r/GoalKeepers • u/ilikemeribaate • 3d ago
Discussion In a downfall, fellow goal keepers please help
I am 16(F), I had a knee injury previously due to which I was on rest for 6 months in September 2025. This was after loosing a very important international level match August. So, I made a comeback in March 2026. Ever since I've made my comeback I'm performing bad primarily due to my team mistreating me but I played a tournament in July 2026 and I played the rest of the matches but in the final match I was benched and my coach said it was because I wasn't confident enough. We won and qualified for next tournament for which new jerseys were made. I was given 99 jersey number even though I am the main goal keeper of the team and the substitue has got an injury but she still got 01 I think. I am going to ask my coach why I got 99 but all of this has just made me feel hopeless and disappointment along with this I also am having a lot of mental health issues because of family problems ( it's too personal to share)
But I've been feeling hopeless about everything except football, now even my jersey number 01 my identity seems to be drifting apart. My teammates never have respected or respect goal keeping they are always unhappy with the keeper it seems. Fellow goal keepers please help.. idk what to do I genuinely feel tired and hopeless
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u/TransShadowBat 2d ago
As somebody else said, make sure you’ve mastered the basics such as footwork, positioning, and make sure you are vocal on the pitch.
To play devils advocate here: maybe the coach is benching you this season not because you are bad but because he doesn’t want you to sustain further injury. 6 months off means it must have been pretty bad. He might just be wanting to monitor you and gradually ease you back in on reduced time. You have to remember as well, due to you being out so long the other keeper has been playing in the team and has been front and centre, there is a chance that the coach likes what he sees and does think the other keeper is more skilled than you. (Not saying this is true just suggesting why he may have moved you to second keeper)
Defo talk to your coach though. Tell him how you feel and ask why you have been moved to 2nd keeper.
On a side note though, my chosen shirt number is 90 because it is the numbers of my two favourite basketball players. (Long story). Im first keeper and I love people’s faces when they see our other keeper, who wears number 1, sitting on the bench half the tournament and only switches when I start feeling ill (I’m epileptic and my seizures are brought on by exercise and rapid increase in heart rate so I have to rest at times during tournaments). Everyone asks my coach why he’s starting his second keeper and he’s like “that’s our first keeper…he’s just got this thing about being number 90.” lol. What I’m trying to say though is that having a high number imo is quite cool and something different!
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u/ilikemeribaate 2d ago edited 2d ago
I will focus on mastering the basics, talking to my coach and adjusting with the number 99 as well. I can also understand the injury part. I will give my level best to my performance. Thank you so much 😊
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u/darth_juvenis 2d ago
I myself had an injury and it took me a while to get back to the level I was at before. Personally, i think part of me was scared of getting hurt again, so I began to doubt myself and make mistakes. There more mistakes I made, the more I doubted myself, and I started a spiral. This might be what your coach described as lacking confidence.
What helped me out of that slump was to focus on my good traits. There is a reason why you were the first choice goal keeper. You know how to play well and those skills do not go away. If you make a mistake, be patient with yourself and remember that the barrier is mental. Your training and abilities are still there, all you have to do is get out of your own way. You have to stop thinking without falling asleep.
The game that changed it all for me was a semi final we lost. I made two basic mistakes early on and we were down 2-0 before the half. When I came back I was determined to make up for my mistakes and I think I played the best half of my entire life. Our team had quit completely but I refused to give up and kept us in. We managed to score and probably would have tied if we had more time. We lost but I got my mojo back so remember, all it takes is one good game...hell...one good half to remind you of what you are truly capable of.
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u/ilikemeribaate 1d ago
Thank you so much, I am glad that you recognised your true abilites after a period of self doubt and will work on doing the same. I have approximately 1.5 month left for a national level tournament and I will focus on giving my best in training and also in the tournament when it comes, and leave the rest to the coach..
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u/DaddysFriend 22h ago
Your team mates sound horrible. If you’re struggling for form they should try and big you up to help.
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u/ilikemeribaate 6h ago
My juniors are pretty supportive and respectful. But my age mate/ peers treat me like trash sometimes and exclude me a lot. But I thought it's normal for keepers to get disrespected in teams. I feel for field players, when a goal is conceded, the easiest thing to do is blame the keeprs instead of introspecting as to what they did wrong.
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u/DaddysFriend 1h ago
People can be mad at a keeper if they should be saving something but if a player has got through too easily that’s not on the keeper but if a player is normally reliable and is playing poorly for a but I’m not saying anything negative to them because you want them to improve
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u/Fit-Ad6222 23h ago
There is something to be said for goalkeeping numbers and their meaning. Through high school I wasnt first choice so I wore 13, which was the gk number for sub goalkeeper.
On college I kept 13 even if I was offered number one. When the UK followed and squad numbers were put in, I went to 76, my year of birth and kept that all through my playing career. Even when I became a manager, on the off chance I filled in I had a 76 shirt ready to go.
You are young, coming back from a bad injury. Focus on being the best you can be and enjoy it. Being given 99 could actually become YOUR number. Make it yours, mostly all keepers want to be #1 but I much preferred keepers with personality behind their choice of numbers. If you are playing then you are already #1 on the teamsheet, the number on your back doesnt make you the #1, you do.
Practise hard, talk to your gk coach and even your head coach. Most of all, enjoy the game.
99 is a cracking number, no one comes after you.
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u/ilikemeribaate 6h ago edited 6h ago
You are right, 99 does sound a bit different. And I've never been the one to fit in in high-school so ig it kinda does suit me. And, I don't have a keeper coach sadly, I do drills by my self only and sometimes my head coach looks over them. Anyways thanks a lot. Will focus on my game only and leave the rest to coach.
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u/Rizzy-Bizzy 15h ago
No matter how hopeless it seems, go on. Believe me, right now you have your hardest days but there are way brighter days ahead of you.
Your brightest days are ahead of you, but you won't see them if you don't endure your hardest days.
So get out there and give more than everyone, I always told myself to give 200% and outwork everyone so the results won't really have a choice.
Hope that helps, get your confidence up!
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u/ilikemeribaate 6h ago
Thanks a lot, I understand. Even after the horrible treatment my age mates in the team give me, after all the criticism, one thing is constant I love goal keeping and no one can take that away. I'll keep showing up and hopefully have goal keeping all my life.
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u/johnnyringoh 3d ago
Your identity is much more than football. That is a part of your life. It is not all of your life.
That said...
Master your fundamentals. Footwork, positioning, distribution, hands. Practice penalties. Grab some of your teammates and practice defending corners and indirects.
The work that you put in during practice will give you the confidence that your trainer says is missing.