We shouldn't be in this situation, right?

[Anonymous]

My U12 is on a travel team that has no goalie, and no one that is interested in playing the position. I asked the coach about whether he would be trying to find one for the spring, and he said no, that the kids would keep rotating through. While I get that some rotating is good to help players understand every position, is it normal not to have at least one person who is interested in developing skills in a vital position for the team?

[Anonymous]

It depends on coaching philosophy, some coaches feel that U12 is still too young to have a specialized goalie. Others start having U10 players in goal full time. My daughter plays half the game in goal and has been told she can't play full time until U14 by her coach.

[Anonymous]

Totally normal. They are young, rotating is good.

[Anonymous]

Ok thanks. Part of the reason that I ask is that the top two teams in our club definitely do have designated goalies. I don't have an issue with not having the same person there every single time for every single game, but it is a downer when no one is particularly good at it ever. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

It's not a big deal. If need be they can pull up a kid from a recreational team who has been playing goalie for a while and actually give them some training. You just need a good athlete and someone who can coach them on the skills. So don't freak out

[Anonymous]

This will probably happen before their U13 season. Going into the fall they're not going to have kids rotating in goal on the full size goal, trust me on that

[Anonymous]

When you're on the third team you get the shorter end of the stick

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This will probably happen before their U13 season. Going into the fall they're not going to have kids rotating in goal on the full size goal, trust me on that

it's the third team. At U13, they may not carry 3 teams anymore

[Anonymous]

It's not a big deal. If need be they can pull up a kid from a recreational team who has been playing goalie for a while and actually give them some training. You just need a good athlete and someone who can coach them on the skills. So don't freak out

Thanks. Last season we borrowed the goalie of the team above us for some games and the team below us for others (no idea why they don't move this kid up, maybe he doesn't want to).

[Anonymous]

This will probably happen before their U13 season. Going into the fall they're not going to have kids rotating in goal on the full size goal, trust me on that


it's the third team. At U13, they may not carry 3 teams anymore

They carry multiple teams per year up to U17, when they drop to 2 teams only. I would guess they would have less than that beforehand if not enough kids were interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This will probably happen before their U13 season. Going into the fall they're not going to have kids rotating in goal on the full size goal, trust me on that


it's the third team. At U13, they may not carry 3 teams anymore

They carry multiple teams per year up to U17, when they drop to 2 teams only. I would guess they would have less than that beforehand if not enough kids were interested.

if the club is that large, they should have gosling training. I'm surprised no one on your team wants to attend

[Anonymous]

This will probably happen before their U13 season. Going into the fall they're not going to have kids rotating in goal on the full size goal, trust me on that


it's the third team. At U13, they may not carry 3 teams anymore


They carry multiple teams per year up to U17, when they drop to 2 teams only. I would guess they would have less than that beforehand if not enough kids were interested.


if the club is that large, they should have gosling training. I'm surprised no one on your team wants to attend

I am not sure if they do yet - my son would not be interested, as he is neither especially inclined to play goalkeeper, nor does he have the right stature or skill set for it. He does ok as a goalkeeper in futsal (smaller goal, slightly different requirements), but every time he has done it in soccer, it has been pretty bad.