This article is going to be aimed mostly at parents out there who have a kid who wants to play between the sticks. When you get started out on this journey as a parent you may not realize what it’s going to entail. Since the goalkeeping community is kind of small it can be hard to find decent advice on the matter. Even people close to the game don’t necessarily grasp what it means to be a goalkeeper. Worst yet, when your kid’s coach comes up to you and tells you that your child has chosen to be in goal they may not even be sure of what’s to come. Right off the bat you’re going to have to buy more gear for your kid than you would if they played in the field.
I’m not going to be talking about the basic things that you would have to purchase anyway. If your kid is going to play soccer you know ahead of time that cleats are going to be a must. Some shorts can really go a long way as well. Then you add the shin guards and socks. That short list pretty much covers your investment for your soccer playing kid in most outfield positions. Anything extra that you want to purchase is a good add-on maybe, but not essential. When it comes to goalkeepers I can think of at least 3 more things that you’re going to want to add to the list. By the way goalkeeper gloves tend to wear out much quicker than cleats and all of those other elements that I just listed out!
You’re Going To Have To Buy Goalkeeper Gloves … Constantly
In the early stages of a goalkeeping career you’d think you’d have the advantage that gloves don’t wear out as quickly on kids. This is because they’re not going to be dealing with such hard shots. The “power” that they’ll have when they dive and skim through the ground usually won’t tear up goalkeeper gloves as quickly as it will later on in life. The problem for kids is that they tend to outgrow gloves really quickly! I never recommend that you buy them gloves to have them grow into them. If you’re wearing gloves that are too big for you, you’re not going to be as protected as you’d probably like to be.
With that in mind, think about the need to buy about 2 pairs of gloves at an average rate of 5 dollars a pair for the first couple of years. If you continue on this path the number of gloves you’ll need to buy can increase to about 5 a year if we’re talking about daily training. As your kid grows there’s a good chance that they’ll want to upgrade to better gloves. Those can go for about 100 dollars a pair on the low end. 500 dollars on goalkeeper gloves in a year at certain points within a career is by no means a number that I feel is too off. I know some people can make it work for less, but I’d rather round up.
Jerseys & Pants Are Also Musts
When you have kids that play soccer at any position on the field like I said before some shorts may be all you need. In certain cases the team is going to provide them with gear. Not just game uniforms, but I remember that in travel teams you got shorts and T-shirts for training. You paid that as a parent of course, but you didn’t necessarily have to go out and buy it. If you’ve got a goalkeeper in the house what the team gives you is usually not going to be enough. I always recommend using long pants or leggings for training. You’re going to be hitting the ground quite often in training. It just makes sense to be more protected than you maybe would need to be in games.
Long sleeve jerseys follow pretty much the same concept that I just outlined. You want to have your elbows better protected if you’re going to be diving on the ground over 100 times during a training session. 30 dollars is a good average price point for a goalkeeper jersey! There are options over and under that price. You may want to have at least two if you’re training regularly. Leggings or pants fall under a similar price range. You can find good options at around 30 dollars. With some leggings going for over 60. Again you’ll want at least 2 pairs of paints. Put 60 dollars on that tab. The good thing is this gear can actually last a lot longer than I imagine people realize.
Extra Padding Could Come Into The Equation
Goalkeepers are naturally going to have more issues with scraped knees than field players. Elbows are also going to be more vulnerable. So that means that you may need to buy some knee pads and some elbow pads to help your goalkeeper out. I have more articles on the site that go deeper into the subject. Just as a general rule though you want to look for pads that are not bulky. One of the main reasons why you typically don’t see pro goalkeepers wearing pads is because of this old school idea that doing so is going to limit your movements. Now when it comes to costs these are not going to be too severe.
You can get a decent pair of knee pads for about 20 dollars. Just like with gloves I wouldn’t recommend that you go too cheap in this situation. What can happen is that your kid won’t feel comfortable wearing the pads if they are too bulky. Not only will you have spent that money in vain. In certain cases they could be more exposed to injury. You may want to look into buying extra padding if you know that your kid is going to be playing on harder fields. Even if they feel “ok” the bumps and bruises do tend to add up. You want to be careful with that for sure.
Tape, Socks, and Other Add-ons
One of the things that players who are not goalkeepers may not understand is the socks issue with goalkeepers. Now, it isn’t what it used to be. In my day we had to go out and buy larger socks that would cover your knees. For obvious reasons you wanted that extra protection that you typically didn’t get with the socks that the team provided for all of the field players. Now you may be looking for a smaller sock that you can use which feels comfortable with the shoe and is large enough to cover your shin guard. These types of socks can also go for a bit extra. There are options that come with shin guard pockets. Overall you’re going to be paying like 12 dollars for 2 pairs.
Tape is another one of those things that can get used up real quickly when you’re a soccer goalkeeper. If you’re someone who likes to tape your wrists before training and games you’ll be going through these rolls of tape in a heartbeat. By the way, if you want to tape your hands in games I would recommend that you do so in training as well. First of all, you’re probably going to be using your hands a lot more training than you will in games. When you get to a game you want to make sure that you feel comfortable with your outfit and the gear that you wear. So I always recommend that you keep the same outfit and add-ons for training and games.
Tape prices vary drastically, but if you want to go real pro and get the pack with the pre-wrap that’s about 15 dollars a package.
You May Need To Pay For Extra Training Sessions
I’ve talked about this in another article. If you’re wondering whether it makes sense to get private lessons or not, what I would say is you could use all the help that you can get. Even if right now you think that you don’t need to get too serious about the game or turning pro, the fact is if you’re able to develop good fundamentals you’re going to have a better time playing. This may be something that’s unique to goalkeeping that a lot of people don’t get. You could have “fun” as a field player even when you lose the game. It could be a good workout for you and that’s great. For goalkeepers being “ok” with losing is tougher because you’re the one that has to go get the ball from the back of the net.
I’m saying all this to say that the more skills you develop the funner goalkeeping gets. So with this in mind I’d say it makes perfect sense to get all the help that you can get. The cost of specialized training sessions can vary dramatically depending on where you live. My former coach in Los Angeles charges about 25 to 30 dollars per session. That’s around 50 dollars a week. Without a doubt that’s going to be the biggest expense that you’re going to have if you’re the parent of a goalkeeper. With this investment you’re going to want to really make sure that this is not something that you’re forcing on your kid. That can be hard to really grasp. You’ll want to try though before you commit to paying around 2.5K a year on lessons.
How Much Does It Cost To Be A Soccer Goalkeeper – Is It All Worth It?
I’ve played in goal for at least 24 years of my life at this point. To say that I would’ve made another decision 24 years ago would be negating a lot of the life experiences that I’ve lived through because of that decision. So, I can’t really say that it isn’t worth it. I feel that most goalkeepers that really take the position seriously would agree that it kind of becomes part of your personality. Therefore, coming out and saying that I would walk it back doesn’t make a ton of sense at this point. What I will say is that if you want to have a professional career in soccer/football this is the worst position that you’re going to be able to pick. Just based on how hard it is to find a spot on a team.
The life lessons that you get from the position are invaluable. In that sense I do think it’s worth it 100%. You learn to get over your mistakes. You learn to make hard decisions mostly on your own. There’s this sense of personal development within a collective that the position brings. In my eyes that’s just not something that you get at any position within the sport. The only thing that I could compare it to is maybe a pitcher in baseball. Even then you can share some blame with the catcher. When it comes to life lessons that you can learn I truly feel that this position is worth it. If I had a chance to do it all over again would I choose to be a goalkeeper? Of course, I don’t know any other way.
