Most advice assumes smaller numbers

A rondo "with everyone" works fine at 12-16 players. At 22+, the same activity either becomes unwieldy (a 4v1 rondo with 22 players means most are standing around) or needs adapting — and most coaching content simply doesn't address this gap.

Splitting into groups: the basic solution

Most activities scale by running MULTIPLE instances simultaneously — three separate 4v1 rondos instead of one impossible 22-player one. This requires more space and more equipment (more balls, more marked-out areas) but the ACTIVITY itself doesn't need reinventing — just multiplying.

Activities that scale well

  • Multiple parallel rondos/small games — as above, the default solution for most technical/tactical work.
  • Whole-group warm-up games (see our warm-up games guide) — games like "stuck in the mud" or "traffic lights" genuinely work at almost any group size, since everyone's doing the same simple thing simultaneously.
  • Parallel small-sided games — for the game phase, 3-4 separate small-sided games running at once (with enough space) gives everyone real game involvement, vs one massive game where most players rarely touch the ball.

The assistant question

At 20+ players, even basic oversight (everyone roughly doing the right thing, nobody unsupervised) becomes genuinely harder solo — see our delegation guide. This is the scenario where assistant help moves from "nice to have" to "makes a meaningful practical difference," even if it's just someone keeping an eye on one of several parallel groups.

Equipment at scale

Multiple parallel activities need multiple sets of equipment — more balls (roughly one per 3-4 players for most activities, more for ball-each activities), more cones for marking multiple areas, more bibs for multiple games. See our kit bag guide — at this scale, "enough" means noticeably more than smaller-squad guidance suggests.

Keeping everyone involved

The core risk with large groups is players at the periphery — physically (on the edge of a big group) or in terms of involvement (rarely touching the ball in a too-large game). Smaller parallel groups, as above, are the main defence against this — but it's worth actively checking: is anyone consistently on the edge of things, regardless of which activity?