We offer optional weekly goalkeeper training sessions at each park. These are 35 minute sessions after our regular Junior Academy training sessions. Any player who is interested may attend. There’s no cost for these sessions.
We don’t always play with goalkeepers. If we’re playing the 4v4 format, we won’t have goalies. But if we play our more typical 5v5 format (or 7v7), teams will include goalkeepers.
Training topics:
We work on basic skills such as focus (eyes and brain), footwork, positioning, catching techniques and distribution.
Spring 2024 schedule:
Tuesdays at Metro North Park:
Goalie sessions start Tuesday, March 12th (after Daylight Saving Time begins). Sessions run 6:10 – 6:45 PM at Metro North Park on either the Tops field (if available), or the back corner of field #3.
Wednesdays at United Quest Park:
Goalie sessions start Wednesday, February 14. Sessions run 6:55 – 7:30 PM at United Quest Park field 7. We continue weekly through the end of the season. (We have a lighted field at Quest, so lack of daylight doesn’t affect our schedule.)
Thursdays at Metro North Park:
Goalie sessions start Thursday, March 14th (after Daylight Saving Time Begins). Sessions run 6:10 – 6:45 PM at Metro North Park on either the Tops field (if available), or the back corner of field #3.
Our thoughts about goalkeepers:
Everyone will get a chance to play goalkeeper. Some girls will show promise, while some may look lost early on. But once the girls understand our thoughts about the goalkeeper position, they tend to enjoy playing it!
We subscribe to the “sweeper / keeper” style of goalkeeping, where the goalkeeper also serves as a center back when needed. Check YouTube for highlights of German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s textbook sweeper / keeper performance in the 2014 World Cup against Algeria (video runs just over 3 minutes):
A goalie is a soccer player, not a statue:
Young goalkeepers often stand on the goal line as if they were chained to the goal. Boring! (And ineffective.) We want our goalie to be active, playing off her line and defending the space in front of the goal, not just the goal itself.
A goalie is a soccer player who can use her hands and feet:
It’s easier to control a ball with your hands than with your feet. We want our goalie using her hands to make saves inside her penalty area. In some of our smaller-side game formats, there’s a single small box that serves as both the goal area and the penalty area. In larger game formats, there is a small goal area and a larger penalty area. The goalie can user her hands in either / both boxes.
Many young goalkeepers think they can only use their hands, and forget they can use their feet too! In our world, we want our goalie to be willing to venture out of her “hands” area and play the ball with her feet. It’s quicker than waiting for the ball to enter the box so she can use her hands, and it also projects a confident, proactive style of play, rather than a hesitant, reactive style.
Obscure soccer goalkeeper rule:
If the ball was last played by an opponent, and the ball is outside the normal goalkeeper “hands” area, the goalkeeper can go outside her “hands” area to meet the ball, use her feet to dribble the ball back into her “hands” area, and then pick it up with her hands.
A goalie is both a defender and an attacker:
When the other team has the ball, our goalie serves as a defender, protecting the space in front of the goal, along with the goal itself.
When our team has the ball, our goalie is an attacking player! If she just made a save, it’s her job to help us keep the ball. She also provides support to our center backs and outside or wing backs. She can even dribble if she has open space! It doesn’t happen every week, but our goalies occasionally score goals because nobody steps in to defend them when they have the ball.
The mentality of a successful goalkeeper:
We mentioned that we want proactive ‘keepers. Put another way, want the ball! Make a difference! And if you allow a goal, don’t give up! Here’s a field player’s light-hearted perspective into what makes a good goalkeeper: