Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. This is a special edition dealing
with two emails I have received in the past couple of days.
I also received an email from a young keeper who really seems to have a great perspective
on what a keepers attitude should be. With his permission, I am including this email
below. I would like to thank Tim Mason for this contribution.
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One thing I have noticed since beginning my (what I hope to be a long) tenure in the game
of soccer less than a year ago, and what made me choose GK over Fullback, is the attitude
that a Goal keeper possesses. This attitude is not the attitude that they are the biggest
baddest thing on the pitch (even if they are). The attitude of a GK is that of leadership
responsibility and ownership. As a GK who is working himself to the bone to prove to his
team that he is a keeper not a poser, I try to convey these things with every game every
half and every play. These things are vitally important to a GK, I would go so far as to
say
that these are the qualities that when coupled with the physical characteristics required
by the position, actually make a GK.
The most important characteristic is ownership in my own opinion when I step onto the
pitch and put on the gloves, it is MY ball, it is MY team, it is MY box, it is MY penalty
area, the mistakes of the team are MY mistakes (there is never room for placing blame).
The only area that this differs in is wins and losses it is not my win. It is OUR win and
it is OUR loss.
The GK should take ownership to the point that he feels that he has a personal stake in
the teams performance as a whole not in just his GAA, SO and Minutes played. This
gives the keeper an intensity that he will never have if when he allows a goal he
calculates his new GAA. He will be in the game every moment, cool headed and trying to
help his field players gain the advantage.
Responsibility ties in very closely with ownership. The GK will feel this when
he has a personal stake in his team. The keeper feels that the team is HIS team and that
their performance reflects directly on himself. He feels a bit of shame in a loss,
even if it is by one point. and He is elated by a win even if he allowed 3 goals in the
second half. The GK, because he is the most isolated player should be the biggest team
player on the field to compensate for the isolation. The mind set is ITS ALL FOR THE TEAM.
Leadership is the lifeblood of a GK. He directs the defense to prevent his position being
necessary, and he lets the offense know of an opening so that the team may gain the
advantage on the score board. He leads stretches and he is the final man between the ball
and a thin white chalk line. Only a leader can be expected to have this kind of
responsibility placed on their
shoulders. The person who has the drive to practice after practice and to show up an hour
early to work alone before the team arrives is the person who has the leadership quality
of a GK. The GK should be thought of as a Type A Personality and in some cases should
border on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, because as Goalies we are called to not only be
great,
but to be perfect.
