Why is the standard of young goalies poor in Trinidad?

[Jahyouth]

That is a big issue according to the original TD himself Lincoln "Tiger" Phillips.

I would love to hear what the reasons for this are.  To my mind, we have always had outstanding custodians.  It is worrying to hear that the youths not as proficient as their predecessors in the goal.

Is it lack of basics as we see with our field players (men only studying to "fly" and look good and not adept at the basics) or is it that the committment to be a full time goalie is not there and is only "wild men" and not true keepers in the goal?

Think about it, all th etalk people is talk on here about this young player good and that young player good.  When last you hear somebody come and say "boy that youth could keep!"

[Richard G.]

There are no 'real' goalkeeper coaches back home. The only keeper coaches home that know something about coaching GK'ers are the former pros and former national team senior goalkeepers. Then comes the idea that keepers only like to 'fly' and look pretty, when the simple teaching of the basics are shelved or worse yet, ignored.



Next is the mentality of being a good, solid goalkeeper. Goalkeeping is very testing mentally. I dare say most young people who are in goal don't have the mental toughness and 'bad-mindedness' to stick it out even with the worst of teams. What we see on tv is Ronaldiniho, Henry, Owen and other outfield players (strikers in general) receiving the majority of the praise. The praise given to a Goalkeeper is somewhat limited to hit and miss showers, yet when a keeper has a bad game or lets one in that his/her own fault things get blown up. Young goalkeepers I think don't understand they must be able to take a pounding one day to know they'll receive the same pounding tomorrow and the day after.


Also there isn't a committment to developing good, solid goalkeepers except in certain select clubs and organizations. Everyone wants to have the next Latapy, Yorke or Pele in their roster. No one seems to want the next Paul Robinson, Shaka Hislop, Oliver Kahn or Buffon. This takes too much time and energy and worse yet...It involves being taught and learning, things coaches back home have no time to do. I know as a coach you should be learning something everyday. This I know doesn't apply to many coaches because they think they know it all...they generally know to little.


You can go into so many other reasons...$$$ (equipment), $$$ (cost of specialized coaching), no 'light' at the end of the tunnel...The list could go on and on.


I think the main problems are the knowlede of the position by the coach and his ability to coach the basics and the mental toughness of the goalkeeper him/herself.

Blessings and enjoy the day.
Richard G.

[Tenorsaw]

The problem with our goallkeepers is that they do not receive specialist training sometime until they get to the age of 14-15.  This is not good enough, as you become good by repetition and motor memory skills.  Also, when you look at the people that train our goalkeepers, you can tell that they concentrate on shot stopping, often neglecting cross ball training, kicking, distribution, and judgment.  I was fortunate to have a goalkeeper coach--Kendall Crawford--who now works for the Ministry of Sport.  He took Lincoln Philips' goalkeeping book, which I would recommend to any young goalkeeper, and started me from handling the ball correctly, all the way to the very end.  That is how we need to train our gaolkeepers.  It's not just about shot stopping.  As a matter of fact, good positioning often minimizes the need to be diving all over the place.  We're producing better goalkeepers, but the pool of qulaity keeprs is not big enough.  This hurts us, because it reduces the level of competition, often leading to complacency.

[Small Magician aka Wazza]

i disagree actually     we have some very promising goal keepers coming up

1) Thorne Holde- will be the next great TnT keeper

2)Jesse Fuliton- Under 15 keeper with great attributes  also a good friend of mines

3)Matthew Jardim- Under 15 keeper also  would have been on under 15 bench for the tournament but had other arrangements ....also is my best friend i am not lying he has the capability to become one of TnT best goalkeepers   ask any youth man das involved in football hoo matthew jardim is

4) Kristian Bocage- another under 15 prospect    very good keeper in many ways and is also a national swimmer and water polo player   very promising for the future    also another good friend

[arrow]

i disagree actually     we have some very promising goal keepers coming up

1) Thorne Holde- will be the next great TnT keeper

2)Jesse Fuliton- Under 15 keeper with great attributes  also a good friend of mines

3)Matthew Jardim- Under 15 keeper also  would have been on under 15 bench for the tournament but had other arrangements ....also is my best friend i am not lying he has the capability to become one of TnT best goalkeepers   ask any youth man das involved in football hoo matthew jardim is

4) Kristian Bocage- another under 15 prospect    very good keeper in many ways and is also a national swimmer and water polo player   very promising for the future    also another good friend

Small M - But I find you have real goalkeeper friends man.  Like you could give Stern some competition for the person goalkeepers like the most!!   

