Goalkeepers are often neglected in youth soccer, and generally players below U-10 are too young to become specialists. Best to give everyone a shot between the pipes, and if you can go out and buy some keeper gloves for the team to share. These help motivate kids to play keeper, and they can be had for surprisingly little; i.e., don’t buy the expensive ones. Most of what is here is appropriate for older keepers as well.

GOALKEEPING

http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/goalkeeping_drills_home.htm

JB GOALKEEPING

This a great site with lots of advice and drills for keepers of all ages. Particularly useful, and a good place to start in terms of ‘What keepers need to know first,”  are the pages on:

Positioning: http://www.jbgoalkeeping.com/position.html

Catching: http://www.jbgoalkeeping.com/catch.html

Distribution: http://www.jbgoalkeeping.com/distribute.html

ANIMATION

Some goalkeeping drills animated simply for your coaching pleasure.

http://www.soccerperformance.org/archivecoachingsessions/archivecoachmenu.htm

HOW NOT TO GET HURT STOPPING A BALL

For a primer on goalkeeping and teaching it to youngsters, all in a light-hearted, comedic tone, click below to read Goalkeeping 101:

http://Files.LeagueAthletics.com/Text/Documents/2727/10600.doc