the children have a ball. The rest are receivers.

6 to 16 children. Nine 5 m squares (15 m by 15 m), or sixteen (20 m by 20 m) for 10 or more.

How to play

  • Passers dribble anywhere in the grid with their heads up.
  • Receivers keep moving to find a square with nobody else in it.
  • Pass only to a receiver who is alone in a square. Receivers call and show a hand.
  • After passing, the passer becomes a receiver and looks for an empty square.
  • Play 60 seconds, rest, then go again.

Keeping everyone moving

Roles swap after every pass, so nobody is without a ball for long. Nobody waits and nobody is ever out.

Make it easier

  • Bigger squares, 7 m by 7 m, so empty ones are easier to find.
  • Passers stop the ball first, then look for a free receiver.

Make it harder, step by step

  1. The receiver's first touch must take the ball into a different square.
  2. First touch into a new square, and two defenders try to cut out passes.

Three things to say

  • Move away from people, not towards them.
  • Find the empty square, then call.
  • Look up while you dribble so you can see who is free.

Words that work: "Great space, you were all alone!", "Brilliant call!", "You found your friend in space!"

Colts habit

Work hard: keep moving until you find your own square.

Both feet

Pass with whichever foot is nearest your receiver.

Heads up

Look up to spot an empty square and a free friend.

For your birth year

Pick a birth year to show the tweak for that group.

2020 to 2021
A ball each. On Find a space!, dribble into a square with nobody in it and stop the ball with your sole.
2018 to 2019
As written, with half the group on a ball.
2016 to 2017
Add two defenders who try to cut out passes.

A young leader can run this one, with an adult coach beside them.

Safety: Look up while moving and slow down near other players. Passes stay on the ground.

Keeping score: Each child counts the passes they received alone in a square and tries to beat it next round.