Practice Plan: Station Work – Small Area Games

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Activity 1: Scan the Field Warm Up
Station 1: 42 Groundball Game
Station 2: Gate Activate 2v1
Station 3: Half Field Small Ball Game
Activity 5: Zombie Tag

Please Note: The practice is designed to bring value across multiple age levels. You can use this as a foundation to build and develop your own practice. With that being said, we highly encourage you to adjust the drills based on your team’s age and skill levels. Lacrosse Drive should always be used as a starting point — you can make drills easier or harder by changing the constraints.

To make a drill easier, you might Increase the playing area, reduce the number of defenders or rules, add time or space to make decisions

To make a drill harder, you might: Shrink the field or add boundaries, add defenders or touch restrictions (e.g., “one-pass before shooting”), or Limit time or space to force faster decisions

Small adjustments to field size, player numbers, and rules can significantly change the challenge level while maintaining the same core learning goal.

Theme Description & Objected: Station Work – Small Area Games

Stations – Small Area Games is designed to build creativity, competitiveness, and decision-making in U8 and U10 players through fast, fun, and highly active mini-games. The objective of this plan is to help young athletes learn essential concepts—like spacing, teamwork, ball movement, and defensive positioning—by playing in tight, controlled areas where touches and decisions happen quickly. Each station offers a different small-sided challenge that keeps players engaged, accelerates learning, and reinforces fundamentals in a game-like environment. This approach develops instinct, confidence, and game IQ while keeping practice fun and energetic.

10 Minutes

Activity 1: Scan the Field Warm Up

A great drill to open practice and getting all the kids moving at once

Set Up

Set up a designated area on the field using cones or lines. In this case, we are using the center circle, which is a good space for the size of this group. Every player will have a ball and will run/cradle through the area. They need to keep their HEAD UP while they are running so they dont run into a teammate. You can see in the video, players are naturally also getting some escape work in when they need to change direction to not hit a teammate!

Progression 1 – After they have been running for 15-20 seconds, coach will blow a whistle and every player will stop, bounce away a little bit, and get their hands up like they want to make a pass. Have them hold position for a few seconds
Progression 2 – Once coach blows the whistle, they must find a teammate and exchange balls with, by rolling it out for a ground ball (Communicate!)

Coaching Points and Principles

Run and cradle with your stick protected, close to your shoulders
HEAD UP! Dont look down, keep your eyes up so you are running into space that doesn’t have another player
Look for natural escapes like Jabs, splits, etc.. and reinforce great job to the kids
Communicate – When you get to the ground ball progression, communicate with teammate so you both expect the same thing

Progressions

Instead of a ground ball, pass to a teammate to make it more challenging
Make the space smaller and more challenging, or larger for less experienced players

Tags

Anticipation & Recognition Attack Ball Control (with the ball)Beginner Block - On Air (no opponent)Box Lacrosse Defense Men’s Lacrosse Midfield Small Area Games Small Area Games U10 U8

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10 Minutes

Station 1: 42 Groundball Game

A great 2v2 game that also involves recognition and playing quick!

Set Up

Put players in 4 lines on the sideline, and give each player/line a number. Coach rolls a ball out and it’s a live 1v1v1v1 groundball. Once a player wins it, coach will yell out a second number, and that player will now be a teammate to the player who won the ground ball. They will play 2v2 to the goal

Coaching Points and Principles

Groundballs – win the battle!
Recognition – think quickly if you are on offense or defense
2v2 game principles – Offense support teammate, move and give them space to dodge. DEFENSE , communicate and try to force player with ball away from goal.

Progressions

Add a 5th line, so it becomes a 3v2 unsettled
make a rule, that the defense must double team the ball!

Tags

Anticipation & Recognition Game - Live Play Ground Ball Battles Ground Balls Intermediate Small Area Games Small Area Games U10 U8

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10 Minutes

Station 2: Gate Activate 2v1

Set Up

Create 2 gates using cones, on each side of the goal, around the 5×5 (island). Set up a line of players at the top of the restraining box. Start the drill by have 2 players go 1v1, starting at 1 gate and rolling the ball to X for a live ground ball. The winning player must bring the ball through 1 of the 2 gates, and the defender is trying to keep them out of it. Once the player makes it through the gate, they make a pass to the top line, and now play 2v1 to the goal.

Coaching Points and Principles

Ground Balls! Battle to get possessions
Ball control, get through a gate protecting your stick and using dodges/escpes
Defender during the 1v1 play, don’t try to take ball away, but body position to drive away from the gates
2v1 – offense should be drawing a defender and finding the best shot / defense should be playing deceptive with stick up to try and knock down passes or force bad shots

Tags

2v1 Game - Live Play Ground Ball Battles Ground Balls Men’s Lacrosse Small Area Games Small Area Games Transition U10 U12 U14

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10 Minutes

Station 3: Half Field Small Ball Game

Set Up

You can play this game as half field, or full field. Make sure you are USING TENNIS BALLS OR SOFT LACROSSE BALLS for this game. Split players up into two teams, and play 3v3 or 4v4. One player on the defensive team has to play goalie, so it’s always an unsettled game. If the defense turns the ball over, or there is a dead ball, the defending team will clear it past restraining line (like basketball half court) and then they will be on offense. This is a great game for station play or small groups

Coaching Points and Principles

Unsettled offense and defense – Players should recognize the situation
- Offense – Draw a defender and find an open teammate / off ball move to space
- Defense – Play zone-like defense with slides and recovery
Awareness and Game IQ

Progressions

Change the number off players
play a full field version with 2 goals

Tags

3v2 4v3 All Beginner Fundamental Team Offense & Defense Game - Live Play Intermediate Small Area Games Small Area Games Transition U10 U8

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10 Minutes

Activity 5: Zombie Tag

Finish Practice with this fun game to get all the kids working together at once!

Set Up

Create a small area using cones or lines on the field for boundaries. Every player will have a ball and there will be a coach(s) inside the play area as the zombies. On the whistle, the players will start running with their ball in the play are and coaches will walk around like zombies. if a player gets tagged by a coach or runs outside the playing area, they will freeze in place. Their teammates can unfreeze them, but rolling a ball through their legs, and scooping a ground ball. Continue for 5-10 minutes, and the kids will have a great run!

Coaching Points and Principles

Ball Control and Awareness – Keep your head up, stay away from zombies, and don’t run out of bounds!
Communicate – Help unfreeze your teammates

Progressions

Make field smaller so its more challenging or larges for less experienced players

Tags

Anticipation & Recognition Ball Control (with the ball)Beginner Box Lacrosse Dodging & Escapes Game - Live Play Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Small Area Games Small Area Games U10 U8

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