How do you get a kid to try playing goalie?

Frame the position correctly, then protect them in their first practice. Goalies are leaders, inherently brave, and great teammates, and the goalie is arguably the most important position on the team. Kids respond to being told they’re being asked because they’re capable, not because nobody else raised their hand.

Most coaches do the opposite. They ask for a volunteer in a tone that says somebody has to do this, hand the kid a stick with no instruction, and let the team shoot. Then they conclude that no one wants to play goalie.

Why is the goalie position mentally different?

Two reasons, and both are structural rather than personal.

Scoreboard consequence. A field player misses a shot or drops a pass and it’s a turnover. A goalie misses a save and the scoreboard changes. Similar mistake, wildly different visibility.

The mistake versus the consequence. Field players can hide a mistake in a crowd. Goalies cannot. Ten people saw the midfielder miss; everyone in the building saw the ball go in the net.

Is it normal for a goalie to be scared of the ball?

Yes. It is natural to be afraid of a hard ball coming at you and to try to get out of the way.

The mistake is treating that reflex as a character problem. It’s a trainable reflex, and the way you train it is safe exposure:

• Train with tennis balls or soft lacrosse balls.
• Slow the shots down when necessary.
• Do not throw a goalie into drills with zero training. It’s dangerous, and worse, they’ll never want to play the position again.

A goalie who flinches has not failed. A goalie who quits in week two because you skipped the ramp-up is a coaching failure, not a kid problem.

What actually makes a good goalie?

Great goalies have to be smart, competent athletes. They’re reading the field, running the defense, and making decisions faster than anyone else on it.

When you recruit for the position, recruit for that. “You’re one of the smartest players on this team and I need you where you can see everything” lands very differently than “we need a body in the cage.”

How should the team treat the goalie?

Like a playmaker, not a wall. Two habits build this, and both are free:

Clear equals point. The team should celebrate a successful outlet pass and chase-out as loudly as a doorstep save. A goalie whose clears get celebrated understands they’re part of the offense. A goalie whose only applause comes from saves learns their entire value is not letting people down.

Leader by vision. Remind the team that the goalie is the only player who can see the whole field. What they see and say goes. This isn’t a courtesy, it’s the truth, and a defense that argues with its goalie is a defense playing blind.

Build those two habits and you’ll have kids volunteering for the cage next season.

What should a parent do if their kid wants to try goalie?

Say yes, then ask the coach two questions: how much dedicated fundamentals time the goalie will get before facing live shots, and whether anyone on the staff is specifically responsible for goalie training.

If the answer to both is vague, that’s not a reason to keep your kid out of the cage. It’s a reason to get them an hour of real instruction somewhere else first. Kids don’t quit this position because it’s hard. They quit because their first week hurt and nobody showed them how to not get hit.

Where to start

We offer 1on1 online training. We’ve worked with dozens of goalies in this format for almost 2 years and are confident in its effectiveness for goalies of all skill levels. You can learn more about how this works here: https://adaptivegoaltending.com/virtual-training/ 

We also offer virtual team goalie training, please contact us directly and we will schedule a call to find the right setup for your team: email connor@adaptivegoaltending.com for more information.

Skeptical? See what other families and teams have to say: https://share.google/spgcNKvLlna9tXGQA