---
title: "One Goal, Street Basketball Rules"
description: "Both teams attack the same goal; win the ball and you must take it back over the line before you can score, as in pickup basketball."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/one-goal-clear-the-ball
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# One Goal, Street Basketball Rules

> Both teams attack the same goal; win the ball and you must take it back over the line before you can score, as in pickup basketball.

U9 to U15 · 6 to 12 players · 20 × 24 m · 15 min

Also called Half Court, Aaltopeli yhteen maaliin katukoriksen säännöillä, 3-Stationen-Spiel.

![Diagram of One Goal, Street Basketball Rules](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/one-goal-clear-the-ball)

## How to play

1. Mark an area 20 metres wide and 24 long with one 3 metre goal on an end line, no keeper and no hands, and a line across the area 16 metres from the goal. Two teams of three to six; with more players, run two areas.
2. Both teams attack the same goal. A team that wins the ball must first dribble it over the line or pass it to a teammate beyond it; only then may it attack the goal.
3. After a goal, or when the ball goes over the end line, the other team starts beyond the line. When the ball goes off the side, restart with a pass or a dribble in.
4. No referee: players call their own fouls, street basketball style. If they cannot agree, the two teams take turns to restart.
5. Play blocks of 5 minutes, then change opponents.

## The decision it trains

Every turnover asks both teams to flip roles at once. The team that has just won the ball chooses: dribble out over the line, or pass to a teammate already beyond it. The team that lost it chooses: press at once to stop the clear and win the ball back near goal, or drop and protect the goal for the attack that is coming. With one goal, attackers also read where defenders stand, because both teams defend the same space in turn.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** put a joker beyond the line who plays for the team on the ball: pass to him, he plays it back, and the ball counts as cleared.
- **Too easy:** only a dribble clears the ball: a pass over the line does not count.
- **Younger players:** 3v3 on a smaller area (15 by 18 metres), with the line 12 metres from goal.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "When you won the ball, how did you decide between dribbling out and passing out?"
- "When you lost it, when did you press, and when did you drop back?"
- "What did you see that told you it was time to switch from defending to attacking?"

## Where it comes from

It comes from the Finnish FA's 2022 teacher guide Käytän, yhdistän ja sovellan, written for school PE, which says to play it the same way as street basketball: the team that wins the ball takes it back over the line before attacking. The guide also has players referee themselves, street basketball style. It is the only source found; no other football version was documented.

## Documented by

- Football Association of Finland (Finland): Aaltopeli yhteen maaliin katukoriksen säännöillä
- US Youth Soccer (United States): Half Court
- German regional FAs (Bavaria, Hamburg, South Baden) (Germany): 3-Stationen-Spiel
- FIFA Training Centre (International)

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