Either Way

1. Mark a pitch 25 metres wide and 36 long, split into three thirds of 12 metres, with a goal and a keeper at each end. Two teams of 3 to 5.
2. Everyone plays in the middle third. Both teams may attack either goal.
3. Dribble into an end third, or receive a pass there, and nobody may follow you: it is you against the keeper.
4. After the shot, the keeper rolls the ball into the middle third to the team that did not shoot, and the shooter comes straight back.
5. Play blocks of 4 minutes and change keepers after each one.

With two goals open, the player on the ball always has two ways out. A quick look both ways shows which end has room in front of it, and a turn often finds it, because one team cannot block both. When there is no gap and no free teammate, the better choice may be to keep the ball: shield it, wait for a teammate to move, then go. Off the ball, players drift towards an end third so that one pass can send them through. The team that loses the ball has two goals behind it as well, so the nearest player presses while the others close the way to both ends, and a ball won back is a chance to break out at once.