Menace, your link did not work for me and if this is what you are referencing: http://www.nationalsoccerranking.com/girls u-14.htm. I'm a bit confused, because it doesn't seem to support your point. IMO neither National Soccer Ranking or Got Soccer are good ranking systems for the reasons already discussed, but they do give you a "feel" for where teams stand. I know of a soccer dad, also a college math professor, who devised a system for his own amusement that ranked teams based on the results of games played, similar to that used in ranking chess players. What his system did was take into account the level of the competition played, so if a lower level team won against a higher level team they would gain significantly more points than if they beat a team of the same level. While on the other hand, the higher level team would lose significantly more points then if they played a team of the same level. He followed tens of thousand of game results for a couple of age groups of teams all over the country and for the teams in Region 1 he was extremely accurate in his ability to predict the outcome of not only State Cups, but the Region 1 championship last year. Amazingly accurate. I believe the ranking system US Rank http://www.soccerincollege.com/cbathlete.aspx?type=RANK may be using a similar type of system, but unfortunately they don't seem to keep it updated as indicated or maybe I am doing something wrong when I go into their web site.
In my case vodka.. Reading your so called long winded post is informational to me bro. Please dont stop that. At my daughters age bracket(after talking to the odp goalie coach)they start developing and making a decision as to who to take to that next level in socal ...wich is odp..The coach i spoke to last nite said she will not be able to play odp until she is atleast 13...The odp program will prepare them to play against the national team and also the premier odp team. From talking to the coaches yesterday at a scrimmage game. She is the prime canidate from her age bracket so far. Cal south is aware of her and see potential that is unmatched at keeper "SO FAR". That could change because other girls will grow,get bigger,faster,and learn the sport. After gold in california again (from talking to the odp coach and one of long beach state coaches) its odp...thats where the national pools are pulled from. Thats cool as hell about your daughter too menace. My daughter started practice last week..looked great the first practice in the second sort of fell off ....they didnt practice monday but another team that wants her to play for them had a scrimmage last nite she begged me to take her too. The team she plays with in that league is not that good (wich i like cause she gets alot of touched). So she "is" the team. They scrimmaged a all star team from jusa..and lost 3-2..one of those being a og.....Her feeling(without a good defense at all) is..."the one girl scored twice on me..but i made 3 saves o 3 of her balls) so its even.(i love that!).....She came out with no box lined out and got beat twice by a girl that probably in the top 3 in scoring for jusa. Change of subject sort of... Ya know..she plays a very..very ..."very" hard position ..and has..."keeper". Its cool cause last season and starting this seasons practices..she really is learning to handle losses..and goals being scored on her. As a father its cool as F#$k to watch her mature like that. Her fundamental level for a goalie...(even on the gold team) is more technically sound than anyother keeper i have seen. The coach on the other team last nite told her after the game(i swear to god)..."That was the best keeping i have ever seen ...your the best i ever seen at your age".....let me quit with this jibber jabber...lol "my bad"
Nice..i cant wait..i enjoy it..i wish my father was around when i was a kid to enjoy these same things you get to see come thru your kids man. It makes me so fucing angry he didnt have the same love i have for my daughter and sons sports career.
I admit I did not read the entire thread but will give some words of wisdom to Charlie. You stated your kids a keeper playing U11 but is a U10 players ( please correct me if I am wrong) 1. First of all finding decent keepers at that age is not easy especially for girls so do not read into the wanting her to play on all these different teams to much. 2. I hope!!! you are concentrating more than just on keeper skills. Keepers today need to be just as adept with the ball at their feet as the rest of the team. Without these skills she will not play higher level soccer. Playing keeper is fine but I hope you are trying to develop her as field player also. I see you have her playing on different teams If I were in your shoes she would not play keeper for both.
