White Card Colpbol: Rewarding Sportsmanship
A colpbol game in which the referee, besides calling fouls, shows a white card for sporting gestures: helping someone up, admitting a foul or congratulating an opponent. Each white card is worth a goal, rewarding fair play in a positive way.
How to play
- Make 4 teams of 5 on two 25x15 m (27x16 yd) courts with small goals and 2 referees holding white cards; the rest keep score (2 min).
- Colpbol rules: hit the ball with an open hand or fist, never catch it, the ball may bounce, and nobody hits it twice in a row.
- When the referee sees a sporting gesture, they show a white card and say why; the scorekeeper adds a goal to that team.
- Players may also suggest a white card for an opponent by raising a hand at a stoppage.
- Play 3 games of 6 minutes, rotating referees and opponents (18 min).
- Wrap-up (4 min): read the reason for every white card and pick the gesture of the day.
Rules
- You can't ask for a white card for yourself.
- Fake or showy gestures don't earn a card.
- No contact: play the ball, never the player.
- Safety: hit the ball below head height when others are close.
Variations
Easier
White cards also for teamwork within your own team.
Standard
White cards only for gestures toward opponents and officials, worth one goal.
Harder
A white card is worth two goals, but one complaint cancels all of a team's cards.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: play seated in a personal zone or act as the white card referee.
- Autism: a picture checklist of gestures that earn a white card.
- Highly skilled players: may only hit with the non-dominant hand.
Learning goals
- Identify and value fair play gestures.
- Show active respect toward opponents and officials.
- Strike and direct the ball with control in colpbol.
Equipment for a class of 25
- colpbol balls: 2
- small goals: 4
- pinnies: 10
- cardstock: 6
Teacher tip
Explain that some real competitions use a white card to reward sportsmanship. Watch that gestures don't become fake ways to score goals.
PatioLab has "White Card Colpbol: Rewarding Sportsmanship" 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 Middle School
1-2-3 Touch Cooperative Rally
Two groups of three, one on each side of the net, work together to keep the longest rally possible in three phases: one touch, two touches, and three touches per side.
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 Self-Pass Volleyball
One-on-one games on narrow 10 x 20 foot courts where each player must self-pass before sending the ball over.
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-1 Fast Break with a Chasing Defender
Two attackers push a fast break against a defender waiting at the basket while a second defender chases from behind with a few yards' head start against them.