I've yet to meet anyone that is happy with the keeper program at their club. I don't think clubs need too worry much about the U9-U12 age groups because those kids need to develop all their skills rather than specializing. That being said, from U13 and up I think a well thought out and executed keeper curriculum isn't too much to ask for. It doesn't appear that any club has much to offer their keepers. What sense does it make for a family of a keeper to pay the same money the family of a midfielder does? The midfielder will get 1,000's of touches a week in practice while a keeper is thrown in net during a scrimmage. Most keepers are forced to pay for outside training if they have any hope of developing the necessary skills for the position. I feel badly for the keepers and their families.
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SFC New England has free clinics every week of every season for their keepers and some teams have keeper coaches specifically for that team -
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Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
My son's club team has a goalie coach (local college goalie coach) that trains with the goalies usually twice a week. Check with the different clubs. I don't think our club is the only one with a goalie coach.Comment
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There are several local club teams with a "goalie coach," but that in no way guarantees that the keepers will get decent training that is commensurate with field player training.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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D's club had at least as many keeper sessions at field player sessions. Anytime there was a field player session, the keepers from all of the age groups spent the majority of the time with the keeper coach.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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I have two keepers so I know this tale all too well. We've always sought out the GK trainer at a club over the club/team itself - in other words it's ok to be on a weaker team if the GK training is good and frequent (at least 2x/week AND the training watches a keeper in games and evaluates them. That feedback is very helpful. Also training should be in small age-appropriate groups, not one giant session with all the club keepers). My kids have also done specialized summer clinics, and will often just get some friends together at the school and have them shoot on them for hours on end.
That said you can do that up to a point - if you have a high schooler with college aspirations then you do have to ramp up with private training and pay more attention to what league/level the team is on. If you're not DAP/ECNL (and at that level they will have good CK training) better be high level and make sure they get into showcases.
The other problem we have found is that many coaches don't care much about the position either - almost like they are a nuisance. We have been lucky with a few but had a tough time with a few others. Personally I find it really stressful being the parent of a keeper(s) - you feel the pressure on them in high intensity games. We were sooooooo happy when our youngest wanted nothing to do with it!Comment
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