The GK Parent's Guide to Evaluating a Club/Team

Bulldog7

Bulldog7

BRONZE
If you’re in a transitional period or actively looking at a change for your GK, I compiled a list of questions to guide your discovery conversations with a potential team/club. It’s not the end-all, be-all, so I hope you will add to this list. In reading some of the threads in this great GK Forum, I thought this might help someone. The GK position is a relatively neglected position met with very high expectations, and the mental pressure is heavy. If your GK is in a good place it makes all the difference in their development, and when they’re in the wrong place it can be career-ending. Being informed, however, is within your control.

Let me start with some disclaimers for this list. I would not suggest pulling it out and going through every one of them, choose no more than a handful that are most relevant to your situation. Ask them using your best Tony Montana/Scarface voice – it will establish a kilo of street cred. Use this only as a guide, hopefully it inspires better questions for your situation. I’m guessing some coaches might take offense to a few of these questions, but that's not your problem as a parent looking for the best situation for your GK (and how coaches react to these questions should be a strong indication of what you're signing up for). No club is going to have all the right answers - that is not the point here – this is not a shaming exercise. The point is for you to have clear expectations of how the club will support and develop your GK, so you can plan for supplemental training commitments and minimize frustration midway through the season. You don't want to become a toxic parent over surprises or a coaching style you could have uncovered before signing. And maybe - just maybe, coaches might respect your diligent approach to finding the right place for your GK. This could also present opportunities to collaborate and support your coach in areas where their hands are tied. If you both are interested in developing your GK, this should be an easy conversation.

The age, skill level and demand for your GK shapes how you present these questions, what you may want to negotiate for, and your priorities.
  • What is your perspective/philosophy on the role of a GK?
  • Do you carry 1 or 2 GK's? If 2, how do you plan to use them week by week?
  • What is your criteria for evaluating GK's?
  • How does this criteria map to your weekly GK development regiment?
  • How often will you have a 1:1 with my GK to review development and progress?
  • If my GK's playing time starts to diminish, will they know why and what should change?
  • How do you deal with in-game GK mistakes? Mental and Physical
  • Run me through a typical week on your team, as a GK?
  • Are there team practice elements built around the GK (not finishing practice) such as: passing back, distribution, crosses, corners, 1v1’s
  • Does your club have a GK trainer? Who is it/credentials/background?
  • Can we get multiple sessions with the trainer each week if needed?
  • Are you willing to adjust your fees to account for necessary external GK training?
  • Do you film games and review film with GK's? How often?
  • How many GK's have secured scholarships under you in last 5-years? Who? Where?
  • What does your college recruiting program look like?
  • What are your thoughts on a GK mentorship program?
  • How do you prefer parents communicate with you, are there any approaches I should never consider?
Feel like a job interview? It should. At a minimum, you need to understand what you’re signing your GK up for. Ideally, your GK has an opportunity to play for a coach who understands the position and runs a successful squad.

I hope you will add to this list, or feel free to hate on it. Best of luck!
 
Bulldog7 said:
If you’re in a transitional period or actively looking at a change for your GK, I compiled a list of questions to guide your discovery conversations with a potential team/club. It’s not the end-all, be-all, so I hope you will add to this list. In reading some of the threads in this great GK Forum, I thought this might help someone. The GK position is a relatively neglected position met with very high expectations, and the mental pressure is heavy. If your GK is in a good place it makes all the difference in their development, and when they’re in the wrong place it can be career-ending. Being informed, however, is within your control.

Let me start with some disclaimers for this list. I would not suggest pulling it out and going through every one of them, choose no more than a handful that are most relevant to your situation. Ask them using your best Tony Montana/Scarface voice – it will establish a kilo of street cred. Use this only as a guide, hopefully it inspires better questions for your situation. I’m guessing some coaches might take offense to a few of these questions, but that's not your problem as a parent looking for the best situation for your GK (and how coaches react to these questions should be a strong indication of what you're signing up for). No club is going to have all the right answers - that is not the point here – this is not a shaming exercise. The point is for you to have clear expectations of how the club will support and develop your GK, so you can plan for supplemental training commitments and minimize frustration midway through the season. You don't want to become a toxic parent over surprises or a coaching style you could have uncovered before signing. And maybe - just maybe, coaches might respect your diligent approach to finding the right place for your GK. This could also present opportunities to collaborate and support your coach in areas where their hands are tied. If you both are interested in developing your GK, this should be an easy conversation.

The age, skill level and demand for your GK shapes how you present these questions, what you may want to negotiate for, and your priorities.
  • What is your perspective/philosophy on the role of a GK?
  • Do you carry 1 or 2 GK's? If 2, how do you plan to use them week by week?
  • What is your criteria for evaluating GK's?
  • How does this criteria map to your weekly GK development regiment?
  • How often will you have a 1:1 with my GK to review development and progress?
  • If my GK's playing time starts to diminish, will they know why and what should change?
  • How do you deal with in-game GK mistakes? Mental and Physical
  • Run me through a typical week on your team, as a GK?
  • Are there team practice elements built around the GK (not finishing practice) such as: passing back, distribution, crosses, corners, 1v1’s
  • Does your club have a GK trainer? Who is it/credentials/background?
  • Can we get multiple sessions with the trainer each week if needed?
  • Are you willing to adjust your fees to account for necessary external GK training?
  • Do you film games and review film with GK's? How often?
  • How many GK's have secured scholarships under you in last 5-years? Who? Where?
  • What does your college recruiting program look like?
  • What are your thoughts on a GK mentorship program?
  • How do you prefer parents communicate with you, are there any approaches I should never consider?
Feel like a job interview? It should. At a minimum, you need to understand what you’re signing your GK up for. Ideally, your GK has an opportunity to play for a coach who understands the position and runs a successful squad.

I hope you will add to this list, or feel free to hate on it. Best of luck!
Click to expand...
Great post!
 
Great list! The most important from your list I think are the second and the last, at least for youngers. The coach may not know the answer to the second at the start of tryouts. Both times my son was doubled up, the coach didn't have a plan to do that (once, a better player walked on, another my son was the one walking on), so it's important to cover the "what if" to.

I'd add: how do you handle goalkicks? And what's your philosophy on distribution?

Lastly, it's very important to research the goalkeeper trainer. Most smaller clubs won't have a dedicated staffer and usually will contract with someone. Unless the GK coach is pretty well known and has some stability with the club, it means there will likely be quite a bit of turnover in the position (our first club had 4 different people handling it in 1 year).

For me, beyond how the 2 keeper thing is handled, my 2 red lines are goalkicks and no prohibition on outside goalkeeper training.
 
These are great questions only problem I have seen is that the FP coaches really have no clue on how to answer these questions and if they do it has been with not the correct answers. 85% what our FP coach tells my DD, he GK coach shakes their head and says "Nope" even on how to deal with the 2 goalkeeper system. I wish they would make the FP coach take some type of goalkeeping course not to learn techniques but to teach some sense of tactics that pertain or help the GK in their positioning or timing
 
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