Coaching tools › Activities › Attacking and finishing
Free activity · Intramural curriculum, ages 4–8End Zone Game
3v3 or 4v4 on a field with an end zone at each end. Move the ball quickly until someone has a 1v1, then go at the defender: goals are scored by beating an opponent and dribbling into the end zone. Play is continuous.
Setup
3v3 or 4v4 on a field with an end zone at each end; set up more than one field if you have the numbers. Start play with a pass in to either team. Move the ball quickly until someone has a 1v1, then go at the defender: goals are scored by beating an opponent and dribbling into the end zone. Play is continuous.
- Head up, ball close.
- When it is 1v1, go at the defender.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Make the field wider.
- Harder: Receive with a defender on your back, turn, then go.
Coach’s notes
- If It's Chaos: Swarm around the ball? Freeze, show them the open space, and restart.
- Coach Tip: Help them spot the moment: one defender plus space behind means go.
Why it works
Scoring by dribbling into a zone instead of into a goal changes what the players look for. A shot needs a sight of goal; an end zone needs a beaten defender, so the 1v1 becomes the point of the game.
Help them spot the moment: one defender in front and space behind means go. That is the coach tip on the card and the whole of week six.
Where it sits
This activity is from 2nd Grade · Week 6 · 1v1 in the Game in the Full Season Intramural Curriculum for Pre-K to 2nd grade. Every session in the book has the same shape: arrival play, Soccer Island, two or three activities and the game, with two coaching points a day, an easier and a harder version of everything, and a fix for when it turns to chaos.
More like this
Ages 11+ · Attacking and finishing2v1 to the LineTwo attackers against one defender in a 15x10 channel, ten seconds to dribble over the end line.
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Ages 11+ · Attacking and finishing3v2 to Two GoalsThree attackers against two defenders on a 20x15 with two mini goals on the far line and twelve seconds to score.
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Ages 11+ · Attacking and finishingFull-Back JoinsTwo wide players and a striker against three defenders and a keeper on a 30x25.
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The Full Season Intramural Curriculum covers Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade: one page per session, nothing to memorize, built so a professional trainer and a parent who volunteered last week run the same quality session. 112 animated videos included.