Zone Control: The Team with the Most Bodies Scores

Five zones spread around the schoolyard score every 30 seconds for the team with the most players inside at that moment. With three teams of only 9 or 10 players, nobody can be everywhere: teams must decide whether to concentrate, spread out or shift as a block at the last second.

How to play

1. Mark five circular zones 4 m across, at least 15 m apart, each with a central hoop where a referee drops point tokens (3 min).
2. Three teams in colored pinnies; each names a strategist who may give orders from the sideline, and two students rotate as zone referees (2 min).
3. Round 1, 6 minutes: every 30 seconds the whistle blows; at that instant the referees count players per team in each zone and give a token to the team with most; on a tie nobody scores (6 min).
4. Planning timeout: the strategist reviews the score by zone and proposes a new split (3 min).
5. Round 2 with two zones worth double, revealed secretly to strategists only 1 minute before; round 3 with all zones at normal value and a new strategist (8 min).
6. Analysis: which player split paid off most and when it made sense to move (3 min).

Rules

• Inside a zone, no pushing or blocking with arms: being inside is all that counts.
• Run between zones facing forward; never cross zones running backward.
• Anyone on the line at the whistle counts as outside.
• Every player must change zones at least once a minute to keep the game moving.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: act as strategist or zone referee, who is essential for the count.
• Hearing impairment: the counting moment is shown by raising a flag visible from every zone.
• Asthma or low fitness: may stay in one zone as the team's anchor without having to switch every minute.

Learning goals

• Analyze how to distribute players in space to maximize the score.
• Apply the idea of numerical superiority at a specific point.
• Take on the strategist and referee roles responsibly.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 25
• pinnies: 28
• hoops: 5
• stopwatch: 1
• cards: 60

Teacher tip

This is a good game for logging heart rate at the end, since the constant switching usually pushes it high. Keep the zones away from walls or benches.

More main activities for High School