Nice..She will play up in the signature league when we dont have club games..and they are playing u12..she is at the right age to play u11..she played u10 last yr... The club team she is playing with she will play 95% goalie. Her ball skills with the feet are in the works as we speak. She is not to far off in her feet skill from the rest of the club.(wich to me is awesome,because the girls have been on this club team for 3 yrs.).wich her coach thinks is awesome. She is blessed with exceptional speed..so she always got away with it the last 3 yrs..as far as when put into games.."she scores"..never been to a game when she hasnt scored after being put on the field. 1 touch and run to it...easy at that age..i know. To answer the first question yes..your very correct...on the team she is playing for this spring..the goalie is athletic..but without the technique at all....my daughter has already been to a goalie trainer for a whole season..passed the intermediete stage and went up .."at her age the only one out of around 15"...so your right its hard to find a good goalie at her age...so thats a good thing for her. Now the thing she and me are working on is keeping that "edge"..by study,constant homing of technique, working out together,discipline,aggressiveness,keeping your self safe..etc..etc...etc..etc...so your right..but i do put alot of stock in the fact that she is this good already. Like you said...in this area at any level...of her age bracket..goalies are scared,overweight(not all),confused alot,jump the gun,dont have proper technique...My daughter got thru alot of those things early...last spring she got a black eye..a huge one...after the play was over and she was on the side of the field..i told her to sit down,"you have to protect yourself"..you know what she told me.."i saved the goal didnt i?"......I will not hesitate and im confident enough to sayat her division and maybe 1 up...my daughter will be in the top 3 goalies in the gold division. (no father blocking,blinding,ray charles glasses either). For your second question... No.... main priority... "keeper skills".. She juggles for15-30 minutes a day..and practices handling in that time..even on the days she goes to practice with the teams. But she will play goalie only her whole life.... I herd Brianna Scurry didnt learn how to be a goalie later in her life.. "my daughters got something on her" But i know you have to be able to see the net thru the strikers and field players eyes...and she does play on the field sometimes. But she is a goalie thru and thru..not a unhealthy out of shape one either... im talking.. THE FASTEST 100 YARD SPRINTER ON ANY TEAM SHE HAS EVER BEEN ON. To be honest..i get alot of slack for her not playing on the field....people think she would be awesome as hell on the field with her skills being coached..and she would be.....But she has plans to be the best at the position she is at. Sometimes they even ask her.."you want to play on the field?"..more times than not she says no...lol.. Every thing i typed to you is true..im a bias father..but im also realistic. I understand the best..and someone wanting to be that without the proper god given talent,or the psyche to stick too it. My daughter ..(GOD willing)..has the tools and will remain with them with hard work,dedication,and focus. Thats a parents job to hone those characteristics right? Appreciate the advice..genuinely... thanks cval
Take lesson from Brianna then. You can learn keeper skills at an older age much harder if not impossible to learn foot skills at an older age. Keepers are more part of the field players than ever because of the back pass rule. If you are concerned about her development and you have coaches that are concerned about her development you will get her the field time. Hey if you want to be the best 10 year old keeper just play keeper if she wants to be the best 18 year keeper learn to play the field. Don't just listen me Perfdbdan I believe was and is a keeper and could probably give you some good advice on the position. A keeper needs be more than athletic they also need to know the game. They have the best view of the field and they are the ones that organize the defense. Making the save is the easier part not having to make the save is what makes a great keeper.
Charlie- I completely disagree with your thoughts and approach on the position specific thing. I agree wholeheartedly with everyone else who has given opinions. I think that you are short-changing your daughter by rat-holing her into a position this young. Who knows, she may be the next outstanding striker for the US Nats.....and you'll never know that if you specialize her right now. Not saying that GK can't be her primary position, but she needs more. The kids she will be competing with later in life for spots on teams, scholarships, ODP placements, and so on will be ahead of her if they are VERSATILE. One never knows where a coach may envision a player fitting in to thier teams- I know this first hand having a striker who is being considered as a center back......
