Edition 60

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter. Today's topic of discussion is the risk of injury in goalkeeping.

Needless to say, this is NOT going to be a fun topic for me to write or for you to read but I do think it
is something that everyone needs to be aware of so therefore, here it goes.

If you are a keeper and you play long enough, you will suffer some type of an injury. I think that is a safe
statement to make. However, the frequency of the injuries and the severity of the injuries can be controlled somewhat.

Keepers who are in good shape and also who stretch properly are less likely to suffer an injury then a
keeper who is out of shape or is not stretched properly. To learn more about stretching check out the newsletter I wrote on that at http://finesoccer.com/edition73.htm.

Keepers who are not trained or who are poorly trained are susceptible to unnecessary injuries. Some examples of this are when a keeper dives incorrectly and lands with their elbow under their ribs. This is a great way to break some ribs and can easily be avoided. Also, when a keeper lands hands first on a dive, this is the most common way for a keeper to break her wrist. There are many other examples but in short, with proper training, a keeper can avoid many injuries.

Unfortunately, coaches are responsible for some of the most serious injuries. I see it all the time where a
team is winning by a lot (or losing by a lot) and the keeper wants to come out of the goal so the coach puts a random field player in goal. I assume the logic here is that anyone can play goal and all of the training that keepers go through is unnecessary. The idea of   putting an untrained person in goal for any reason is asinine. The criteria I use to decide if I, as a coach, want to do something like that is if something happens and there is an unnecessary injury, how is it going to feel to tell the parents "I'm sorry, your daughter broke her____ and it's my fault because I didn't prepare her for that situation"? Since I know I don't want to have to do that, I don't put people in that situation. However, I see it happen at almost every tournament I attend by some coach or the other. I am not even thinking about the legal liability involved in this because the ethical and moral  liability is so much greater.

Some injuries come simply because the keeper is not willing or able to communicate properly. I see keepers coming out for crosses and get knocked to the ground because their own teammates didn't know they were coming. Simple communication can avoid so much of that problem.

Some injuries occur because of poor playing conditions and poor equipment. Playing conditions are difficult to do anything about but occasionally things can be done. Time can be taken to make sure goals are properly fastened. I had an unfortunate thing happen a year ago where I was working with a team with a big wind swirling. The goals were not fastened down and in a 30 second period, both goals blew over. One keeper was far enough his line that he was safe and  the other goal was actually caught by an alert trainer. These were full sized goals and could have done a great deal of damage if they had landed on someone. It's a safe bet that I wont make that mistake again. I am just glad I leaned that lesson without a catastrophe happening.

The first thing I tell keepers at camps and clinics is the unfortunate story of the player who went into goal
for her team around 8 years ago. She had no training but stepped in as a replacement. Without knowing what she was doing, she dropped down to her knees to pick up a rolling ball and while down there was kicked in the jaw. To make a long awful story short, the keeper died. I was not at the game but knew some of the girls who were playing. I think it's important for everyone to realize just how serious a matter this is and why it is so important that proper care be taken to make sure that keepers are trained properly at all times.

Sorry if this wasn't a particularly upbeat newsletter and the last thing I am trying to do is discourage
people from playing keeper but it is important that people understand the seriousness of the position.
Next time you see a keeper let in an easy goal, hopefully you will remember that things could be
much, much worse.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please send them to comments@finesoccer.com or post them to the FineSoccer forum at http://finesoccer.com/forum.htm

Have a great day.

Lawrence