EvilGoalie 21
GOLD
I’m so old I remember when people were worried that if they had a goalkeeper forum they’d have to have an “attacking mids who like to cut in on their left” forum, etc. But I think I’ve never posted here. Not that I remember. Maybe I want to go out with a set of questions for keeper parents. Tell some stories and hear some stories.
Question: What has your kid ever said to you about why they like being a keeper?
The story is I thought we were done. The last iron in the fire with respect to college recruitment for my son had not worked out. We knew it would be hard to find an academic/athletic fit. Then he’d gotten an academic scholarship to a school that did not seem interested in him as a keeper. Not bragging about that, he was only somewhat pleased and, eventually, seemed resigned. He played his last tourney, the team dis-banded and I thought that’s that.
I should have known better. And so it was last week I found myself at Veteran’s Park in Pomona watching yet another tryout. A good team-fast on the ball. I hadn’t been there in years, except for a game or two, since they built the warehouses, office spaces or whatever it is right next to it. But it got me in a reminiscing frame of mind since that is where it started for him going on a decade ago. His first U9 club team after AYSO (“academy”, right?) practiced out in Veteran’s Park. There was another family from Riverside on the team and we took turns hauling the boys back and forth. Dinner in the car on the way down. Homework in the car on the way back. I’m sure many of you know the drill.
He was at the tryout because he’d gone to do one last “thanks for the memories” session with his long-time keeper trainer. Who was like “what?” and “where are you going to school again” and “let me make some phone calls”. Spouse texts me and I’m thinking “Oh-Coach should have that-why networking now?”. And a voice inside my head goes, “Well, Mr. Smartypants, maybe you should have figured out earlier that’s how it probably works. Targeted networking, not product placement”. One afternoon of Googling coaching combinations with two degrees of separation…but anyway.
All the teams had cleared out except for the olders who were scrimmaging in the middle of the fields. But I can tell my kid is trying to show off his favorite skill which is wait until the striker commits to a line and then explode, get the ball right at their feet with momentum, and send the striker ass over teakettle. Of course, if you screw up the timing, you get rounded, scored on, and look like an idiot for coming off your line. But he pulls it off at least once that I can see.
There was another Dad there, whom I took also had a kid doing a tryout. And a Mom with a maybe 10 year old icing an ankle, waiting for a ride. Sun goes down and a breeze comes up, and the Dad goes and gets a jacket. I say, “You’re smart, I forgot it gets cold here after the sun goes down”. He say’s “Just lucky, never been here before. Is your son trying out?” And I said, “Yes, he’s the keeper in the red shirt”. The Mom with the ankle kid goes, “Has your son ever said why they want to be a keeper?” It occurs to me nobody has ever asked me before. I say to the boy “What happened to your ankle?” Mom says, “It got stepped on while he was trying to get a ball.” And I think back and say, “My son told me once it feels good when you shut a striker down”. And the kid with the ankle goes “Yeah, that’s right”. But I know it must be more than that. Knowing my son, I’m guessing the seconds between the set up for the shot, your reaction, and what happens, must be Super Real. And once you have the training, you can fly, just for a second, and impose your will on Outcomes. That’s what I suspect anyway.
The team is trying out a keeper, so they finish with a PK shootout. My kid saves two. The first was the best save, with him stretching and pushing the ball off the post. The second, not the best taken PK. He dives and catches it. Thunk. Guy with the jacket goes “Guess you’ll be coming out to Veteran’s Park again”. I’m thinking “Surely he’ll be an experienced enough driver soon enough to do that drive on his own”.
He comes off looking like the cat that ate the bird. But happy. Like I haven’t seen him that happy in awhile. He goes “Dad, did you see my PK saves?” I point to the kid with the ice and say “Yes, I did. This keeper here, he says it feels good to shut a striker down”. My kid laughs, does the bump and double hand slap thing and says, “If you come out hard early, you’re in their head the whole game”.
