The Communication game

by Paul Cooper

Equipment: 2 sets of bibs and balls, goals and marker cones.

Communication on the football pitch is very important, (as it is in the rest of your life) and it comes in a number of guises – verbal, gestures and body language.

Before you play the game, ask your players what they need to tell each other on the football pitch.

• Asking – “Pete’s ball”, “Billy wants”.
• Warnings – “Man on!”
• Encouragement – “Well done Roger”, “Keep going team”
• Additional information – “Turn”, “You have time”

The game

Play a normal game and then after a few minutes adapt the game by having no talking or calling at all.

You can progress this by making it even more difficult to communicate by not having bibs and banning pointing, nodding etc.

Go back to a normal game and at the end ask the players which was easier to play in and why. Also ask if communication skills are important on the football field and in other settings – home, school, friends etc. – and if we can communicate in ways other than verbally.

“Communication works for those who work at it” John Powell