Team Building Games ???

I was going to suggest what we call Arena Football. Rules are similar to Ultimate Frisbee. But you can run backwards while having possession of the ball. It's a great gym game, used in Phys. Ed classes as well. 6 pts. for a TD, 3 pts. for interception, team possession changes hands with an incomplete pass. Constant movement. We're going to use it to bring the current 8th graders who are moving up to JV next season into the fold. It's not going to be anything extremely formal. It's just going to be a chance for the current 9th graders to get together with thier future teammates a few Saturdays to play football. We're looking forward to it.

I'll second the "Ultimate Football" idea. We do it in 2 phases - In phase 1 you can't run with the ball at all, you have to catch it, come to an immediate stop, and throw it again. This demonstrates who can catch, throw, get open and quickly decelerate. Phase 2, you can run with the ball but you have to make it all the way to the end zone or it's a turnover. This demonstrates the above but also shows who can run, what kind of speed you have in the kids confident enough to take off with the ball and who can improvise in flow (laterals are allowed).

It's a great way to evaluate talent and conditioning. A lot of times we look at a kid and think "he's a this, or he's a that". That fat kid that looks like a lineman just might have a good arm, good feet, and more speed than you would have thought, that guy who looks like he's too small to play just might have great hands, serious quicks and good ups. And of course you will quickly find out who is a competitor and who is a tongue-dragging wannabe. Plus the kids love it.

Dodgeball is a great idea. I love it, and have yet to find a kid who's worth anything who doesn't. It may not be directly football related, but it's a game that gets the kids amped and moving big time. I've even come up with a version where they don't sit out. It's a timed game and the teams are awarded 1 pt. for a hit and 2 pts. for a catch. You wanna talk about conditioning. They never get to stop moving. Kids are gassed after a good 5 min. game. You have to watch the numbers and the number of balls used for that version though. It gets tough to keep score with too many bodies and balls.