Cat and Mouse

1. For every pair, mark a square 5 metres by 5 metres with four cones. Set up as many squares as you have pairs, so everyone plays at once.
2. The two players start outside the square, on opposite sides. One is the cat; the other is the mouse and has a ball at their feet.
3. On the coach's signal, the cat chases the mouse round the outside of the square. Nobody may cut through it.
4. The cat has 15 seconds to tag the mouse on the shoulder. A tag is a point for the cat; still free when time is up, a point for the mouse. Then they swap roles.
5. With an odd number, one square takes three: the third player stands in the middle of the square as a barrier that blocks the view across it, and the three rotate after every chase.

Neither player can take the short way, so the game is won by reading, not by speed. The cat watches the mouse across the square and decides which way to run, and when to stop and turn back: a few steps one way and then a sharp change can win the metre a tag needs. The mouse has to keep the square between them, so the mouse never stops watching the cat. When the cat turns, the mouse turns too, and with a ball at the feet that turn has to be one quick touch, not a wide loop. It is marking at its smallest: watch your opponent, read the next move, and get there first.