Flag Pull Bulldog with Footballs
A no-contact version of the classic British Bulldog: students run across the court holding a football while the taggers try to pull one of their flags. It builds dodging, changes of pace, and running while protecting the ball.
How to play
- Use cones to mark a 30 x 20 m (about 100 x 65 ft) area with a 3 m safe zone at each end. Every student wears a flag belt with two flags, and half of them carry a foam football (2 min).
- Three taggers in pinnies start in the middle; everyone else lines up in one safe zone. On the whistle, all runners cross to the opposite safe zone holding the ball with both hands.
- A runner who loses a flag puts it back on and becomes a tagger starting with the next crossing.
- Runners who reach the safe zone touch the ball down, like a try, for one point. Allow 10 seconds between crossings.
- Each round lasts about 3 minutes and ends when only 3 runners are left; they become the starting taggers for the next round.
- Play 4 rounds, switching who carries a ball, and finish with a 1-minute huddle about which fakes worked best.
Rules
- Flags only: no pushing, grabbing clothes, or slapping at the ball.
- Runners may not guard their flags with their hands or the ball.
- Safety: run with your eyes up, and tag from the side, never head-on.
Variations
Easier
Taggers must speed-walk during the first two crossings of each round.
Standard
Three starting taggers and half the class carrying a ball, as described.
Harder
Ball carriers must make a backward pass to a teammate before crossing midfield.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: a student using a wheelchair crosses in a 3 m side lane, and taggers may only tap the shoulder instead of pulling a flag.
- Autism or shyness: count down out loud before every crossing and let the student start as a tagger alongside a trusted buddy.
- Fitness level: a tired student may sit out one crossing in the safe zone without losing points.
Learning goals
- Dodge a defender using changes of direction and speed without dropping the ball.
- Pull flags safely, with no contact or grabbing.
- Follow the fair-play rules of flag rugby.
Equipment for a class of 25
- flag belts: 25
- foam footballs: 13
- cones: 8
- pinnies: 6
Teacher tip
If a tagger dives or grabs a shirt, stop play and restate the rule. Check that flags hang outside shirts before you start.
PatioLab has "Flag Pull Bulldog with Footballs" and 3999 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More main activities for Elementary
1-on-1 Mini Volleyball Up and Down the River
One-on-one mini volleyball duels on 3 x 3 m courts under a rope 2 m high, using a receive, self-set and send rule.
1-on-1 Side-Step Square Duels
In pairs, inside 5 x 5 m squares, an attacker holding a football tries to get from the starting side to the far side without the defender pulling a flag.
1v1 Four-Gate Soccer Duels
In a square with a gate on each side, two players go head to head and score by dribbling through any of the four gates.
2-on-2 Mini Volleyball with a Neutral Setter
Two-on-two mini volleyball with a neutral setter under the rope who always plays for the team with the ball.
2v1 Attack Waves to Mini Goals
Two attackers take on one defender and try to score on a small goal in under 10 seconds.
2v2 Alley Mini-Volleyball
A 2v2 mini-volleyball game on a very long, narrow court, about 33×10 feet, where the only way to win a point is by playing for depth: short near the net or deep to the…