No-contact team games
Ready when: Pass with a partner (b3) started.
What you are learning
Getting free from a marker, passing to a team-mate who is open, and marking one player, all with no body or stick contact and only 5 seconds holding the ball.
Words on this card Stick, Scoop, Soft hands, Keep-ball
- Stick
- The lacrosse stick: a shaft with a head at the top.
- Scoop
- Picking a ball up off the ground with the stick; a ground ball is a loose ball on the ground.
- Soft hands
- Letting the stick move back a little as the ball arrives, so it stays in.
- Keep-ball
- A passing game to keep the ball from the other team; a game where a catch behind a line scores.
Set up
A plastic stick each, one soft ball, two lines of cones about 15 m apart.
Weather: dry ground
Show it first for the one teaching
- Pair each player with an opponent to mark.
- Walk through: the ball carrier holds for at most 5 seconds while a team-mate runs into space.
- Show a catch behind the end line: that is a point.
Your part while they practise
Be the referee; say the rules aloud: no body or stick contact, 5 seconds with the ball.
Step by step
- Keep-ball: the team with the ball counts its passes.
- Each defender marks one player.
- Then the end-zone game.
How much: 3 rounds of 3 minutes 12 min a session 1 day a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: End zone
Score by catching a pass behind the other team's line.
Who plays: two teams of 3 to 5 against each other; you referee.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Each team defends one line of cones and attacks the other
- Start with a scoop from the middle
- Pass up the field; a catch behind the other team's line scores
- After a point, the other team starts from its own line. 3 rounds of 3 minutes
- Fair play
- A team with a grown-up must make 3 passes before scoring.
- Points
- 1 point for each catch behind the other team's line.
- Fouls
- The ball goes to the other team
- Body contact or stick contact
- Holding the ball more than 5 seconds
- Touching the ball with a hand
- Winning
- More points after 3 rounds.
- 1 points for 1 star
- 3 points for 2 stars
- 5 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
Play keep-ball first with a ball thrown by hand.
The ball carrier may not move.
What you will see, and what to say
- everyone runs to the ball
Mark your own player
Stay with your opponent. - sticks clash
No stick contact, step back
Give space.
Self-check
The team makes 10 passes in a row.
Stop and get a coach when
A stick hits someone; stop and restate the rules.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains getting open, one-on-one marking, fair play.
Basic is done when the child meets the self-checks on b1 to b3 (b4 when a group is available).
awiseathlete.com/sports/lacrosse/lacrosse-b4