Soccer -switching positions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Arlington makes kids start to specialize around age 12 - a friend's son got an offer for his ASA team but it was dependent on him committing to the goalie slot. He had hoped to stay a field player.

Bright side of goalie - I imagine there are fewer kids who really want to play that position, so there might be more demand for him. A friend of mine got a scholarship to a D1 school for goal-tending.

That may be, but we played the 08 Arlington girls earlier this year. Their top team has a dedicated goalie who is obviously technically coached. I happened to get delayed after the game and noticed that she stayed and played the next game in the field for one of their other teams. Don't know if Arlington does this every week or every team or whether they have multiple goalies, but I did hear that they are moving to try and have a few kids partially specialize at the U11-U12 levels.

I think part of the issue is that many kids would like to learn to play goalie, but it's not technically taught at most clubs until later. Goalies can't be taught like field players -- 1 coach to 2 or 3 kids is the only way to learn the skill set, which is very different from field players. All strikers, mids and backs need to know how to dribble, pass, feint, etc., but learning how to dive without hurting yourself or how to cut the angle down on a breakaway is specific to keeping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On to some practical advice for OP ..... how tall is your son likely to be? Will he want to play travel at a high level, or be a starter on a big HS varsity team? If he is going to be smallish I would hesitate to have him switch over to goalie, particularly if he is good as a forward.

This was my first thought as well! He is of average height. His dad is 6’1. I am 5’5.

With parents your size he "should" be more than tall enough to be a goalie in HS.

Average FIFA field player is 5’11”. Average FIFA goalkeeper 6’2”.

What the heck is a FIFA field player or a FIFA goalkeeper? Are you taking about professionals? If so, that is not really helpful to OP who is not expecting her son to play professional soccer.,

Just a guess, but I'm pretty sure the average HS goalkeeper is shorter than the average professional goalkeeper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On to some practical advice for OP ..... how tall is your son likely to be? Will he want to play travel at a high level, or be a starter on a big HS varsity team? If he is going to be smallish I would hesitate to have him switch over to goalie, particularly if he is good as a forward.

This was my first thought as well! He is of average height. His dad is 6’1. I am 5’5.

With parents your size he "should" be more than tall enough to be a goalie in HS.

Average FIFA field player is 5’11”. Average FIFA goalkeeper 6’2”.

What the heck is a FIFA field player or a FIFA goalkeeper? Are you taking about professionals? If so, that is not really helpful to OP who is not expecting her son to play professional soccer.,

Just a guess, but I'm pretty sure the average HS goalkeeper is shorter than the average professional goalkeeper.

So adjust accordingly but even at HS a keeper should be around 5'11". My guess is the info provided is simply a frame of reference pro or not.

[Anonymous]

10:34 - we played ASA girls' 08 travel last year. There are 8 goalie trainings every season - she may have been taking those (instead of Monday field skills sessions) for the last few years, and possibly doing other paid training sessions on the side. ASA offers those a few times a year. i'm surprised they are specializing this early, but I probably shouldn't be!

We were on one of the non-A teams and we did not have a dedicated goalie, but there were girls who were better at it than others. My daughter is pretty good at it, but she prefers midfield. As a parent, I can't deal with the stress of her being in goal all the time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On to some practical advice for OP ..... how tall is your son likely to be? Will he want to play travel at a high level, or be a starter on a big HS varsity team? If he is going to be smallish I would hesitate to have him switch over to goalie, particularly if he is good as a forward.

This was my first thought as well! He is of average height. His dad is 6’1. I am 5’5.

With parents your size he "should" be more than tall enough to be a goalie in HS.

Average FIFA field player is 5’11”. Average FIFA goalkeeper 6’2”.

What the heck is a FIFA field player or a FIFA goalkeeper? Are you taking about professionals? If so, that is not really helpful to OP who is not expecting her son to play professional soccer.,

Just a guess, but I'm pretty sure the average HS goalkeeper is shorter than the average professional goalkeeper.

So adjust accordingly but even at HS a keeper should be around 5'11". My guess is the info provided is simply a frame of reference pro or not.

Yes. The point being that soccer is more about waist to foot strength—which Messi has in spades. Most very tall payers don’t have agility or stamina required in soccer which is equivalent to running 6-8 miles every game. So the men are predominantly average height 5’10-5’11. Always exceptions in either direction.

Most professional goalkeepers have serious height. But—for HS a boy should me at least 5’11”.