Welcome to the Goalkeeping
Newsletter. Today’s topic that I want to discuss is goalkeeping
equipment. I have a different view on this subject then do most people and
because of this, I believe you will find this newsletter surprisingly short.
First of all, I would like to make the point that despite what a friend of mine
thinks gear does NOT make the goalkeeper. I was in a soccer store
yesterday and saw a little keeper and his mom come into the store. This
little boy needed news cleats, a couple of keeper jerseys, keeper pants, gloves
(practice and game), sliders and I have no idea what else. I couldn’t
believe how much this lady was spending for an 11-year-old who thinks he wants
to be a keeper.
Now for equipment that I think is
important. I would definitely start with the shoes. For younger
keepers it would be great if you have a pair of molded and a pair of flats to
train on hard surfaces, indoors or just to give your feet a break from the
molded. Forget about the screw-ins until you are older and your feet have
stopped growing. Most of the fields that youth players are on are too hard
for screw-ins anyway.
After the cleats, I would recommend 1-2
jerseys for matches. Originally I was only going to say one jersey but for
tournaments you really do need two. These jerseys should be used only for
matches as training I recommend cheap sweatshirts. They do an even better
job of preventing scrapes and scratches then do jerseys. Plus when you rip
them, (which is inevitability with diving) you can just throw them away and
start with a new one. There used to be some stores in Atlanta called
“Sweats for Less” which sold name brand irregular sweats real cheap. I
don’t know if they still exist but just find an inexpensive sweatshirt and
train away.
I am not a big
believer in keeper pants. I think they are vastly overrated and really
don’t accomplish much of anything. If you want to protect your legs from
scratches, again go with the cheap sweatpants route. Sliders are a much
cheaper and much more effective thing to possess
A huge expense for keepers is their
gloves. First of all, while gloves certainly have some merit, they are not
necessary in most training. I am a big believer that if you can catch
things with your bare hands then it just makes it that much easier when you wear
gloves in matches. My recommendation is to train without gloves except for
the training session prior to the match to refamiliarize you with the feel.
The side benefit is your gloves will last longer this way.
The only other piece of equipment that
might be worth investing in is a soft-billed cap for sunny days. Make sure
it’s soft billed or most refs won’t allow it.
The rest of the equipment you might
need is no different then field players (shin guards etc). Soccer has
evolved into a very expensive sport in this county; it’s not necessary to go
completely broke to outfit a goalkeeper.
