So the first game of the new season loomed into view.
The nerves were gently bubbling away under the surface. That’s mine, not the lad’s. We were away on holiday, due back home the day before his first match. On holiday while I was fully occupied I was ok but then laying on the sun bed, or wandering around, my mind was drawn to the away match the following Sunday.
It seems like quite a while since the end of last season and me putting a plan together, to work towards preparing him for full sized goals in the 11-a-side Friday night league. I was confident with how he’d performed in the four games that he’d made good progress towards that aim.
But now, steadily melting in the hot sun, doubts were creeping into my head. Had I put too much emphasis on the bigger goals and taken my eye off the more fundamental elements? And once this worry had found its way into my head, I couldn’t shake it. Every time I thought about Sunday’s game, the worry seemed to be magnified.
As his coach – and his dad – had I let him down?
Had I failed him in not preparing him properly? Was I sending him into his first 11-a-side game without the proper tools to do the job and defend his goal? And if the answers to any of the questions were ‘yes’, the problem with that was we were due home the evening before his first game so there wouldn’t be time to address any of them.
Then I tried to convince myself otherwise. In the training sessions and 1:1’s we’d done over the Summer we’d still been doing the fundamental handling, footwork and distribution practices that we always do, so he’d be ok wouldn’t he? He’s developed enough over the last few months to be suitably prepared for what’s to come. Hasn’t he? To be honest, at this point I’d got myself in such a tangle that I didn’t know what to think.
Doubting my own ability was something I did when I played. A general lack of confidence, plus the responsibilities that go with playing in the hardest position on the pitch meant I was always nervous when I played. I always thought I’d make a mistake and then to make matters worse, I stopped growing when I reached about 5 foot 11 which just increased the negative feelings and made me doubt myself even more.
In the five years my lad’s been playing, I’ve always tried to give him confidence in his ability, aware that a lack of it spelled the beginning of the end for me as a player. I doubt that I would have played at a much higher level than I did, even with more confidence but I would definitely have played a few more seasons if I’d not been bothered about my height and lack of self belief.
Now I just want to help my lad avoid the confidence pitfall by ‘bigging him up’ and making him believe in himself much more than his dad did about himself, 20 odd years ago, so he fulfils whatever potential he may have. Ideally, he’ll find the right balance between confidence in himself and arrogance.
I’m a big believer in learning from your mistakes. But if you can learn from somebody else’s mistakes, even better. And if I can help him avoid the things I didn’t manage to, I’ll be more than happy.
On the opening day of the season, we arrived at the away ground and made our way to the pitch. You approach it from one of the corners, on a raised banking. The pitch looked huge. I was hoping it was just where we were stood that was creating an optical illusion but it turns out that the pitch is what the opposition’s over 35’s team uses, so full size pitch. And full size goals.
Mental note was, think positive thoughts and pass them on.
While he warmed up with the rest of the team I had my standard wander round the penalty area, checking for anything that might cause him a problem – more often than not a big crater 2 to 3 yards off the goal line in the centre of the 6 yard box. Then we did our usual warm up together, a few shots; low, mid and high, a few high balls to take and then a few kicks and throws. His handling was all pretty good. His kicking off the ground was a bit less convincing. I made sure we finished on a good kick and I gave him a final pep talk, hoping he’d get his consistency back during the game. He didn’t.
A few were pretty good but the majority kept fairly low. Thankfully they pretty much all evaded the opposition’s forwards though. His handling during the game mirrored his warm up. He had a few saves to make, including a couple of free kicks which he sorted his wall out for and dealt with without too much fuss and we went into the break 1-0 up. He was less busy in the second half and most of the play was down the other end with the forwards giving the other keeper an uncomfortable afternoon. Final score, 6-0.
At training two days after the game I made the fairly obvious decision to look at his goal kicks and in a matter of minutes we were seeing an improvement in the height he was generating. From this point on though, I’m making a list of things to work on, for his development. And for my own piece of mind.
Keep the faith.
(NB – In the days after the game, it came to light that the ‘recommended’ goals size for u13/u14’s, of 21ft x 7ft may not be ‘recommended’ after all but may be the actual goal size these two age groups should be using. We had been led to believe that the goals used at some places would be 21ft x 7ft but other facilities – including the new FA hubs – would not have this size and the 12 and 13 year old keepers would find themselves defending full size goals – 24ft x 8ft. If you’ve read any of my previous blogs, you’ll know this particular subject was the cause of my main worries for my lad. Via a junior league Facebook post and a parent making reference to the ‘recommended’ wording, it became clear that the junior league weren’t aware that the hubs did not have the right size goals and the u13 registrar actually said to the parent that his club should have checked goal/pitch sizes before booking such a facility for their home games and by playing in them are breaking the rules and may have to forfeit games. The parent asked the hub manager what would happen regarding getting 21ft x 7ft goals, the reply being there were “no plans to buy any”. To clarify, these hubs are three new facilities in Sheffield which were built with the help of the FA. Apparently at the time of building, the FA said there was no need for 21ft x 7ft goals. So to sum up, everybody seems to be contradicting each other. Watch this space for updates, if any are forthcoming.)
Keeper of the faith 