Gate Pairs and Hunters: A Passing on the Move Game for Kids

How to set it up

• In a 20 by 20 metre area set out five or six small gates, two cones about 1.5 to 2 metres apart.
• Players work in pairs with one ball per pair.
• Pick one or two pairs as hunters, in a different colour.

How to play

• A pair scores a point by passing the ball through any gate, one player on each side.
• They then move on to a different gate; the same gate twice in a row does not count.
• The hunters score a point each time they intercept a pass or win a ball.
• Play two-minute rounds, then swap the hunters.

Why it works

Before the hunters come in, the gates are just targets. Once they arrive, every pass becomes a choice: this gate or the free one, now or after a dribble.

Children also have to move without the ball. A partner standing still on the far side of a gate is easy to read, so pairs learn to arrive at the gate together, call, and leave.

What to coach

• Look for the free gate, not the nearest one.
• Pass to your partner's front foot so they can keep moving.
• Talk before the pass: where are we going next?
• After the pass, move straight away to the next gate.

Questions to ask

• "How did you choose the next gate?"
• "When the hunters were close, what did you do differently?"
• "How did you tell your partner where to go?"

Make it easier, make it harder

• Easier: practise with hand passes first (rolled, bounced), wider gates, only one hunter pair, or the coach as the hunter.
• Harder: two hunter pairs; the receiver must take their first touch through the gate; a gate only counts once per round.

How to adapt it by age

• U6 to U7: rolled hand passes first, then feet; the coach is the hunter.
• U8 to U10: one hunter pair, the scoring above, two-minute rounds.
• U11 to U12: two hunter pairs, two-touch limit, and gates closer together to make it crowded.