One of the more popular games among a young crowd is Ultimate Frisbee. In fact, Ultimate is competitively at over 700 colleges, in clubs by thousands of adults and youth, and internationally at the World Games. Throwing a Frisbee can be challenging to youth and limiting to the game of Ultimate. By replacing the the flying disc with a ball, youth of varying skill levels are able to enjoy this game. The Game of the Week is Ultimate Ball!
Group Size: Large group (10 or more)
Age Group: Grades 3+
Length of Activity: 10 minutes or more
Equipment: Cones and a medium sized soft dodgeball
Before You Start:
- Use the cones to create boundaries for a field with two end zones.
- Divide the players into two even teams.
- Explain the rules and have players explain them back to you.
- Have one player from each team do Ro Sham Bo (also called Rock-Paper-Scissors) to determine who will have possession first.
- Line both teams up on each baseline of the field.
Set Up:
Mark off a large open playing field in the shape of a rectangle with cones.
How To Play:
- On the leader’s signal, the team starting on defense throws the ball to the offensive team.
- One player from the offense either catches the ball or picks it up where it lands, and tries to pass it to one of his/her teammates.
- When anyone on either team has the ball, s/he can only use one foot to move, pivoting around the other foot which must be planted on the ground. They cannot take steps or run with the ball.
- The offense tries to advance the ball down the field with passes, and scores a point if one of the team members catches the ball in the end zone.
- The defense tries to block or knock down the ball to gain possession. If a ball is knocked down or intercepted, play of the game is switched and the defense now becomes the offense, heading toward their end zone.
- Players may not touch each other, even while playing defense and must keep a safe distance from the player with the ball.
Variations:
- Use different colored jerseys if necessary to clarify the teams, as directions change often in this game and players may get confused.
- For those just learning the game, allow one or two steps when they are throwing the ball.
- Change the ball to a football, making it a lead-up game to Football.
- Change the ball to a frisbee for more skilled players. This game is called Ultimate Frisbee.
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