Receive in the End Zone: A Passing and Movement Game for U8 to U14

How to set it up

• Mark a 15 by 21 metre area: a 15 by 15 playing area with an end zone 3 metres deep at each end.
• Two teams of three or four. One ball.
• Defenders are not allowed inside their own end zone.

How to play

• A player who receives a pass inside the opponents' end zone scores 3 points.
• A player who dribbles into it scores 1.
• After a point, the other team restarts from their own end.
• No corners; side line restarts with a pass or a dribble.
• Rotate teams or players every few minutes.

Why it works

Three points for a pass, one for a dribble: children work out the sum very quickly. The best attacker is now the one who times a run into the zone, not the one who carries the ball furthest.

Because defenders cannot follow into their zone, the run has to be timed: too early and the receiver waits in the zone with nobody able to reach them; too late and the pass is cut out.

What to coach

• The run starts when the passer can see you and has time to pass.
• Run into the space behind the defenders, not towards the ball.
• Pass into the space in front of the runner, so they receive moving.
• A first touch that carries the ball forward into the zone.

Questions to ask

• "When did you start your run, and how did you know it was the right moment?"
• "Why is a pass into the zone worth more than a dribble?"
• "What did the passer see before playing the ball?"

Make it easier, make it harder

• Easier: deeper end zones, an extra attacker who plays for the team with the ball.
• Harder: two touches in the middle; the receiver must score with one touch in the zone; a narrower area.

How to adapt it by age

• U8 to U9: 3v3, deep end zones, the scoring above.
• U10 to U12: 4v4, a two-touch round, a bonus point for a pass that skips a teammate.
• U13 to U14: a narrower area and offside on the end-zone line, so the run has to be timed exactly.