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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Goalkeeper parent here. You want a club that will develop your child as a GK. Find a club that has separate coach(es) and training for GKs and a track record of getting their GKs into college or pro programs. It’s far more important than whether the team wins or loses. [/quote]

Another GK parent here and I second what PP said.  GK is a very specialized position and most team coaches are not qualified to provide good training.  It is definitely very important to make sure that the club has a dedicated GK coach (or staff) who has actually played the position!

As far as splitting time goes, it's quite common at the higher levels of play (ECNL/GA) and especially at the older ages.  GK is a very physically (*and* mentally) demanding position and while no one wants an injury, they're an unfortunate reality.  That's a big reason that teams typically carry two keepers (and I've seen 3 or 4 which, IMHO, is too many).  Another thing to consider is how good the team is defensively against their typical competition.  As a GK, you want to face pressure and shots, not stand around in goal the entire game and hope that someone passes back to you.  Yes, building out of the back helps mitigate that to some degree but you don't want that to be the only involvement you have every game!  While it's not going to be fun (and it also increases the risk of injury), sometimes playing on a team that doesn't have a particularly strong back line can be a very good thing for a GK because you will face pressure and shots more frequently and that will make you a better GK.  It will also help you learn to deal with the mental/emotional aspect of giving up a goal, too, which is an equally important skill for the position.

Re: college recruiting, sure, you would love to play 90 minutes a game every game but that's not typically the case since GK's do often split time.  In our experience, if you communicate with your coach(es) and let them know when you have a school coming to watch, they will try to be accomodating.  Also, one of the most important times for a GK being looked at by college coaches is during their pre-game warm up because there's no guarantee how much action you will face once the game starts.  Always take the warmup *very* seriously![/quote]

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