Talk to the prospective coach to find out his/her mentality towards keepers. Most coaches have no training and even less knowledge about the position. So finding one that VALUES the position is key. How can you tell?

First, is the coach is honest that s/he never played the position and has not taken any courses in coaching gks, let alone has gk coaching certifications.

Second, the coach will demonstrate that he recognizes the value of the position by being very accomodating of any gk training that might conflict w team practice.

Third, a decent club will provide gk traing sessions. Stay away from clubs that don't have professional gk staff unless they have, or the coach/team has hired, outside certified gk trainers. Ask for the trainers' names and credentials and research them. Attend 2 sessions, see how your kid likes the coaches.

Fourth, an awesome coach/team will provide gk training for his keepers at no additional charge and integrate it with regular team practice.

Yes, playing time will have to be shared, this is youth sports after all. Your kid should want the most minutes s/he can get.

Fifth, ask the coach how minutes will be managed. Competition for minutes can be an excellent motivator for your kid to improve. But as others said, it will be a miserable time if your kid will always be on the bench - what's the effin' point of that?!?!?

There is a clear pecking order on my kid's team but the coach was clear from the outset with both keepers and their parents that the other kid will get minutes, too. Sixth, stay away from any coach that isn't totally comfortable talking about AND implementing that because that coach's development is stunted and deficient.

Sixth, and most important, does the coach have the attitude of, and instill in the team, a culture where the gk is not blamed for every goal that the rest of the team allowed the opponent to shoot? A good coach will have a team culture that supports the gk by recognizing the failures of the field players, and holding them accountable, for allowing the other team a scoring opportunity.

Good luck with finding all of that.

I only got that for my kid during his early years by becoming the manager and an asst coach of his teams and ensuring it happened. But when he was entertaining offers from ECNL and Next 1 teams I grilled the coaches and clubs and we ended up having to accept some compromise on some issues. So far so good, even as we (I) am not completely happy with some parts. But thats how it goes....

Anonymous wrote: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.

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!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What should one look for in a team for a goalkeeper? If the team is a powerhouse, this might be a bad thing for a goalkeeper, correct?

If the team is a powerhouse, they won't need a goalie and probably have already have 2 good ones. Find a team that needs a keeper so your kid can be the starter and get the majority of field time. Keepers dont like splitting time.

Splitting time is reality. You don’t want a team that just plays one keeper and lets the other ride the bench

Yes splitting time is a reality but I said keepers dont like splitting time which is also a reality. As a keeper you want to be THE starter and go to keeper for the big games. You dont want to be the backup on the bench.

BTW, coaches only split time to avoid the nagging parents. This is also a reality.

Agree with this. Our DD hated splitting time. The older she got, she sought out teams where she was the primary and full time GK. Obviously when they’re young, splitting time is good development for all of their skills.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What should one look for in a team for a goalkeeper? If the team is a powerhouse, this might be a bad thing for a goalkeeper, correct?

If the team is a powerhouse, they won't need a goalie and probably have already have 2 good ones. Find a team that needs a keeper so your kid can be the starter and get the majority of field time. Keepers dont like splitting time.

Splitting time is reality. You don’t want a team that just plays one keeper and lets the other ride the bench

Yes splitting time is a reality but I said keepers dont like splitting time which is also a reality. As a keeper you want to be THE starter and go to keeper for the big games. You dont want to be the backup on the bench.

BTW, coaches only split time to avoid the nagging parents. This is also a reality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What should one look for in a team for a goalkeeper? If the team is a powerhouse, this might be a bad thing for a goalkeeper, correct?

If the team is a powerhouse, they won't need a goalie and probably have already have 2 good ones. Find a team that needs a keeper so your kid can be the starter and get the majority of field time. Keepers dont like splitting time.

Splitting time is totally normal. Are you the guy on the other thread that says only starters get recruited to play in college?

Does your kid like the coach? Do you? Is there ongoing training for your player? An individual development plan? Is practice relatively nearby? Do they have any friends on the team?

The above is what we look for

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What should one look for in a team for a goalkeeper? If the team is a powerhouse, this might be a bad thing for a goalkeeper, correct?

If the team is a powerhouse, they won't need a goalie and probably have already have 2 good ones. Find a team that needs a keeper so your kid can be the starter and get the majority of field time. Keepers dont like splitting time.

Splitting time is reality. You don’t want a team that just plays one keeper and lets the other ride the bench

You don’t want to be on a team that beats everyone by double digits. You also don’t want to be on a team where they see 50 shots a game. The worst team that will still make the playoffs/showcases is ideal. You also want a coach that builds out from the back.

Anonymous wrote:What should one look for in a team for a goalkeeper? If the team is a powerhouse, this might be a bad thing for a goalkeeper, correct?

If the team is a powerhouse, they won't need a goalie and probably have already have 2 good ones. Find a team that needs a keeper so your kid can be the starter and get the majority of field time. Keepers dont like splitting time.

What should one look for in a team for a goalkeeper? If the team is a powerhouse, this might be a bad thing for a goalkeeper, correct?