My Soccer Keeper

Players in soccer all pretty much have the same mission: score and don’t be scored on. They can’t use their hands, can’t be offsides, can’t punch, hold, or purposely injure other players. Then you have your goalies.  These crazy people are also referred to as goal keepers (or “keepers” or “keeps” for short). They can punch, catch and carry the ball, and get away with basically every foul that field players would get called for.  If a player is dribbling towards a goalie, the goalie has almost complete freedom to do whatever necessary to stop the ball from going in the net.  I’ve seen slide tackles, full-on American football tackles, legs swept out from under players… you name it, a goalie has done it to stop a shot. 

 

 I say crazy though because these players are basically playing a different sport than the rest of their soccer team.  Soccer is all around a contact sport, but goalies are in a completely different sports league than field players.  I don’t mean they are better, I mean they are simply a little bit insane.  Instead of just accidentally getting kicked in the course of a game like their teammates, goalies purposely put their entire bodies in the path of a ball moving at upwards of 75 miles per hour and the foot behind it.  Sure, ideally you catch it in gloved hands, but in reality, with attacking players within just a few feet, goalies have to block the ball with any body part they can get in front of it in time.

Last night, (Thursday, April 25) I played keeper against Monticello High School.  I’ve only played in goal 3 games, so I am far from experienced or even good (we lost 7-0 if that says anything), but if there is one thing I try to stay away from in soccer, it’s being scared of the ball.  So, when that one tall girl, #18, swung her foot back to take a shot, I did what any (bad) goalie would do and… stood there. To make a long story short, she didn’t score and I couldn’t feel the right side of my face for a couple minutes. But that’s a goalie’s job, to sacrifice their bodies for the sake of a game. Sounds like a worthy cause, right?