So, I guess that’s the plan. He gets even more fit, bumps it up to the next level, and does a walk on tryout. With a team that historically like 6’3+” keepers who hold their line. He’s not that tall and that’s not his style. But it has all moved past me and it occurs to me I never really understood it anyway.
Question: What has your kid ever said to you about why they like being a keeper?
The story is I thought we were done. The last iron in the fire with respect to college recruitment for my son had not worked out. We knew it would be hard to find an academic/athletic fit. Then he’d gotten an academic scholarship to a school that did not seem interested in him as a keeper. Not bragging about that, he was only somewhat pleased and, eventually, seemed resigned. He played his last tourney, the team dis-banded and I thought that’s that.
I should have known better. And so it was last week I found myself at Veteran’s Park in Pomona watching yet another tryout. A good team-fast on the ball. I hadn’t been there in years, except for a game or two, since they built the warehouses, office spaces or whatever it is right next to it. But it got me in a reminiscing frame of mind since that is where it started for him going on a decade ago. His first U9 club team after AYSO (“academy”, right?) practiced out in Veteran’s Park. There was another family from Riverside on the team and we took turns hauling the boys back and forth. Dinner in the car on the way down. Homework in the car on the way back. I’m sure many of you know the drill.
He was at the tryout because he’d gone to do one last “thanks for the memories” session with his long-time keeper trainer. Who was like “what?” and “where are you going to school again” and “let me make some phone calls”. Spouse texts me and I’m thinking “Oh-Coach should have that-why networking now?”. And a voice inside my head goes, “Well, Mr. Smartypants, maybe you should have figured out earlier that’s how it probably works. Targeted networking, not product placement”. One afternoon of Googling coaching combinations with two degrees of separation…but anyway.
All the teams had cleared out except for the olders who were scrimmaging in the middle of the fields. But I can tell my kid is trying to show off his favorite skill which is wait until the striker commits to a line and then explode, get the ball right at their feet with momentum, and send the striker ass over teakettle. Of course, if you screw up the timing, you get rounded, scored on, and look like an idiot for coming off your line. But he pulls it off at least once that I can see.
There was another Dad there, whom I took also had a kid doing a tryout. And a Mom with a maybe 10 year old icing an ankle, waiting for a ride. Sun goes down and a breeze comes up, and the Dad goes and gets a jacket. I say, “You’re smart, I forgot it gets cold here after the sun goes down”. He say’s “Just lucky, never been here before. Is your son trying out?” And I said, “Yes, he’s the keeper in the red shirt”. The Mom with the ankle kid goes, “Has your son ever said why they want to be a keeper?” It occurs to me nobody has ever asked me before. I say to the boy “What happened to your ankle?” Mom says, “It got stepped on while he was trying to get a ball.” And I think back and say, “My son told me once it feels good when you shut a striker down”. And the kid with the ankle goes “Yeah, that’s right”. But I know it must be more than that. Knowing my son, I’m guessing the seconds between the set up for the shot, your reaction, and what happens, must be Super Real. And once you have the training, you can fly, just for a second, and impose your will on Outcomes. That’s what I suspect anyway.
The team is trying out a keeper, so they finish with a PK shootout. My kid saves two. The first was the best save, with him stretching and pushing the ball off the post. The second, not the best taken PK. He dives and catches it. Thunk. Guy with the jacket goes “Guess you’ll be coming out to Veteran’s Park again”. I’m thinking “Surely he’ll be an experienced enough driver soon enough to do that drive on his own”.
He comes off looking like the cat that ate the bird. But happy. Like I haven’t seen him that happy in awhile. He goes “Dad, did you see my PK saves?” I point to the kid with the ice and say “Yes, I did. This keeper here, he says it feels good to shut a striker down”. My kid laughs, does the bump and double hand slap thing and says, “If you come out hard early, you’re in their head the whole game”.
So, I guess that’s the plan. He gets even more fit, bumps it up to the next level, and does a walk on tryout. With a team that historically like 6’3+” keepers who hold their line. He’s not that tall and that’s not his style. But it has all moved past me and it occurs to me I never really understood it anyway.