Between 2004 and 2005, a group of young skiers in Waterloo innovated on games they played as Jackrabbits—Ultimate Chicken, British Bulldog, Soccer and Handball—to invent the fast-paced, all-season game of Nordic Handball. The inventive or low-organization game involves minimal equipment and a flexible setup while presenting many athletic challenges and diverse movements for athletes. And it is tremendously fun! Over the first year and a bit of development, the game's rules were modified and customized to dryland and on-snow conditions.
Below is a description of Nordic Handball and its simple rules. The game encourages creativity, teamwork, communication, and fair competition. Athletes develop skills and movement abilities in throwing, running, catching, dodging, jumping, batting, and skiing. The form and variety of play challenge balance, quickness, reactions, agility, and focus.
Image. An Elephant Skin—Nordic Handball (Team Line Elephant Skin, Made in Sweden)
Benefits of Low-Organization Games for Athlete Development:
Low-organization Games or Inventive Games offer several benefits for athlete development. These informal games provide physical challenges, require social skills and demand thinking and problem-solving from players in a fun, low-stress, competitive environment. Here are some benefits of low-organization games:
1. Agility and Coordination
Low-organization games demand quick decisions, spontaneous reactions, and dynamic movements. Athletes develop better agility, balance, and hand-eye coordination, which are essential for sports performance.
2. Problem Solving
Since low-organization games are less structured, athletes must adapt and respond to changing situations. This enhances creativity, decision-making skills, and quick thinking, which are crucial during competitive scenarios.
3. Increased Enjoyment and Engagement
These games' informal and fun nature makes them highly enjoyable, reducing burnout and increasing long-term motivation. Athletes often enjoy a break from structured training, allowing them to stay engaged and enthusiastic.
4. Social Interaction and Teamwork
These games involve group play and foster communication, teamwork, and leadership skills. Athletes learn to work together, solve problems, and support one another in a low-pressure (low-consequence) environment.
5. Physical Literacy
Through varied movements and less predictable scenarios, athletes develop fundamental movement skills, such as running, jumping, throwing, and catching. This physical literacy is transferable to more specialized sports skills.
6. Adaptability and Resilience
Low-organization games frequently involve rule changes or evolving objectives, which teaches athletes to adapt, build resilience, and become comfortable with uncertainty—important traits in competitive sports.
7. Stress Reduction and Mental Relaxation
These games' informal and playful nature reduces pressure and allows athletes to relax mentally, improving their overall well-being and reducing performance anxiety.
Incorporating low-organization games into athlete training can provide a fun, holistic way to enhance physical and mental development.
Play Nordic Handball:
Nordic Handball is a low organization, inventive game. The game can be customized to dryland and winter, available field size and number of players. All players are continually involved in the game i.e., there is no players’ bench, substitutions or sitting out. Additionally, there are no set positions, including goalie, and teams form their strategy of play for defense and offense. As the game is played, teams learn or develop their strategy or style of play.
Video: Nordic Handball explained (Millennial Falcon Media)
Equipment:
Ball
Elephant Skin Ball (description: a light foam ball with a rubberized waterproof exterior)
Goals
Option A. ski poles fixed to the ground by packing in snow or sticking point into the ground (note: roller ski tips are good for dryland handball)
Option B. tall pylons
Option C. dome cones
Skis or Shoes
Skiers should use older skis (Game skis or rock/grass skis) as there is some contact between players, and skiing over someone else’s skis is sometimes unavoidable. The game can be played on skate or classic skis.
Team Size:
Ideally, Two teams of four to six players create a good game size. However, play can accommodate larger teams, and the field size can expand or contract depending on the number of players or the speed of players. In the winter, even the speed of snow must be a consideration when setting up your game. For example, I have played in games with teams of around ten players and have also played two versus two or two versus three. I recall a game played on the beach with two older people playing against eight young players. The game is extremely flexible.
Picking Teams:
Have fun with coming up with various ways to make teams:
i) athletes pick a partner, and then pairs are put together to form a team of four or six players,
ii) toques versus headbands,
iii) Salomon and Peltonen versus Fisher and Madshus
iv) Spring and fall birthdays versus summer and winter
There are lots of ways to make team formation fun while de-emphasizing winning. However, teams should look fair and encourage teamwork and enjoyable competition.
Coaches should join in these games!
Image (Wix Media): Nordic Handball, a game for all-seasons.
Playing surface:
There is no designated field size and no measured dimensions—make use of the space you have. In the winter it can be useful to have a field packed or groomed for the game. However, it can also be fun to have the players “ski-in” the field. After ten minutes of play the deep snow becomes packed. The soft surface can add to an element of fun for the game.
Rules or Laws of the game:
Here is how we play. There is no set game time. We use the time we have—10-minutes, 20, 30. Occasionally, we have a break and change ends. Players are added to the game as they arrive, or teams are adjusted at any time—with the consensus of all players. There is no refereeing and coaches join in the game.
Rules of Play:
You can run or ski with the ball until an opponent tags you.
When tagged, you stop and can pass the ball to a teammate. (You can not score after being tagged.)
Anyone can retrieve a dropped ball (it is not a turnover).
No kicking the ball. (This is for safe play and avoiding someone getting kicked in the hand when they reach down to pick up the ball.)
A goal is scored by sending the ball through the poles (goal). You score one point for a throw and two points if you run or ski through the goal. The point is not scored if you are tagged before releasing the ball or before running or skiing through the goal. (The ball must pass below the height of the poles.)
The game score can be kept; however, this is of low importance.
No designated goalies.
No wrestling or wrestling the ball from an opponent—unless you are siblings. (Siblings can settle any disputes at home.)
If you redirect the ball through the goal without holding it (e.g., if a teammate passes you the ball and you bat it with your hand, a tag does not nullify the goal.)
Conclusion
We played with no team-identifying marker/Pinney. Players need to learn who is on their team. This takes awareness, and players are actually quite good at it. Occasionally, a player makes an errant pass that goes to the other team, adding to the fun “pick-up” aspect of the game.
This game was a lot of fun in the development and continues to offer hours of fun playing. It provided a creative, social task and became an important aspect of skiing for the ski club in Waterloo. A younger group of players even had Nordic Handball t-shirts made. And, coaches, if you want to develop sprinting, agility and competitiveness throw a ball to your athletes. There are numerous benefits and endless enjoyment to avoiding a tag and sprinting to a goal!
End
The First Lap Coaching:
Are you interested in sustaining athlete participation for individual and community health and sport development? We are rethinking how we design and deliver sports programs to build community and engage athletes.
Ready to elevate your club’s programs and make a lasting impact on your athletes? Want to try inventive games? Click kevin@canadianwintersports.com to contact Kevin today and ask for a free consultation.
Let’s work together to create engaging and effective programs that foster athlete growth, and commitment and sustain participation.
All the best,
Kevin
Kevin Shields
Master of Coaching, University of Alberta
BEd, Nipissing University
BSc (Kinesiology), University of Waterloo
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