With all due respect menace.. She is a keeper..and (this is a crazy father talking now)..will be one of the best in the world at one day..with gods help and some luck. I understand what you guys are saying and have been told that by many parents,friends,wife,and other coaches. The thing is...wisdom from the position has to be learned and cant actually be taught from the field players perspective.. The back passes..i honestly believe are heavily important to the success of the new keeper..she is working on that and has been for the past yr or so. I know this is going to look crazy...but her playing any position is soccer is not far fetched..its just "weird"..that she chooses goalie. Thats all. Good point bout the ball controll and not being able to learn that at a later age...but i do believe that goalie in itself is its own art that certain things if not taught early cant be learned at a later age either. Just my opinion. Dont worry guys..the new coach she is with is smarter than me and coaches for long beach state..he isnt worried how she is playing now(even though i dont agree with it)..he is thinking about her future..and thats why they work alot on the field..mondays are for the field wed they have goalie training and scrimmages. So i understand what you guys are staying..but i think alot of times the importance of a excellent keeper is lost in the hooplah about the last goal. At goalie for the past 3 yrs she has been on teams that if she wasnt there wouldve been less than average in whatever league they were in. Her importance @ 18 will be the same as it is now.. "a good goalie will still be hard to come by" "a great one will be unheard of...unless you know Martha Banks" and please cv.....perf almost cutt my chin off for making a couple of hooray statements....thats like asking for another ass whooping asking him for advice..i could see him now.. blanko-perf..do you think i should have her come out and slide feet first or sideways with arms blocking her face?" perf-you freaking idiot blanko..you dont know crap about soccer like me..you are not half as good at soccer as me..and your daughter isnt as good as mine was @ that age....blanko your pathetic!... I will pass..thanks though. lol
Now Charlie . . . What CVAL and Menace suggest has a lot of truth. Being a goal keeper is one of the hardest positions on the field. A keeper must be able to do everything a keeper has to do AND everything a field player can do. This means they need training as both. The game has changed much since I started playing in goal in almost 40 years ago. Today a keeper has to have great feet as well as hands. Changes to the Laws that eliminated the ability to handle a back pass played withthe feet are part of it. More and more, however, teams are requiring that the keeper be capable of playing a defensive role behind the back line (often called a "Sweeper/keeper") outside of their box. The keeper has to know how to dribble, pass, have a decent first touch and most importantly read the game. Most of the research on young children indicates that ages 10 to 12 are the crucial years for learning these skills. A child can learn them later, but rarely do they learn them as well. If you would like I would be happy to give you many research papers and publications that support this. Perhaps even more critical to a player not yet in her teens is that the game is likely to change more, with more restrictions on keepers to increase scoring and make the game faster. While not yet successful, there have been moves to eliminate or further restrict a keeper's use of hand on any play of the ball, including a header, to the keeper. If this should happen the keeper will have to have the ability to trap and control the ball BETTER than any field player, for the keeper cannot afford an errant touch. (For example, one proposal that has been floated is to allow a keeper to "handle the ball" only in the six yard box, and then only when the ball was played by the opponent.) All of this does not mean your daughter should stop training as a keeper. What it does mean is she should do both if she can and has the time. In the end playing on the field will help her as a keeper. We try to have our keepers play at least 20% of the time on the field. It helps them understand how players should move, the timing of the game and more. This helps the keeper give instructions during play and read what the other team is doing. Keep in mind that a goal keeper is much more than a shot blocker. The keeper is the defensive general and often the first person to start the attack up field. Over the years I have noticed that those players who were exclusively keepers at a young age rarely were the outstanding keepers when older. There are a few exceptions, but they are rare.
nice perf..and i would love the lit..please..hit me in my instant messages or i can give you the email address.. once again thanks perf..and i didnt know bout the new rules they are trying to impliment. A goalie already has a hard enough job....i cant believe that they would hinder them anymore. I was thinking they might want to move the penalty spot back to give the goalie a better chance..but thats just my own dumb rule i was thinking about... Your right about the development i have read alot on it..and these are the cruicial yrs...so as her father/personal coach..i will make a effort and insist she does more of the field things it takes to help her out in the long run..thank you
Charlie, how many GKs have you worked with from age 7 to age 18 to have drawn the conclusions you have made? Me? I have been watching girls soccer for a decade and a half and what I have learned over those years? You should be listening to those parents, friends, and other coaches who probably have nothing to personally gain but to see your daughter avoid the mistakes that many others have made. Can you say for certain that your daughter's current coach has nothing to gain? He/she wouldn't be the first to put team, club and his/her personal success ahead of the individuals he/she is coaching, either consciously or unconsciously. And the fact that he/she coaches for Long Beach State may mean s/he has soccer knowledge, but that does not mean that s/he understands how to develop 10 year old soccer players. As parents we all love to hear how great our kids are and believe they really may become one of the best in their chosen endeavors. But you are foolish to give any more than a wink and a nod to those that flatter you, because none of them can predict how the hormones of puberty are going to affect her in the coming years. As one youth coach put it, hormones are something to fear.
