Week 1 - Hockey

Skill focus: Rolling, pushing and passing

Session equipment:

Markers or cones
1 Hockey Stick per player
Hockey ball (tennis balls, or similar)

Download Hockey - Week 1 activity card to support teaching before and during the sport session.

Fast start - Home base

Equipment: 8 markers per group (to set out each playing area), 1 coloured marker per student.

How to play:

Each student is given a coloured marker to place somewhere in the playing area, which they will call their 'home base'.
On the teacher's signal, students will run around and try to touch five different markers then return to their home base.

CHANGE IT!

Allocate students a higher number of markers to touch.
Allow students to touch as many markers as possible over a set amount of time (e.g. 30 seconds).

Skill development games

Choosing teams

In a sport education approach, affiliation is promoted by students being a member of the same team over a period of time. It is intended that students remain in these teams for the duration of each sport program for the skill development and the modified small-sided games, so that they can develop and learn together.

Place students in equal teams, 4 teams is optimal, at the beginning of the skill development session. Strategies for forming groups can be found in the Game-based learning in sport and physical activity e-learning course.
To further promote affiliation students can decide on a team name.
Once the teams are determined you can add the team and student names to the Hockey Draw Template.

Activity 1 - Throw, throw, throw

Equipment: 1 hockey stick per player, 1 tennis ball per player

How to play: Two groups of equal size face each other. Each player has a tennis ball. On a signal, players push their ball over a line in the direction of the opposite team. After a set period, balls are counted to see who has the fewest balls.

Divide the group into 2 teams.
Play for a set period.
Players should ‘push fast and push smart’!
Roll the ball the first couple of times and move on to pushing the ball with a hockey stick.

Throw, throw, throw - Playing for Life Activity Card

Activity 2 - Roll a ball

Equipment: Cones, tennis balls

How to play: Using a playing area with a goal at each end, attackers roll a ball to each other for 3 passes and then attempt to score a goal while defenders attempt to intercept. (Play with 2 teams)

Attackers and defenders stay in their own half.
No goalkeeper is allowed.
Play starts by serving (rolling) the ball from the baseline across the halfway line into the opposition’s area.
Each team must have at least 3 passes before they can cross the ball into the opposing team’s half.

Activity 3 - Target relay

Equipment: Marker cones, one hockey stick per player, one ball (tennis ball of hockey ball) per player.

How to play: Gates are set up over a course. Players in relay teams dribble a ball around the course, moving between each gate. (Play in teams of 3 or 4)

Using a hockey stick, players dribble the ball around the course.

Target Relay - Playing for life activity card

Run the Circle - Playing for Life Activity Card

Activity 4 - Run the circle

Equipment: 1 hockey stick per player, 2 tennis balls (or hockey balls) per group

How to play: Cooperative passing. Players form a circle and balls are pushed from player to player. The aim is for one ball to catch up to the other. (Play with 6 or more.)

Players push the ball to one another, trying to overtake the ball in front.
Call ‘change’ to change the direction.

Modified small-sided games

It's time for competition!

Teams compete against each other in the game outlined below. You can use the 'Hockey draw' as a guide to organise the competition, across the 4 sessions try to ensure each team has a fair number of games.

Allocate 3 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and 1 point for a loss for each game played. Record results and points in the School sport program results spreadsheet.

Remember, to give students an update of the leader board each week.

D1 and D2

Equipment: 1 hockey stick per player, 1 hockey ball (or similar) per field

How to play: Form 2 teams, with a skittle in a goal circle at each end. The team with the ball passes it to team-mates until one is close enough to a skittle to knock it down.

Players use hockey sticks to push the ball between team-mates.
No players to stand in goal area to defend the skittle.
After a goal is scored, the ball is given to the opposition to restart the game from their baseline.