WOMEN GOALKEEPING TRAINING. FROM ACADEMY TO PROFESSIONALISM. Part I

In this note we summarize, some aspects of our experience in training women’s goalkeepers in different levels, with the intention of contributing to improving their performance.

In 2014 we established Training Group for women, becoming the first Academy in the region with exclusive sessions for women goalkeepers. We aimed to provide a space that would offer comfort to women goalkeepers of all ages and levels (from girls to adults and from recreational to high competition levels), identify their specific needs, evaluate their inclusion in the same groups with boys and men, and train women trainers.

To do this, we worked with an open mind, convinced that the success of the project was in equal treatment, respect and in focusing on the comprehensive training. We started consulting them about their sports history and making a qualitative diagnosis of their physical abilities and sports skills as we gradually developed the training sessions.

The first goalkeepers we received played 6vs6 or 7vs7 in private friendly tournaments, so there were no immediate high competition emergencies. We soon identified their general qualities that favored training (LINK NOTES CHALLENGES): absence of technical vices and, therefore, facility to incorporate new ones, coordination and perceptual-cognitive skills, concentration, humility and, above all, eagerness to learn.

Varying according to the experience of each goalkeeper, we found limitations in their capacity to control and distribute the ball with their feet, for calculating distances in large spaces, to control aerial balls, in their explosive force (for example for high dives), and the understanding of some game situations.

In late 2014, one of “our” goalkeepers was called to defend the goal of a First Division team of the Argentine Football Association, in a competition with a long history but still amateur. This forced us to increase the work in the goal and the area of formal dimensions, the dedication to situational aspects and physical load during training session, without abandoning the practice of technique.

Starting in 2015, we received other goalkeepers from friendly tournaments or informal 5vs5 Football matches (either women’s or mixed), from the local League (then 7vs7) and AFA. For this reason, we opted to design training sessions with exercises that would allow us to alternate between arches of different sizes to work the needs of all archers in the same session.

In general, our original diagnostic on the qualities and shortcomings of the Goalkeepers were confirmed, but also appeared new issues that we had to attend.

On the one hand, from time to time we received U-12 girls who made their first attempts at the goal and shared the sessions with the adult goalkeepers. On the other, in 2019 we received two Goalkeepers above 50 years old that played recreational 5vs5. In both cases, we decided to adapt the exercises planned for each session, focusing more on mobility, coordination and perception, reducing distances, load and intensity and, in the case of the “Senior” GKs, completely eliminating dives. Both experiences were highly positive: the new GKs felt involved in a systematic training with competitive GKs, while the latter were motivated by the effort of the older ones and by setting an example for girls. Likewise, we had to be resourceful in maintain dynamic and conceptually rich sessions.

An unfavorable aspect was the inconsistency in the assistance. We will not analyze the reasons here, but we will point out that the planned sessions had to be continually adjusted to the number and characteristics of the GKs present. Likewise, the described diversity also generated other situations that we had to solve. For example, there were clear differences in concentration between those who competed at the highest levels and those who trained for recreational purposes. Finally, the lack of control of the ball with the feet affected the quality of execution of exercises that required the participation of several goalkeepers, whether serving, finishing or simulating game situations, which was particularly significant in view of the advancement of the goalkeepers’ of the highest competitive level demands.

Some solutions we tried were adding trainers to the sessions and / or incorporating the most competitive goalkeepers in training sessions together with men goalkeepers, but the most significant was our adaptability, increasing our ability to handle diversity of situations in each training session.

Taking into account the importance of playing during childhood, we understand that starting the training process at this stage will substantially improve the performance of the goalkeepers when they start competing at any level. Fortunately, today girls under the age of 12 come more frequently to CEFARQ and they are currently assimilated into children’s groups, where they train in equal technical and physical conditions, and help us to improve as trainers.