Tower Wars: A Small-Sided Passing Game for U8 to U14

How to set it up

• Mark a 15 by 20 metre area for 3v3 or 4v4.
• Stand three or four towers (tall cones) along each end line.
• Mark a zone about 3 to 4 metres deep in front of each line of towers. Towers can only be hit from outside it.
• One ball, no goalkeepers.

How to play

• Each team attacks the other team's towers. Knocking one down scores a point.
• A tower that falls stays down. When all of a team's towers are down, the game ends.
• Towers only count when the ball is struck from outside the zone.
• No corners; a ball over the side line comes back in with a pass or a dribble.

Why it works

The towers spread the target across the whole end line, so the team with the ball has to choose which tower, and the team without it cannot just park in front of one goal.

The zone stops anyone from walking the ball in. Children have to judge the right distance to strike from, which technique fits the target, and when a pass to a teammate gives a better angle.

What to coach

• Look up: which tower is free?
• Pick the pass for the target: the inside for accuracy, the laces for distance, the weaker foot when the angle needs it.
• Spread out so the team has more than one tower to aim at.
• Choose between the pass and the dribble: get closer, or strike now?

Questions to ask

• "Why did you go for that tower?"
• "When was it better to pass to a teammate instead of striking?"
• "How did your team stop the other side hitting your towers?"

Make it easier, make it harder

• Easier: more towers, a shallower zone, an extra player who plays for the team with the ball.
• Harder: fewer towers; a deeper zone; towers moved anywhere inside the area, so they can be attacked from all sides.

How to adapt it by age

• U8 to U9: 3v3, four towers each, a shallow zone. Not for U6: too many rules at once.
• U10 to U12: towers placed anywhere in the area, 4v4, a two-touch round.
• U13 to U14: a bigger area, a deeper zone, and a bonus for a tower hit with the weaker foot.