Footgolf
You’ll need
- Footballs
- Something to mark lines (for example, chalk, masking tape, or rope)
- Tarpaulins or old sheets
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.
Set up a course
- The person leading the activity should design a basic course. They should mark out some holes and teeing boxes. It’s a good idea to have at least one hole for every two players, so people don’t wait for too long between turns.
- Don’t worry if you can’t dig holes – just use something (such as rope) to mark out a square or circle instead.
- Add some obstacles between the tee boxes and holes to act like sandy bunkers and water hazards. You could use ropes, tarpaulins, or anything else you have lying around.
Play footgolf
- The first player at each hole should gently kick their football into the teeing box to start their turn.
- The first player at each hole should take aim, kick their football towards the hole, and count ‘one’.
- Once their football’s stopped moving, the first player at each hole should kick it towards the hole again and count ‘two’.
- The players should keep going until their football reaches the hole (or marked out section). They should keep track of how many times they had to kick the ball at each hole.
- Once everyone’s had a turn at each hole, everyone should compare their scores. The person who kicked the ball the fewest number of times is the winner.
Reflection
Footgolf is a great way to do some gentle exercise while developing technique and working on skills such as positioning and passing the ball. Ask everyone to think of some other benefits of footgolf. People might suggest that it’s an inclusive sport: lots of people can enjoy walking football, including some people who have limited mobility, are recovering from injuries, or are older.
Encourage everyone to discuss some other team sports that could be made more inclusive, while still keeping players active. How could they adapt the rules, equipment, or setting so everyone can play? Remember, making sports inclusive is about finding a way that everyone can fully participate, have fun, and work towards their own goals.
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
- Active games
The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
- People could design their own holes before you play. Make sure they stay distanced and don’t gather together to grab equipment from the same place.
- You could add penalties, for example, for kicking the ball into a water bunker.
- It’s up to you how tricky you make the holes. You could change the size of the hole or the number of bunkers and water hazards you have.
Make it accessible
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
