Guys, I received a DM from a parent this week and, with their permission, wanted to share it here 👇 Their son has played for the same team for three years. Never missed games. Turned up every week. Fully committed. 💙⚽ A few weeks ago, he picked up an injury and had to miss a handful of matches 🤕 During that time, the coach put an outfield player in goal. When the young keeper returned to training, fit and ready to play, the coach told him he would only get half a game, because he now had to “fight for his place”. This really upset both the parent and the goalkeeper (who is still very young). After three years of loyalty, it felt unfair and confusing 😔 The parent spoke to the coach to explain how much this had knocked her son’s confidence — to the point where he started saying he didn’t want to play in goal anymore 💔🧤 The coach’s response?“What would you do if your head was on my shoulders?” Now, I know some grassroots coaches — especially at kids’ level — look in the mirror and see Pep Guardiola staring back at them 😅 But parents and goalkeepers…What would you do in this situation? UPDATE: Just found out that the stand in goalkeeper does not want to stay in goal - Was only playing to help out.

Hi Ray and team. Morgan will be unable to post anything for a couple of weeks due to his osgood-schlatters flaring up and the physio has advised him to rest until the new year and do no sports at all in that time. Apologies.

Guys, Some of you may have seen my recent posts about how difficult it can be at times for me to respond to every DM personally. I genuinely pride myself on answering messages myself, but some weeks it has been impossible to answer everyone. I started this community to help goalkeepers and parents navigate the real challenges of the position — dealing with coaches, teammates, confidence, and the mental side of goalkeeping, which I’m especially passionate about. So moving forward can please send any questions about glove choice, your orders, or your sponsorship codes to the new @Community HelpDesk or email my team directly. (You will get their email if you place a order and or become a J4K sponsored goalkeeper). On these topics, my team will answer you back, MUCH faster than myself. If you’re going through a genuine challenge with your team, your coach, or struggling with confidence or mindset, please feel free to DM me personally. This is why I started this community — so goalkeepers and parents don’t have to face the same heartache my father and I experienced while chasing my professional dream. I’m confident this change will help us support the community even better. Ray

It has come to my attention that a sponsored keeper has shared their unique code with another person – and this person then had the audacity to abuse my team and threaten 1-star reviews on the internet because their order was cancelled. The mind just boggles heh !!! As sponsored keepers and parents know, we have had to change things around the past few weeks, and it has been a overwhelming and alot of extra work for my team. But thanks to my amazing team, they have more or less got everything back on track. The GOOD NEWS is, for the 99% of genuine sponsored keepers and parents, you will no longer be affected by a tiny minority acting unethically, as you have your own unique sponsorship code. The BAD NEWS for anyone who shares their unique code, my team will now be able to quickly identify them and cancel their code and ban them from www.j4ksports.com So genuine keepers and parents will no longer be affected moving forward by anyone acting unethically. If you have still not got your sponsorship code, just keep emailing my team on j4kskool@gmail.com – they will sort you out.

I was quiet all day yesterday because my elf on the shelf organised for me to go to Lapland