Going to the gym is the first step to getting better as an athlete. We all hear stories about how great athletes spend hours on hours in the gym working on their craft. But this discipline isn’t always easy for young kids to gasp – which is why coaches need to ensure kids look forward to the next day of practice.
Look to incorporate large-group games into your practices – particularly at the beginning of sessions and as part of the warm-up. Warm-up games are a great way to develop fundamental movement skills like speed, agility, and footwork, all while having too much fun to even know you are becoming a better athlete!
Amoeba Tag is great for this, offering players a new take on the classic game of tag to keep them interested while working on teamwork and communication skills. The best part is that it is easily played with a range of player ages and sizes.
Amoeba Tag
| DESCRIPTION | Set the boundaries of the court, and select 2 players to begin as the “ameoba”. The amoeba holds hands and chases the other players – those who are tagged join the ameoba. The goal of the ameoba is to catch everyone (growing larger and larger and larger) before time expires. If the amoeba tags someone but breaks the chain (i.e. two players stop holding hands) that tag doesn’t count and the amoeba must re-set before continuing. |
| SKILL FOCUS | Footwork, Teamwork, Communication |
| AGE (STAGE) | Ages 6+ (FUNdamentals + Learn-to-Train) |
| PLAYERS | 10+ |
| VARIATION: MINI-AMOEBAS | Have the amoeba break off into many smaller amoeba when it gets too large. Choose your maximum amoeba size (i.e. 5-players). When the amoeba grows past that size (6-players) they divide into two smaller amoebas (3-players each). |
Source: The SNYB Blog http://ift.tt/2dIsUSA