[Tenorsaw]

Small M, these fellas should be at that level if they in the national pool.  Generally, we are still lacking a strong pool of competent keepers at all levels.  Look at the US.  They have a plethora of good solid goalkeepers.  Sometimes, I does feel sorry for man like Kevin Hartman and company, cause they good enough to play on other national teams, but ain't even making the bench or squad for Germany, cause man like Keller, Hanneman, and Tim Howard in front of them.  Yuh could go to any league and see an American goalie comfortably deal with cross balls, and have solid distribution skills.  Our goalies often lack in these departments.  We getting better, but we can't boast of having a glut of good goalkeepers back home.  We ain't there yet.

[Brej]

the standard not poor atall i think the goalkeepers are at a much higher  level in trini than most other positions

[Small Magician aka Wazza]

arrow maybe i have many frens 

[palos]

i disagree actually     we have some very promising goal keepers coming up

1) Thorne Holde- will be the next great TnT keeper

2)Jesse Fuliton- Under 15 keeper with great attributes  also a good friend of mines

3)Matthew Jardim- Under 15 keeper also  would have been on under 15 bench for the tournament but had other arrangements ....also is my best friend i am not lying he has the capability to become one of TnT best goalkeepers   ask any youth man das involved in football hoo matthew jardim is

4) Kristian Bocage- another under 15 prospect    very good keeper in many ways and is also a national swimmer and water polo player   very promising for the future    also another good friend

Bet yuh 3 and 4 doh last a nex 4 years in local football.  And I eh disputin dey good or not. I bettin dem fellas eh go be seein football as no viable career and move on to other things by 2010 at least.

But DAT is a whole nex topic entirely!

[Small Magician aka Wazza]

well only time will tell but number 3 has the capability to the best tnt keeper in history    and i not saying dat becuz he my fren   is jus i no hoo got it  and hoo doesn't

[Touches]

let me give you another twist or spin on this discussion.

It is poor because the profliferation and widespread popularity of smallgoal hampers development of this position
even though close control benefits and dribbling skills are derived..........the areas such as shooting, long range passes and heading are neglected.

Have you ever noticed that many of our players cannot cross a ball or provide a driven pass for more than 30meters without chipping it.
A driven bullet pass like beckham or a proper cross driven or otherwise is a rare commodity even at the national team level. Hence by extension the opportunities for young keepers to be groomed at this level is severly hampered.

Also most coaches at the young age group and even secondary schools league, are just former outfield players with no real qualifications.

Goalkeeping is a specialist position that requires certain exercises and drills many of which have not been passed down to these amature coaches.

Lastly TT sporting culture is one, that does not play other jumping and leaping games,such as basketball and volleyball where certain skills are developed and can be passed on or used when the transition to football is made. Tim Howard for example was an athlete who played basketball and volleyball before making the switch. Maybe this could be a reason why the USA has a good goalkeeping dept, apart from specialist training and money.


and another note.............who really wants to be a keeper? As a youth it is very rare to hear a smallman say I want to be a goalie or defender, it just does not happen. You does get put in these same positions by the amature coaches if yuh skill level not on par, or yuh just Big and awkward. Also goalie is a big money position,gloves, fancy jersey and pants does add up and parents dont want to fork out that kinda change.

Also TT in comparison to some of our Caribbean neighbours and North American counterparts, dont have as many Tall or robust players for that position. Our players nashy nashy and not really Keeper like in stature.

Sad but true! 

[ironman]

Touches soome excellent points,but the last one is kinda weak,why would T&T have smaller players than other countries right in the Caribbean come on now we actually have some massive lads at goalie,Jan Williams,Durance and also there is a line of very impressive goalies coming up at all age groups.There is still need for more structured coaching from younger ages.