Our second unit of the year was Touch Rugby. Touch Rugby is a modified version of the real sport that teaches the main elements of Rugby while being safe for the students. (think flag football) In the beginning stages of the game, students really struggled with the concept of lateral and backwards passing as the only means of passing. So in order to get proficient in that area, we spent a great deal of time participating in drills that focused on those types of passes as well as attacking space and supporting the person with the ball. Being a non-traditional sport, here in the United States, it was great to see that many students across a broad range of physical skills started at the same point. Once we started doing some of the drills, many of the students would often get out in front of the ball looking to get passed to and the person with the ball actually trying to do it.....ILLEGAL forward pass was the result. Below is a video of 6th graders working on moving the ball up the field using lateral or backwards passing.
With the younger grades, I used this simple drill where one player receives a backwards pass, runs forwards and then gives a backwards pass to the other side.
Overall, the students did a great job with the unit and it was nice to see some of the students actually play a pick-up game during their recess time!!!