FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

How did Goalkeepers become an Endangered Species?

One cause is Fear of the great unknown.

I recently came across two interesting tweets from highly reputable GK sources.

“Only goalkeepers understand goalkeepers. Unless they played the position, not many parents understand what their kids go through on a day to day basis. It’s a pressure position that comes with nerves and anxiety.” - @ProGKAcademy 

“Being a GK is mentally and physically tough at all levels of the game, especially in grassroots football where a lot of coaches don’t know how to handle goalkeepers. At the same time, being a goalkeeper’s parent can be taxing – nothing’s the right thing to say.”  - @TheGKBlog

Becoming a Goalkeeper is making the decision to battle alone. The Goalkeeper is playing their own individual sport inside a team game. While to do their job well, the goalkeeper must know all the roles around them and how to direct them – but rarely, if ever, does anyone know what the job of the goalkeeper truly is. From parents to teammates to coaches there are difficulties in youth football working with and understanding goalkeepers. For most people involved in the game Goalkeeping is the great unknown. A cavern too deep to to get close to and not interesting enough to explore. It is easier to ignore it, isolate it, and hope it works on Saturday.

“Catch that one!” – from a parent after it has been bobbled causing massive chaos in the box.

“Keeper!!” – from the midfielder 65 yards away.

“Come out faster!” – from the coach after the player has beaten the keeper to the ball and blazed a shot over the bar.

These are natural, gut reactions - - but as a Goalkeeper on the stage, where every mistake is magnified – the people who should be supporting the goalkeeper are often the first voices tuned out by the athlete as they seek refuge inside their own mind to be strong and resilient. I don’t think anyone wants false praise or to only hear good things all the time - - but we all want to be helped, supported, and ultimately cared for. But when we don’t know much about a subject or in this case a position on the field – our reactions tend to be generic and lacking insight.

How can coaches and parents help?

Form a TRIANGLE. Work together – Parent / Coach / Goalkeeper. Have conversations in all directions. Conversation is not “good game today” or “that was a tough shot in the second half” – those are a chat, small talk. Conversations are built on mutual trust and understanding. It could mean parents and coaches taking some goalkeeper courses. It could mean finding a third party to talk to – could be goalkeeper trainer or coach if the club has one. It means having a plan for the year, the season, the month, the week. 

If you are a coach or parent of a goalkeeper, take a look at what you could do to better support the goalkeeper. As Simon Sinek would say “Dream Big. Start small. But most of all, start.” Take a small step today. Watch half of the game through the eyes of just the keeper. Focus one part of the team training session on the goalkeeper. 

Start today.