U13 Girls GK Parent “Reality Check” Needed

[Anonymous]

My DD plays GK for a U13 Travel Team and is the only GK for her team. For reference she is on an NCSL Team and is probably on the bubble between NCSL and ECNL RL, she and the family are all perfectly fine with the placement on an NCSL team.

The Team has been practicing for over a month and has played several games. To date she has not received any direct feedback from her Head Coach about anything in her games or at practice. When I ask her if the coach has given her any feedback, she says that the coach hasn’t ever spoken to her directly (outside of pleasantries and an occasional casual compliment “your punts looked good today”) and only generally speaks to the team as a whole.

There also doesn’t appear to be any feedback loop between the Head Coach and the GK coach for the weekly GK practice either, the GKs all practice together so it could be they are focusing on the games for the other GKs (ECNL RL, etc.).

Her previous coach from her U12 year had regular interaction with her and provided regular coaching and feedback about her play (“try rolling the ball out like this next time”, “I saw you tried X that we talked about and it worked in the game Sunday”, etc.).

While I understand that she is one player on a larger Team we had expected some minimal GK coaching, interaction, or at least feedback about her play during a game from her Head Coach. It could be we were just spoiled with the coach last year but we have seen quite a bit of interaction between coaches and the goalie across other sports and even at the recreation level for soccer.

Are there any other GK parents or Soccer Parents out there that can provide a “reality check” as to whether what we are experiencing is normal for a travel team GK?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

[Anonymous]

Our club had special training that cost extra. The coach never said a thing to her other than good job. No direction at all. Most coaches don't really know or care to know how to coach GKs. If your kid is really serious about it more to a club that trains the GKs together

[Anonymous]

Girls playing travel are generally expected to get individual training outside the team environment. I don’t know any girls that get individual feedback on any position except for mid year and year end assessments. Temper your expectations here…

[Anonymous]

We (DD is 16) belong to a bigger club that does have separate GK training. Our team coaches have been very good about providing tactical feedback and coaching in/post-game (punt vs throw, short vs long goal kicks, where to play the ball with her feet) etc. She gets excellent technical coaching at her GK sessions, though the GK coaches don't see a lot of her in-game play, since they (2 or 3) are covering 8-9 age groups, boys and girls, 2-4 teams per age group.

[Anonymous]

At that age my DD was on a smaller NCSL club that did not have goalie training. We found someone to train her.

If it is something she likes and wants to continue, I would suggest either training on the side or joining a club where its provided. That is great age to start working on fundamentals and technique.

[Anonymous]

At U13, your daughter is old enough to start advocating for herself, and talk to the coaches, every day if necesary, about what she can improve on.

[Anonymous]

Many team coaches are not qualified to serve as GK coaches and generally will be unable to offer or provide GK-specific guidance. DD has a great relationship with the team coach but they rarely discuss the specifics of her position beyond things like "great save", "love that distribution decision", etc. Her club has a GK coach on staff but after a couple of months of working with him, it was pretty clear that the club was just "checking a box" so they could say that they offered GK training. DD trains privately with an excellent GK coach twice a week and that's where the meaningful position-specific learning occurs. This coach has come to a few of her games, purely out of support for DD, and has offered meaningful feedback based on what was observed. We've seen many different coaches over the years and my guess is that your previous coach was more the exception than the rule when it comes to the kind of interaction and feedback your daughter received.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At U13, your daughter is old enough to start advocating for herself, and talk to the coaches, every day if necesary, about what she can improve on.

Kids like that get cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At U13, your daughter is old enough to start advocating for herself, and talk to the coaches, every day if necesary, about what she can improve on.

Kids like that get cut.

Only by bad coaches at bad clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At U13, your daughter is old enough to start advocating for herself, and talk to the coaches, every day if necesary, about what she can improve on.

Kids like that get cut.

No they don’t. Daily is probably more than necessary but weekly is fine. Coaches appreciate that kids want to improve and are open to feedback. My GK has been self-advocating and seeking feedback (without complaining) since he started and his coaches have always responded positively.