5 Soccer Mini-games For Indoor soccer

5 Soccer Mini-games For Indoor soccer

Is your soccer team getting tired of the same old drills? Being able to play soccer in a dome all year is great for honing soccer skills, but too much of one sport will burn out even the most die-hard of players. Here are a few fun drills and games that will add some spice to your indoor soccer team’s training time.

Freeze tag Soccer

This is a variation of a the schoolyard game, freeze tag. Most of us remember the game from our youth where the tagged person is frozen in place until an unfrozen player comes to release them. You probably never thought to play it with soccer balls, though.

To play this one, a single player is designated as “it” and the rest of the team take their soccer balls and try to keep them away from “it.” If the chaser touches a player’s ball, that player is then frozen. He or she must stand legs apart, holding their ball above their head. They can only be unfrozen if another player is able to dribble their own ball through the frozen player’s legs. Continue until all players are frozen.

Soccer blob

Everybody, run! It’s the blob!

Another variation on a tag-type game, soccer blob begins with two players (without soccer balls) holding hands. They are “the blob” and must chase down all the other players who will each be dribbling their own ball. Should the blob kick away a player’s ball, that player must link hands with the blob. As the blob grows, it becomes more difficult to move, but it’s also harder for players to avoid it!

Keep growing the blob until only one player remains. That player wins that round, but he or she becomes the blob for the next round. Keep playing until everyone is falling over themselves laughing.

Death Square

The name sounds ominous, but don’t worry, there’s very little death involved. This soccer game has all players dribble around within a marked square. Perfect for an indoor soccer field, where space might be limited.

The aim is to control your ball while trying to kick out everyone else’s. If you manage to kick a ball out of the death square, you get a point and the other player needs to chase after their ball.

The player then needs to perform a skill before being able to re-enter the death square. This could be juggling the ball “keep-up” style for so many touches, or dancing on the ball for 10 “Mississipis.” The player with the most points wins!
 

Battle Field

This skill game is similar to dodgeball and is great for any number of players. Coach gets a ball and all players line up on one end of the field. They then try to run across to the other end while the coach tries to peg one of them with his soccer ball. If you get hit, you join the firing squad. The game continues until all players are hit.

Be careful, though. A stray ball can do damage if kicked with enough power. This game is not for small children.

The best part about playing this game indoors? You usually don’t have to go too far to recover a ball that sails past everyone.

P-E-L-E

This game is an homage to one of the soccer greats of history: Edson Arantes do Nascimento, AKA Pelé. If you’ve played HORSE on a basketball net, you’ll understand the principle.
 
The game only needs two players, although it could be played with more.

This is a ball juggling game. The first player juggles the ball for one touch, then the next player has to match. You keep taking turns adding another touch to the ball. When a player misses and lets their ball hit the ground, the round winner gets a letter. P – E – L – E, first to spell Pelé wins!

Try these out with your team the next time everyone is bored with practice. Indoor soccer is great fun, but mixing things up with games like these keeps everyone coming back to the soccer dome!

Have a great game that you play with your team? Let us know about it in a comment on our Facebook or Twitter.