Reversed Goals

1. Mark a square 20 by 20 metres. Put a mini goal in the middle of each side, about 4 metres in from the line, turned round so it faces outwards with its back to the middle.
2. Two teams of three to five stand outside two opposite sides. Number each team from 1, so every player has an opponent with the same number.
3. The coach calls a number and plays a ball towards the middle. The two players race for it. Whoever gets it first attacks and can score in any of the four goals, but only from the open side, so they have to get round behind it. If the other player wins the ball, they attack any goal in the same way.
4. When the ball goes in or out, both players jog back and swap sides, so next time each comes from the other direction.
5. Do not wait for a duel to end: call the next number and play the next ball a few seconds later, so two or three duels share the square at once. Now and then play the ball nearer the slower player, so everyone gets to attack. With more than ten players, set up a second square beside the first and serve both from between them.

The open side of every goal faces away from the middle, so the player who wins the race is never facing a goal they can shoot into. They have to choose which goal and which way round it, usually with the defender right behind them: shield the ball and turn away, fake towards one goal and go round another, or speed up into the space the defender has left. The defender chooses too: chase the ball, or get between the attacker and the open side of the nearest goal and make them go the long way. Even the race is a decision: sprint if you can get there first, hold off and defend if you cannot. When the ball changes hands, the new attacker is often already close to an open side, and the chance lasts a second.