Rules of 3 on 3 Soccer

At King School, we play 3 on 3 soccer. What’s 3 on 3 soccer you ask?

3 on 3 soccer is a game suggested by Curt Hinson in his book Games Kids Should Play At Recess, "Solutions For A Trouble Free Playground". The exciting parts of this game are:
* everyone gets to play;
* kids get to touch the ball more often during a game;
* everyone knows and understands the rules.

So that parents know too, here are the rules of 3 on 3 Soccer:
Objective: Kicking; trapping; dribbling with feet; teamwork
Equipment: Soccer ball; four cones; four wiffleballs
Organization: Students form two groups of three. The cones are set up to represent goals, approximately 8 - 10 feet wide, with a wiffleball on top of each cone. The goals should be about 60 to 75 feet from each other. Each group designates one player to be the goalie and the other two players to be the offensive/defensive players. The goalies stand between the two cones at opposite ends of the field.
How to play: The two offensive/defensive players from each team attempt to get possession of the ball and try and kick it, knocking a wiffleball off the opponents cones. A point is scored when a wiffleball is successfully knocked off. The game is continuous. As soon as a goal is scored, the other team may get the ball and head up the field.
Lifeskills tip: The players on each team should switch places with the goalie every three goals or so.

3 on 3 Soccer

Late last year, the full-size soccer goals were removed at MLK (as they were at all AAPS elementary schools) due to safety concerns. Since then it has been a little hard to play soccer at MLK--until a couple weeks ago. That is when we began playing 3 on 3 soccer!


3 on 3 soccer is a game suggested by Curt Hinson in his book Games Kids Should Play At Recess, "Solutions For A Trouble Free Playground". The exciting parts of this game for our kids are:

• everyone gets to play;
• kids get to touch the ball more often during a game;
• everyone knows and understands the rules.

So that parents know too, here are the rules of 3 on 3 Soccer at MLK:
Objective: Kicking; trapping; dribbling with feet; teamwork
Equipment: Soccer ball; four cones; four wiffleballs
Organization: Students form two groups of three. The cones are set up to represent goals, approximately 8 - 10 feet wide, with a wiffleball on top of each cone. The goals should be about 60 to 75 feet from each other. Each group designates one player to be the goalie and the other two players to be the offensive/defensive players. The goalies stand between the two cones at opposite ends of the field.
How to play: The two offensive/defensive players from each team attempt to get possession of the ball and try and kick it, knocking a wiffleball off the opponents cones. A point is scored when a wiffleball is successfully knocked off. The game is continuous. As soon as a goal is scored, the other team may get the ball and head up the field.
Lifeskills tip: The players on each team should switch places with the goalie every three goals or so.

MLK Soccer Goals

You might have noticed the soccer goals are no longer on the back playground. Here is what happened:

After reviewing guidelines from the Consumer Products Safety Commission around metal soccer goals and the fact that they have caused the death of many children, the Ann Arbor Public Schools has removed all metal soccer goals on its playgrounds. You might also remember that a number of years ago, covered slides were removed due to safety concerns.

Soccer can be practiced and played using other types of goals, including cones, flags, or PVC goals, which are movable. At this point, I am investigating the best soccer goal alternatives for MLK. If you have input to share, please email or call me.

The ancillary problem at MLK is that practicing soccer on our fields causes deterioration of our playing fields. The fields at MLK became too rough and muddy and could not be used--even for recess.