U-Littles Introduction | Applicable Activities | Circuit Approach

Scrimmaging With U-Littles

At what age should children begin scrimmaging? The jury is still out on this one. You want them playing the real game as soon as possible. However, if they play it in a selfish, thoughtless way, those habits can be difficult to break. As a rule of thumb, if the players are playing Bunch Ball, or if each player tries to dribble to goal on his/her own, you've probably got two many players out there.

The two scrimmages provided here work well with U-Littles because they're actually mini-scrimmages: 1 v 1 or 2 v 2 to goals.

Cutthroat

Two players compete, and one or two others may rotate in. Goals are scored by striking the cones or whatever small goals are set up. Players may dribble behind the goals in order to score, as in hockey.

Official Rules for Cutthroat

Field Setup. The field is approximately thirty paces long and ten paces wide, with touch lines and goal lines. Five paces inside each goal line is a small goal of five adjacent disc cones.
Players. Two, three, or four players may participate on a field. Two players compete at a time, using one ball. With three players, one begins as a neutral player and rotates in. With four players, teams of two are formed. A player from one team competes against a player from the other team, as the other two serve as neutral players.
Object of the Game. Each player attacks a different goal, and tries to strike it with the ball. The player with the most goals after three short periods wins.
How the Game Proceeds. One player brings the ball into play as the other defends. The player with the ball attempts to score, by passing with neutral players (who are allowed only one touch), dribbling, and shooting. The other player attempts to prevent a score and win the ball back. After winning the ball, a player may shoot immediately. Shots may come from anywhere on the field. If one player puts the ball out of bounds, the other dribbles it in.
Rotating Into the Game. With three players, the neutral player replaces a player who has been scored upon. If no goals have been scored within a minute, the neutral player replaces the player who has been in the longest. With four players, both neutral players rotate in at the same time—after a goal or a minute, whichever comes first.

Donut Scrimmage

The Donut Scrimmage, named after the field’s appearance, is a 2 v 2 mini-scrimmage. The field is circular. It contains a smaller circle. And a ball in the smaller circle represents the goal. Players pass, dribble, and compete without a ridiculous amount of running.

Rules for the Donut Scrimmage

Field Setup. The field is a circle about thirty paces in diameter. A target ball sits in the middle of the circle. The target ball is surrounded by a circular No Fly Zone, four paces in diameter.
Teams. Four players compete in teams of two.
Object of the Game. Teams attempt to score by striking the target ball with a shot. Both teams attack the same goal. The team with the most goals after three short periods wins.
How the Game Proceeds. One team begins with the ball, while the other defends. To strike the target ball, a team may use any combination of passing and dribbling. There are no touch or direction requirements. A team may steal the ball and shoot immediately. If one team puts the ball out of bounds, the other team passes or dribbles the ball in.
No Fly Zone. Players may not step in the No Fly Zone while the game is in progress. All shots must come from outside that zone. Players running from one side of the field to the other must go around or leap over the zone. If a player sets foot in the zone, the other team receives a penalty kick—an unopposed shot from the field’s perimeter. The penalty kick must strike the target ball.