---
title: "Lions' Cage"
description: "Five dribblers, two lions and three helpers outside the cage. Under pressure, give the ball to a helper and swap places."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/lions-cage
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# Lions' Cage

> Five dribblers, two lions and three helpers outside the cage. Under pressure, give the ball to a helper and swap places.

U6 to U10 · 8 to 12 players · 12 × 12 m · 15 min

Also called dribble tag, Robbers and Dribblers, Gazzelle e leoni.

![Diagram of Lions' Cage](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/lions-cage)

## How to play

1. Mark a 12 by 12 metre square: the cage. Ten players: five inside dribbling a ball each, two lions inside holding a bib in their hand, and three helpers outside the square.
2. The lions try to win a ball from the dribblers. A lion who wins one swaps roles with the player who lost it and hands over the bib.
3. A dribbler under pressure may pass to a helper outside the cage. The passer goes out and the helper comes into the cage with the ball.
4. Helpers keep moving along the outside, so they are ready when someone needs them.
5. Play for 12 to 15 minutes, with a short break every four minutes.

## The decision it trains

The dribbler with a lion closing in decides: shield the ball and turn away, or give it to a helper. The pass only works if the helper is ready and not busy with someone else, so the dribbler has to know where the helpers are before the lion arrives. The helpers decide where along the cage to stand. The lions decide which dribbler to hunt: the one with their head down, or the one far from any helper.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** play with one lion until the dribblers start using the helpers.
- **Too easy:** shrink the cage to 10 by 10, so the lions arrive sooner.
- **Younger players:** give them a minute to dribble round the cage before the lions come in, and a lion only has to touch a ball to win it.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "When did you decide to give the ball to a helper?"
- "Helpers: where were you when the pass came?"
- "Lions: which dribbler did you go after, and why?"

## Where it comes from

La gabbia dei leoni comes from the Italian federation's youth and school sector: it is in the exercise manual of its territorial development programme, first version dated December 2018, for ten players in 12 by 12 metres. The sheet's story makes the ball the ranger's steak, the bib holder the lion and the players outside the ranger's helpers. A second federation manual has it as a collaboration game with six helpers. No source outside the federation was found.

## Documented by

- Italian FA (FIGC) (Italy): La gabbia dei leoni, Gioco di Collaborazione, Gazzelle e leoni
- Football Australia (Australia): Robbers and Dribblers
- US Youth Soccer (United States): dribble tag

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