Soccer goalkeepers are a special kind of athlete. While everyone else on the field are using their feet to pass the ball and sprinting from one end to the other, they are standing in their very own 18 yard box using their hands and diving at the feet of the opponents. They have a very important role and are sometimes overlooked. Most people have the dream of scoring the game-winning goal, but goalkeepers are different. They have the dream of saving the game-winning shot. They don't win games, it takes the entire team to do that, but they play a huge part. It's no secret that goalkeepers have the stereotype of being slightly crazy, but there is so much more to the player that wears the different colored jersey standing in the goal.
1. We actually are kind of crazy.
Not in a bad way, just in the lets-dive-in-front-of-this-75-mile-per-hour-shot-coming-at-our-face kind of way. It's the good kind of crazy.
2. We love being different from the rest of the team.
We have different practices, different jerseys, different roles. And we love it. We get to stand out and when you see a team warming up on the field, you can identify the goalkeeper immediately.
3. We love getting dirty.
Well duh. It's in the job description. You're lying on the ground half of the time and you quickly learn to embrace that. If you don't enjoy landing in mud, then this position isn't for you.
4. Yes, we do just as much running as everyone else on the team.
For some reason there's a rumor going around that goalkeepers don't partake in an of the fitness or running the rest of the team endures and that's simply not true.
5. The smell of our gloves doesn't bother us, we embrace it.
It's part of who we are. Our gloves are our backbone. It's important to take care of them and wash them once in a while, but you will never get rid of the smell. Besides, it's our sweat and if we're too worried about the bad smell coming from our hands, then we simply can't do our jobs.
6. We carry the weight of a loss on our shoulders.
There's a saying that goes, "the people with the shortest memories make the best goalkeepers." This means that if you're scored on, you can't sulk and feel bad for yourself, you need to brush it off and stop the next one. However, after the game has ended, the weight of that loss weighs us down like a ton of bricks. You build a strong mentality to deal with it.
7. The bond between goalkeepers on the same team is unbreakable.
Yes, you are competing for a spot that only one can have, but you are the only ones who understand exactly what the other is going through. No one else on the team can.
8. We have legs of steel.
Our calves and thighs are the strongest parts of our body.
9. We hate being blamed for a loss.
If we made stupid mistakes, trust me, we know. And we are beating ourselves up. But there are 10 other players on the field that contributed to that loss.
10. We love shooting games during practice.
It's a physical and mental challenge and we love every minute of it.
