Team Play Positioning

Overview

In this lesson (lesson 5 of 6), students build on prior hockey skill work by learning how to work as a team. They will practise player roles, negotiate responsibilities, and apply simple positioning formations in small-sided games.

Learning intentions

• Students will contribute positively to their hockey team by taking on roles and encouraging others during play.
• Students will negotiate roles and responsibilities with teammates to keep the game safe, fair and enjoyable.
• Students will use reflective listening and assertive communication to resolve disagreements during gameplay.
• Students will apply and adjust movement strategies using space and people to improve team outcomes.

Success criteria

• I can take a clear team role (e.g. support, marking, linking) and help my team with positive actions and encouragement.
• I can help my team keep shape by positioning in relation to the ball, teammates and space.
• I can use respectful communication to discuss and solve disagreements without blaming.
• I can adjust my team positioning during the game when the play changes.

Curriculum links

• AC9HP6M09: participate positively in groups and teams by contributing to group activities, encouraging others and negotiating roles and responsibilities.
• AC9HP6M03: investigate how different movement concepts related to effort, space, time, objects and people can be applied to improve movement outcomes.
• AC9HP6M02: transfer familiar movement strategies to different movement situations.
• AC9HP6M07: predict and test the effectiveness of applying different skills and strategies in a range of movement situations.

Lesson structure (40 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Settle and purpose

• Teacher outlines the focus: “Today we play with roles and positions—your job is to help your team stay organised.”
• Students get equipment, stand in teams, and repeat 1 safety expectation: space awareness and respectful stick control.

2. 4–10 min · Role warm-up (formations without pressure)

• Teacher demonstrates a simple formation (3–4 players) and names roles: Mark (closest to opponent), Support (behind/side to receive), Link (moving to create passing option).
• Students in groups of 4 practise “ball-holder, support, mark, link” movement patterns on command; they rotate roles every 2 minutes while practising communication cues (e.g. “I’m marking you”, “I’m open”).

3. 10–16 min · Direct teach: positioning rules

• Teacher models three positioning rules using the pitch grid:
• Stay connected: teammates should be within passing distance.
• Side-to-side coverage: spread to create lanes.
• Move with the ball: shift as a team when possession changes.
• Students participate in a quick guided practice: teacher calls “ball moves left/right” and students step accordingly, keeping spacing.

4. 16–26 min · Small-sided game 1 (2v2 to 3v3 with roles)

• Teacher sets up small goals and nominates roles for each team; scoring is for goals plus “team shape” (one point for completing a 3-pass move or a safe clearance).
• Students play; the teacher circulates to prompt reflective listening and assertive communication using sentence starters:
• “I hear you; what if we…”
• “My idea is… because…”
• “Let’s swap roles and try again.”

5. 26–32 min · Strategy pause: test a new formation

• Teacher asks students to predict: “If we tighten marking (less space for attackers), what might happen to passing options?”
• Students run a 1-minute “trial formation” then discuss with a partner for 1 minute: what changed (space, time, effort, people) and whether it helped.

6. 32–38 min · Small-sided game 2 (adjust and apply)

• Teacher instructs teams to adjust positioning based on what they tested; roles remain, but students may negotiate role changes between plays.
• Students play again, aiming to maintain shape and use communication to avoid conflicts (e.g. agreeing on marking responsibilities).

7. 38–40 min · Debrief and exit check

• Teacher leads a short class wrap: “What role helped most today and how did our positioning improve?”
• Students complete a quick exit reflection (spoken or written on a strip): one communication they used and one positioning adjustment they made.

Resources

• Hockey sticks (one per student) and balls
• Cones to mark pitch boundaries and small zones
• Bibs to differentiate teams and optionally roles
• Small portable goals or cone goals
• Playing cards/role cue cards (Mark, Support, Link)
• Whistle, scoreboard, and timer
• Markers for pitch grid lines (cones or tape)
• Printed role/prompt cards or paper for exit reflection
• First-aid kit and water bottles

Assessment

• Teacher observation checklist during games: role contribution, encouragement, and negotiated responsibilities.
• Formative questioning: “Where is your teammate in relation to the ball?” and “What are you changing and why?” linked to space and people.
• Exit reflection: one sentence on how the team positioned differently and one communication strategy used.

Differentiation

• Support:
• Provide sentence starters for communication and a simple role card with “what I do” for each position.
• Reduce game size (2v2) temporarily for students needing more space/time.
• Stretch:
• Challenge teams to attempt a specific team shape (e.g. “one player always in support behind the ball”) for 2 minutes.
• Ask advanced groups to justify their adjustment using “because” reasons (what changed for opponents/teammates).
• SEN/EAL:
• Pair students strategically so language supports include gestures and role cue cards.
• Use visual pitch zones to reduce reliance on complex verbal instructions.
• Behaviour/engagement:
• Reinforce role accountability: students earn a “team shape” point when they return to formation after a turnover.