Football/Soccer Session (Beginner): UNICEF: River Run

Coaches Across Continents

See the guidance at the top of this page to understand why you are not seeing interactive Football/Soccer images.

Save Image:

Create Video:

Purposeful Play:

Ask your players about different reasons our rivers and bodies of water get polluted.
Have 3-4 players on the outside represent these reasons (yellow players in the diagram).
The majority of players try to ‘paddle’ (run) through the field of play from one side to the other.
The players on the outside roll the ball and try to touch the players below their knees.
The running players try to get from one side to the other without getting hit by the ball. If a player gets hit by a ball, they join the players on the outside.
Please make sure they do not throw or pass the ball above the knees.

Purposeful Questions While They Are Playing - Ask Questions and Listen to Answers:

See the guidance at the top of this page to understand why you are not seeing interactive Football/Soccer images.

Save Image:

Create Video:

Purposeful Play - Use Your Imagination or Our Suggestions to Create New Ways of Playing:

Have new players represent these different solutions and supporters named by the players.
They can protect the players who are running from one side to the other.
The protectors can use their whole body to stop the ball.
Play this round for about the same length of time as the first round.
If you play multiple times, encourage the Protectors to strategize how to more effectively protect the youth in this game.

Purposeful Questions After the Game - Ask Questions and Listen to Answers:

Did you notice any difference in the progressions of this game?
What could the protectors do (in this game and in real life) to more effectively prevent or reverse pollution?

See the guidance at the top of this page to understand why you are not seeing interactive Football/Soccer images.

Save Image:

Create Video:

Purposeful Play:

Remind the players on the outside to roll the ball, only hitting the players in the middle below the knee.
Play this first round (with no Protectors) until there are 0 or very few players left running through the middle.

See the guidance at the top of this page to understand why you are not seeing interactive Football/Soccer images.

Save Image:

Create Video:

Purposeful Play:

Play this round for about the same length of time as the first round.
With Protectors, there *should* be more 'safe' players still able to run by the end of the session.
If there are still 0 safe players, ask the participants why their Protectors were not effective.
What could the protectors do (in this game and in real life) to more effectively protect their youth?
If you play multiple times, encourage the Protectors to strategize how to more effectively protect the youth in this game.