It was apparent from an early age that like many other young lads, my lad quite fancied being a professional footballer when he was older.
As a parent you do what you think is best and let them have their dream, at least for a little while or until they grow out of it. As the years and football seasons have passed by, it’s clear that the desire is still well and truly there with him. Whether he’ll be good enough to play professionally is obviously a very different question but whatever level of football he plays at, I’ll be there, watching on proudly.
Since he started playing at under 8’s there’s no doubt in my mind he’s progressed year on year. At the end of the u10’s season he left his first club due to the decision by his manager to retain both goalkeepers from the previous ‘double team’ season. Knowing him as I do and having seen him develop over the previous three seasons, that wasn’t an option for me. I was fully aware that playing half a game a week, or a full game every other week wouldn’t benefit him in the slightest and any chance of further progression would evaporate.
The dad of one of his former team mates suggested he go for a trial with his lad’s team. His lad had been there for one season but enjoyed the challenge. His team was the equivalent to about four divisions higher than my lad’s, so it would be quite a step up. He went for trials on two consecutive Friday evenings during pre-season. I saw him the first week and thought he did alright. I had pre-warned him that there would probably be quite a few keepers there, also trialling but as it turned out there was only one other keeper there. Their current keeper.
I thought it would be very difficult for him to do enough in two one hour sessions for the managers to take a gamble on a new goalie, rather than play safe and stick with the one they already knew. I couldn’t take him to the trial the following week, so his Grandad took him. Based on what he’d seen, he wasn’t sure either if they’d be willing to take a chance on him. All the parents were advised we’d be told either way regarding the outcome of our lad’s trials before the weekend was over.
His current team had arranged to play a friendly on the Sunday morning of that weekend. He played well but I could tell he was distracted by wanting to know the outcome of the trial. I told him not to think too far ahead but he told me if the new team wanted him, he wanted to play for them. We got home from the friendly but so far there had been no word on the outcome of the trial. He kept asking me to check my phone. Then, after what seemed like hours, it rang.
The voice on the end of the phone was that of the manager. He got straight to the point. Did he want to sign for them? They were impressed with what they’d seen and he had an advantage over the other keeper. His height. He’s always been ever so slightly above average height compared with other lads his age. As it turned out, this may have been the deciding factor between the two lads. At this point I was wandering about on the landing. I glanced down the stairs and the nervous keeper was staring back at me. I put a thumb up to him. He set off like a firework into the room to tell his Mum.
After the telephone conversation had finished, I thought to myself, what would he have done if they didn’t want to sign him? I think the only thing we could have done was to look for other trials with other teams. It seemed as though it had gone beyond the point where staying at the current team was an option to him. About half the lads who he’d played with in the u8’s team had left by this point, so the pull of it being the same team wasn’t there anymore. He also said he felt a bit let down by the decision of the manager to keep both keepers. He wanted to play as much football as he could and be as good as he could be. I thought it was a pretty grown up outlook for a 10 year old. Not like the 10 year old I was, all those years ago.
Since he’s been at his current team, he’s continued to improve, albeit with the odd wobble along the way. His wanting to improve and be as good as he can is just the way he is in general. He’s always been ultra competitive and doesn’t like being beaten at anything, whether it was a board game against his sister when he was little, or being up against a different keeper in a trial. His competitive nature combined with me thinking that he had a certain level of natural goalkeeping ability were the catalysts for us to take him to goalkeeper specific training at CYG Goalkeeping and subsequently for me to complete the FA level 1 goalkeeping badge, so that I was able to coach him for his club on a weekly basis.
As his development has continued, so has that of the team. This has meant them playing against the best junior league teams in the city and district as a whole and therefore him being tested by top quality opponents, which has in turn improved him. Another factor that has so far aided him in his development is that (touch wood) he has continued to keep growing. Obviously he has no control over this but it is something that could ultimately end any real prospect he has of achieving his dream. At any goalkeeper training session around the country there will be very talented young lads that will struggle to carry out the role of keeper due to a lack of height.
He’s now been at his current team for two and a half seasons and just recently, scouts from some of the local professional clubs have started watching them. After watching his team a few times, one of the scouts asked about his availability and if he would like to go and train with their academy. Having never had this kind of opportunity before, he was very flattered and also keen to have a look. The training sessions were on a weekday evening and were only about 10 minutes from our house, which meant it was no problem to get him there. We were advised that it would involve him going training for about six weeks, after which they would make a decision on if they wanted him to sign for the academy, or not.
Two training sessions later, they said they wanted to sign him. It all felt a bit rushed to both of us. I’ve always told him I’ll be completely honest with him, give him my views and opinion but not make him do anything he doesn’t want to. It has to be his decision, not mine. He decided against signing for the academy because it would mean leaving his grassroots team and he said he didn’t feel ready to move on. I said that was fine and that was the end of that.
At his game the following Sunday, a scout from a different club came to watch the team. I got a phone call the day after and basically had the same conversation asking if he wanted to go training with them. They’re about 40 minutes from where we live and their first team play two divisions higher than the previous one. He said yes. It sounded like a similar sort of scenario. They said for him to go for a couple of weeks to see if he likes it and following that it would be a six week trial. So far he’s been training twice. Although he didn’t know anybody there, he enjoyed training with the other keepers and seemed to get on well with the coaches. From the first minute though, he was made to feel very welcome.
Running parallel to this was another approach from a different club to see if he’d be interested in training with them. This time from the team he supports. Although this was to go training with their Emerging Talent Centre goalkeepers, rather than their academy. He’s been there a few weeks and again, really enjoys the training. Watching on, I feel it’s an excellent level of coaching that he’s receiving. The theory behind the ETC is that they take keepers that they feel could be about the right sort of standard for the academy and invite them to train for six to eight weeks. After that period of time, there are three possible outcomes.
- They are given a trial with the academy
- They are invited to train with the ETC for another six to eight weeks
- They are monitored at grassroots level
The only down side with the ETC sessions is that they take place on the same night as his grassroots training. Unfortunately this is likely to mean it will be a short term option for him as he should be training with his team mates each week.
All these approaches are a huge pat on the back for him. It’s just been a bit much to take in for him with everything happening so quickly. There’s a long way to go and I have no idea whether he’ll be deemed good enough or not but within a two week period two academies and an ETC asking to see more of him must mean that he’s there or thereabouts. I know they won’t expect him to be the finished article but must think that he’s at the stage where they’ve got enough to work with.
If any of the set ups want to take it further with him, he won’t be able to make a balanced decision until he’s got some more training sessions under his belt but if I’m honest I have no idea what the best thing to do is, as it’s all new to us.
On one hand, I’ve heard that academies don’t tend to take many keepers on, much after his sort of age because they would usually have been picked up already, if their technique and ability is at the standard they’re looking for. That would suggest, if true, that as far as academy football is concerned, at the ripe old age of 13 time is running out for him.
But is academy football what he needs, or wants? Would turning down the opportunity to play for an academy (again) put an end to his dream? Or does deciding against it just take him down a different path?
Ultimately, the balance in his head will be weighing up the lure of playing for an academy with the prospect of pushing him further as a goalkeeper, against the grassroots football with his mates that he enjoys so much. As I’ve said before, I’ll back him 100% whatever he decides and over the next few weeks, things will become much clearer.
Keep the faith.
Keeper of the faith 