jesus christ..perf do you know this guy..im just stating a opinion..i dont have a fucin degree in soccer..and have not been a fan for 50 fucin yrs ...doesnt mean i cant have a opinion..and believe in something ..or does it? "charlie..how long you been coaching ..and how many girls?" "me ive been coaching for..etc..etc.."...and your probably a american..so your soccer skills arent the best according to the rest of the worlds..but lets see someone tell you that... "your a us soccer coach..how many players have you coached that went to europe?.....me ive coached..etc..etc"..got dam Im just kidding bird..please dont get butt sore.. your right..im listening,learning and making my own opinions.. I dont know the internal motive of this coach..but hope and pray like i would do with all her coaches..that he has the right motives. The system or club she is in has alums that go around the country to colleges..."the whole team". That was one of the deciding factors for me. Your right..genes are a beast.. At this age..she is the spitting image of me..my body type and the whole nine yards.. "its in my family genes" The first time you see my daughter you can tell she is a athlete anybody can see that(all her coaches have said that) and as far as my family is concerned..its always been like that...like you said bro"its in the genes"or like i tell my wife.. "its in my jeans"..naw..im j/k.. lol..that was funny though.. The keeper coach she goes too has said in his 20 yrs as being a goalie coach..he honestly feels that martha will be his best pupil ever..and the guys got girls in big colleges now....i didnt even have to pay him for the coaching..he said he wanted the chance to coach and help her. im trying to make the right decisions in her football. I think im doing a ok job..and thanks to the new family i have here at big soccer ...i seriously will get better in my knowledge and decision making for her. Thanks for the advice.. She is special though(that means im blind to the facts lol) ..and god is my witness im not saying it cause im bias..or because.."she is my daughter" Its the truth....i cant wait till her coach makes a play for her on odp next yr..than people wont give me such a hard time maybe...a referee stoped my daughter after the game and took a picture with her..i asked him why..he said he has been reffing for 20 some odd yrs..at the youth level and never seen a goalie as good as her in her age bracket or the next 2 up from her..also telling me in my ear.."look your daughter is special ..dont let her get away from soccer..cause she can go to the olympics one day...( i swear to god he said that..on my "mommas grave")...how can i ignore that and take that with a grain of salt?..what does he have to gain by saying that?..why would he lie?..why would she get the mvp for every team she has ever played for?..why did she make a gold level club?...why do the coaches after every game pull her too the side and tell her.."your a special player" and when as a parent to i actually say.."eh they say that too all the players?"...or do i.. ps..mind you guys..im a family man and have been for 12 yrs..and im still under 30..so i dont know it all..and this parenting thing was not in my household when i was young..so being a father or how to be a father is on a trial/learn/do basis..by the way (those glasses mean im blind to the fact that my daughter isnt special)lol
Wow. I feel terrible for your kids Charlie. You are everything that's wrong with youth sports and youth soccer. I am not hating, in fact it's my love and respect for the game and for the kids that play it that inspire my post. Honestly, try therapy or something. Here are some phrases generaaly used to describe psycho soccer parents such as yourself: "living vicariously through their kids" "little man's syndrome" there are others that I am sure you have heard directed towards you. Honestly, let the kids play THEIR game. It's not for you and your ego. Peace.
Charlie, First, Bird is a she not a he. Second, she is very concerned about a lot of problems she has witnessed over the years as her daughters grew up. What she wrote, she wrote because she wants others to have less pain and a better soccer experience. Third, none of us can see your daughter. She maybe all you have described and I hope she is. We can only offer general guidance based on our experience. The broader the experience, generally the better it can be. Consider that you have four people from three different parts of the country offering essentially the same advice. I will tell you that each has experience with youth soccer at very comeptitive levels. This does not mean the advice is what you should follow. You could be in a very unique situtation. Only you can decide. When it comes to goalie's there is another person who posts here now and then who is very knowledgeable. He is known as Benji. He also has his own web page, which is very good. See, http://www.jbgoalkeeping.com/ You should visit it for information and ideas. Bird's opinions are good ones. Players change. It is wise to be prepared for any outcome. Being prepared does not mean you follow a different course now. It simply means you recognize the need to be prepared and learn about alternatives in the event they arise.
