Hi all. We're new to the community and would like to introduce ourselves. I'm Dave (dad) and my son is Mason who is an u13s goalkeeper. It will be mainly me thats commenting and posting so just be aware to anyone, you'll be talking to an adult. Mason started playing football at u8s and was quickly picked up by sheffield wednesday pre academy. He was there for u9s + u10s but was released. He also was unsuccessful in a trial for Rotherham. Obviously gutted, I assured Mason that this was not the end of his journey and with some hard work he could get picked up again. Due to the Rotherham trial ending in November, finding a new team was difficult because all high level teams had already established keepers so we decided to drop down a couple of leagues and Mason would spend the rest of the season playing centre back. This would give him a better understanding of defence and would be great for his feet. Mason made a big impact in this team and grew confidently into the position. Meanwhile he was playing Saturdays for a JPL team in goal. Mason finished the season strong, 2nd in the league for his Sunday team and player of the season for his Saturday team. He moved on for the next season signing for Chesterfield fc in JPL, northern rep team for JPL and Sheffield Rangers in Sheffield A division. U12s. Things went great winning silverware for all 3 teams. Which leads me up to now and why I waited for my first post. This season, Mason again started strong playing for the same teams and also playing up for Chestfield u14. He retained his place for the northern rep team after trials and just last week played against Hull City academy. He played fantastic, receiving plaudits from opposition players, coaches and even the ref. We got home and not long after, I received a txt saying that Hull are interested in Mason and would like to offer him a full trial with the academy. Mason starts in the new year. Hard work paid off.

So trying to be more proactive in preventing injuries. What do your warm ups entail? And are they at home or when you arrive at match? Stretches/handling? So there's a theme of warm-ups being mainly focused on outfield players/passing etc. Little upper body. Once arrived at match, clubs do not allow any parent interaction. So we have started to get up earlier (meets at 8.30 up to 1hr away), and try to do some gentle stretches and some handling before he leaves. But I'm wondering if we should do more? Any ideas? Thank you. PS should add I'm trying to make sure he takes ownership/responsibility for being warmed up. Rather on relying on others. His health conditions aren't what others deal with. So he needs to learn to manage his himself.

My 8 year old is not the tallest and has been told by various academies that he is technically very good but they are concerned he wont reach over 6 foot 2 at least. He currently plays grassroots, national league academy team and a PL foundation team. Beside covering the angles does anyone have advise for him on how to compensate for a lack of height when in the goal especially as they move up in age and the goals get larger.

Hey everyone! Just wanted to share something exciting — I made my debut as the goalkeeper for my school team last week Tuesday! It was a huge mix of nerves and excitement, but once the game started, I settled in and really enjoyed the challenge. I pulled off a few saves I’m proud of and also spotted some areas I want to work on. The second leg of the fixture is next week Tuesday, and I’m already looking forward to getting back out there. I really want to build on what I learned from the first match and come back even stronger. If anyone has any goalkeeper tips — things like positioning, communication, staying confident under pressure, or even warm-up routines — I’d love to hear them. I’m still new to the role and open to all the advice I can get. Thanks in advance, and wish me luck for next week!

Hey ! I was wondering what was ur guys thoughts on finger and wrist taping ? And if you guys do it how do you do ur taping ?