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A Coach's Confessional

June 11, 2009 03:08 PM | Posted by   Ron Kuipers  

I have a coach's confession to make.

We’re a month into this year’s soccer season and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve been ignoring my goalie. I don’t mean ignoring her in the classic sense where I don’t talk to her and pretend she’s not there.

I mean I’ve been ignoring her needs as a goalie during practice. This fact became clear to me when I started reviewing my last practice session.

I have a feeling there are a few more coaches like me out there and that’s why I’m confessing to you today.

Good intentions

I coach a U11 girl’s house league squad in Oakville and I’m fortunate to have Chloe acting as our full-time goalie. She loves the position and plays it very well.

At some point during every practice, our team takes shots at Chloe either through our regular drills or during a practice-ending shootout.

Chloe knows the focus of the drill is on her and that this is the part of practice where she gets to sharpen her ‘crazy mad’ keeper skills.

So now the girls are shooting and I’m giving Chloe ‘props’ for making saves and I’m offering positioning advice and it’s all going well and I’m thinking ‘geez I’m a good coach ‘cause I’m working with my goalie and she’s facing lots of shots and when can I expect that job offer from Manchester United?’

Man U isn’t calling

And then it happens. Slowly but surely my attention drifts back to the rest of the team no matter how hard I try because they outnumber my goalie and it always feels like they need the majority of the attention.

I’m still coaching Chloe but now I’m doing it from outside the box where I’ve gone to keep the girls focused and moving and today I realized this just isn’t good enough for my keeper anymore!

We need to spend more quality time with our goalies in an effort to help them improve at their position the same way we spend a great deal of practice time helping everyone else improve at their position.

And here’s how we can make it happen in time for the next practice.

Your own backyard

I wouldn’t hesitate to contact the Canadian Soccer Association or your local soccer organization. They are in the soccer business and should have somebody in the office who can offer suggestions or provide you with a book, a pamphlet, a DVD or something to help you on your goalie crusade.

I contacted Chris Grierson who is a Staff Coach at the Oakville Soccer Club and he was quick to offer some terrific advice.

Grierson says goalies today are playing the game with their feet as well as their hands, ever since the back-pass rule was introduced in 1992. As a result, he gets his goalies to participate in everything he does in practice.

“Before this rule was introduced, goalkeepers could pick up the ball every time their player would pass it to them. Now they have to be able to control the ball with their feet and kick with both feet,” says Grierson.

“I find it very helpful to involve goalkeepers in all my sessions and I like to treat them as my last player (sweeper).”

Grierson also suggested visiting www.insidesoccer.com for free videos and articles for coaches, goalies and parents.

I went to the sight and it’s excellent.

Speaking of the Web

I googled the words ‘soccer goalie’ and was rewarded with 333 thousand hits. Then I googled ‘soccer keeper’ and I got 2.5 million hits.

There are millions of websites providing coaches and goalies with fantastic information and fresh ideas for your next practice.

YouTube also offers up a bunch of training tips for goalies along with a large amount of entertaining videos showing some of the more amazing and embarrassing moments a goalkeeper can experience.

Stay focused

I think it’s also important to try and remain focused on the goalie during those goalie-specific drills.

If you’re coaching on your own, ask for a parent to keep the rest of the team moving while you stay close to your keeper. Or maybe you need to simplify the drill so that the team keeps shooting while you continue to work closely with your keeper.

If you have other suggestions, please leave us a note at the end of this blog.

Coaches helping coaches is another effective tool so take a moment to share your goalie game plan and/or your ‘coach’s confession’ with the rest of us.

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