PROFESSIONALISM POSES NEW CHALLENGES FOR THE TRAINING OF WOMEN GOALKEEPERS

In 2015 CEFARQ became the first center in the region to offer training geared specifically to women goalkeepers. The Center’s first goalkeepers participated in friendly tournaments and in the local league playing 7 on 7 matches. Soon after, one of our goalkeepers was recruited by a La Plata team competing in the official AFA tournament, which was then amateur based. Over time, more goalkeepers from other AFA teams and the Platense League, which then began playing on professional-sized pitches, joined CEFARQ. During this time the participation of Goalkeeper Trainers (GKT) in women soccer was not common.

These goalkeepers were very eager to incorporate technical concepts into their game and, at the same time, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their play. In general, they learned specific moves readily and executed them accurately, quickly mastering the techniques for saves and falls, especially on low shots. They also demonstrated good coordination and perceptual-cognitive skills. Among the weaknesses were those in the pedal (i.e., foot) and aerial aspects of the position and the reading of relatively complex game situations, which reveals a lack of specific training during the childhood and youth stages of their development. Poor pedal ability and control hinder the proper handling of complex situations near the goal and the integration of the goalkeeper into overall team play. Moreover, this imposes considerable limits on situational training sessions. In physical terms, the more notable deficiencies were in height, strength, and muscle to body mass ratio.

In August, 2019, the AFA Women’s Soccer was partly professionalized, with the level of competition increasing significantly. Televising games has brought greater visibility to the efforts of women goalkeepers, but has at the same time exposed deficiencies in their play.

Fortunately, many teams have recognized the need to incorporate GKTs. But for this to have a significant impact, the role of GKTs should not be limited to laxly imposing the specific technical, tactical and physical training models used in the development of professional men goalkeepers. GKTs must understand the nature and quality of the formative development received by women goalkeepers, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and formulate medium- and long-term objectives that reflect the level of competition

The improvement of women goalkeepers at this level of competition will also depend on Head Coaches (HCs) being aware that many of them have not had the specific training received by professional men goalkeepers and taking into account their physical and technical capabilities. It is also important that HCs and their GKTs coordinate to incorporate drills simulating game situations that more frequently involve a goalkeeper’s intervention, compared to the more typical drills of formal football practices.

In the longer term it is imperative to promote specific training and competition for children and youth, and recruitment from an early age to improve the biotype selection.

At CEFARQ we continue to develop strategies to generate diversity in training that is geared to women goalkeepers of all ages and from recreational to high-level competition.