Nice ..she needs therapy cause she is good..and i instill a competitiveness attitude in her?...or for the fact im so highly involved..or maybe the fact that im a hard core soccer fan myself..?.. vicariously thru the child?..man if thats the case why wouldnt i put her in basketball...with all my peers and family?...Im not thinking of me in this at all! This is all done for the future of my children..and after reading this "non telling" post of what goes on in my house..im angry you would say something like that about "what my kids are going to need"..fuc you..You dont know shit about raising minority kids as a young parent geek... Another thing....dont tell me im whats wrong with soccer..sht..im actually new..so maybe you old timers that have been fans for 15 yrs are the problem..maybe you need some new blood to invigorate the sport. Cause obviously the old style of "parenting" us soccer that you are suggesting i follow "stryker"....Hasnt been working for the majority.. look up the williams sister's father..and see what they said about him earlier on in their career..,tigers father too...all the greats..look up the fathers bio..and see if guys like you stryker dont come around as a dime a dozen playing "counselor". quote perf: Third, none of us can see your daughter. She maybe all you have described and I hope she is. We can only offer general guidance based on our experience. The broader the experience, generally the better it can be. Consider that you have four people from three different parts of the country offering essentially the same advice. I will tell you that each has experience with youth soccer at very comeptitive levels.:quote Nice perf..i will do that and take it into deep consideration..the experience and knowledge is unmatched thru my travels as a father/observer/student. dude perf..why couldnt you come at me with the same teach attitude in our begining post..you could be a good friend to me man..lol.. thanks for the info.. stryker..suck a fat one ...my daughter is a exceptional student..and a happy kid..why would i give her therapy you idiot?...lol p.s... im gonna check out benji's site..thanks for the plug again perf..
Charlie, I respond to a subject, rarely to a person. You raise a subject and I think you are wrong, I will let you know. If your arguments are flawed, I will point those out. If you call me names, I will smile as I cut back. That is me. Rarely is it personal. If anything I enjoy a good argument, at times the more heated the better. I have chewed on Bird in the past, but I highly respect the vast majority of her opinions. scoachd, who is from Southern California and I have had many disagreements, but we get along well because his positions are very often well reasoned and researched. The same is true for many others here. Do not take the opinions of posters personally. Take the information they give gladly.
Man thats..cool and i am ok with constructive critizism.....and lets be honest..."who doesnt like a good argument bro?"..lol... Thanks for the history on some of the other posters as well. Benji's site is similar and has alot of things i get from another site called ..keeperstop.com the owner of that site even talks to me on the phone giving adivce and helping with some gear selections for my daughter as well as training techiniques. But benji's has been bookmarked as well. I got my cam coming tonight and should start getting some footage tomorrow..that way people can see what the hell im so hyped about..lol... Before i end this post i would like to say something ive been saying to the fans of blanko, and the posters of bs... "i am new to football...i want to learn ..and im willing to learn..dont get mad at my opinions...or statements..just tell me what i said that was wrong so i can either change my mind,or make a decision on the new info learned"...im willing to learn and want to badly.. lol That way .."my kids wont need therapy"
I have also went head to head with Ms Bird (I didnt know Bird was a She), but we have also agreed on items as well. Right Bird, GO Harvard. SCoachd1, we just dont see eye to eye but Im past the 1v1 stuff on BS anymore. I can remember as well Charlie, when I was new to BS, I got slammed all the time, and it upset me at times, not really upset, but P&##ed off for sure. Now I pick my disagreements more in a timely manner anymore. JohnR on the boys side, he is some Lawyer dude in Ctown, he knows what he post..Coach Perf is rite on thou, alot of us have been down the road your just now finding and there will be bumps, flat tires, and Jet Rockets to the sky with your daughters young career in Socr. I wont go into detail on our journey, its still in progress, however Im sure each person can tell you a life story on their kids socr careers. Dont take what some of these yaw-whos post as a attack. I had to laugh at your CAP LOCK tirade on the Magic/Sockers site. I think that was a breath of fresh air on that tight as your ARS thread. Im glad you liked the NikePremier50.com link. Yea, that was her.
