Any Goal Counts

1. Mark a circle about 20 metres across and put four mini goals on its edge, evenly spaced, all facing the middle. Two teams of three, in bibs.
2. There is no home goal: both teams can score in all four goals, and nobody keeps goal.
3. The moment a team wins the ball, it can attack, in any direction.
4. After every goal, and whenever the ball leaves the circle, the coach plays a new ball in from the edge, to a different spot each time. Keep a pile of balls by the circle so play starts again within a second or two.
5. Play rounds of 3 to 4 minutes with a drink in between. With eight players, play four against four; with more, set up a second circle beside the first so nobody sits out.

In a normal game, a player who wins the ball first has to turn towards the goal they attack. Here the nearest goal may be behind them or beside them, so the first job after winning it is to look up: which goal is closest, and which one has no defender near it? Three defenders cannot guard four goals, so there is almost always an open one, and the choice is between dribbling at it and passing to a teammate who is nearer. The team without the ball has to decide who goes to the ball and who drops back to cover the goals closest to it. And because the ball changes hands all the time, everyone switches between attacking and defending in a second.