Quote Originally Posted by onlooker View Post
Speaking as a parent of a full time goal keeper albeit she is 11 so a little older then the age bracket you are discussing. I can tell you as much as she loves playing in goals there is always the desire to play half a game every so often on the field. And generally half a game here or there is just enough to keep her happy..

Her club this coming season trains 3 nights a week and one night she will be doing goal keeper training at no extra cost ( outside the rego I’m sure it’s included in there somewhere)

I think it’s important to encourage those kids with a desire to play in goals and give them every opportunity to do so, but also continue their development on the park as they could easily comeback next season and say I don’t want to do that anymore.
100% agree with this. Great there is dedicated training as well.

I think the one half in goal idea is a happy compromise, even at U9, U10 etc. If a kid is keen to play as a keeper let them do one half a week in goal and the other out on the pitch. It means they spend most of the time in goal but also get to develop their outfield skills as well. Other kids will have to spend a half in goal every once in a while, but most kids this age would be happy enough with that.