I have become somewhat cynical over the years about coaches in general. Here are my thoughts on them (as a whole- not each individual, but as a collective group). First, in my opinion the pressure on a coach is to have winning teams. This is the wrong pressure to put on them, but how many times have you seen a decent head coach who is committed to the PLAYER have too many losing seasons and be let go? Most times this is at the Collegiate or Professional levels, but there is extreme pressure for a coach in the youth club circles to produce. The better the record, the more kids want to be a part of that tradition. The more kids, the more revenue. Drop too many games, revenue drops, and before you know it someone else with a funny accent shows up and takes over. It is my opinion that a good majority of the time, the focus is placed more on the team/club success than individual development. On the other hand, we have no vested interest either way in your child. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that our only interest is in potentially helping another parent/player stay out of the potholes we have hit. And, maybe....just MAYBE we can have some small part in assisting to put a new face on the field at the World Cup for the USA. I am telling you that kids the age of yours have not even begun to show their full potential. My daughter is a multi-sport athlete of sorts. She also runs track and is a high-jumper. I was a high-jumper too, and worked with her considerably. At age 11 on her first full day of jumping training, she tied the National record for her age group. Fast forward to this summer-- she won the Regional AAU meet easily and qualified for Nats. Long story, but she wasn't able to attend. Given the heights she had been getting and comparing them to the results posted for the Nation, she should have been a top 10. Guess what? After the event, we checked the results......she would have made the top 30 had she gone. But, in the 400....her times would have put her in the top 10, when before the event we would have guessed top 50. Here is the point to my convoluted story......assumptions cannot be made as to where a child will end up based on where they are today. The best we can do with young ones is to give them every opportunity to learn as much as they can. The great soccer player of today may end up as the great basketball player of tomorrow. I think someone threw Michael Jordan out as an example somewhere in this thread (or maybe it was the one about aggressiveness?)- he is a prime example of what we are saying. All through his childhood, and high school years baseball was "his sport". But, we all know about his great basketball prowess. If his father had allowed him to only concentrate on what he was good at when he was young.....the number "23" would have a totally different meaning today. Charlie- don't make this mistake. No one is saying to not continue her training as a keeper. All we are saying is ensure she gets field time and works on all the skills she would need as a striker, defender, or mid. If you really want the best for her, make her a quadruple threat. THAT is valuable to ANY COACH AT ANY LEVEL. College and ODP coaches-- please speak up and reinforce this approach?
<Changes into the stern moderator hat for this post> Charlie- please keep the language to a minimum. This being a "youth soccer" part of the site, we often get young 'uns checking us out. The purposeful misspelling of four letter words (or not trying to disguise them at all) is not good enough. There are other ways of expressing yourself on this Board, even if you get mad. On this site, there are punishments which are "yellow cards" and "red cards"- neither are good. I don't like to have anything to do with these.....I am a slacker and don't really want to do my moderator job. Please don't make me take any actions? Thanks. <takes off stern moderator hat and steps off soapbox> Let the posting continue!
done deal menace..and i will after reading your post make sure i keep a open mind on her development,other sports, and my wild fatherly based assumptions...this is what her coach wrote me in a email tonight menace.. quote: dhkaufman: If Martha comes out tomorrow, please tell her to bring her running or tennis shoes. We'll be doing some skill work on one of the tennis courts and I don't want any of the girls slipping on the hard concrete in their cleats. :quote She missed wed practice with a cough. The coaching thing is correct and he has told me numerous times.."she has to learn ball skills as well as goalie training"...so im tired of being stubborn and it takes to much energy to win this battle so...she is going to concentrate on her foot skills alot more as far as our personal practices go.(yes i practice with my daughter on sundays as well...she wouldnt have it any other way). Your also right about "learning from parents that have travelled this road before"..i dont want to be the one people say .."i told you so" too..so im heeding the warnings and will work on them internally as well. ps menace quote: On the other hand, we have no vested interest either way in your child. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that our only interest is in potentially helping another parent/player stay out of the potholes we have hit. And, maybe....just MAYBE we can have some small part in assisting to put a new face on the field at the World Cup for the USA. :qoute You will bro....you will.(not only me i bet).Man im learning so much on big soccer its pathetic..its so informational to me..i dont get off of it all day..even on my cell phone bro. I respect your opinions and criticism.. It is going to do nothing for me but help.... im all for that.
I typically keep myself in lurk mode but the goalkeeping topic has brought me out out the shadows. Talking and working with several national staff coaches of late there is a huge concern over the ability of our goalkeepers, male and female, to play the ball with their feet. The biggest concern is the depth of the goalkeeping pool that can handle that part of the game. We may produce a handful of goalkeepers who are good enough to handle the traditional goalkeeping role but add that technical ability with the feet and the pool starts shrinking. I know of at least three field players in my state that have been specifically targeted by national staff coaches to make the transition to goalkeeper primarily for this reason. Learning goalkeeping skills at a young age is important but I would highly recommend to spend a significant amount of time (including within the goalkeeper specific training) on your player's ability to play with their feet.
ok.... But why is it that important?..has a goalie ever(besides at the end of a game or a penalty) in any level you people have seen really really used his feet?...because they are practicing back passes right now..and it doesnt look like she needs to be that good with the ball to direct the play with her feet(although she is pretty good). She is a part time striker and this coach has ideas about putting her on the field as well(hopefully not muchif you ask me). But the play i see at the college level as well as the professional level doesnt seem like foot skills for a goalie is that important. Region II told me that the game is changing..and i guess your right..i better make sure she is prepared.