Continuing from the last post on dealing with getting dropped and very similar to thBack in the teame tips provided in the post ” Dealing with two goalkeepers on a team” I thought I would give some advice on getting yourself back on the team if you have been dropped.

  1. Work on your faults or areas lacking in the game as pointed out by your coach.
  2. Make yourself invaluable to the team. What is your talent? What is the one thing you do better than anyone else?
  3. Become more involved off-field. Help the coach to tidy up. Attend events.
  4. Find ways to get extra work in that will give you an edge over other players. See this article on gaining an advantage when practice is cancelled.
  5. Make your improvements clearly visible to those who count. ( Coach, captains etc ) Be seen practicing your improved kicking for after practice for example.
  6. Keep a good attitude. Use your disappointment as motivation
  7. Grasp any game time you have with an enthusiastic performance. Communicating, encouraging and obviously performing well. Make sure you are well behaved and not late
  8. Be realistic. If it’s just not working out, know when it is time to move on. As a goalkeeper, if you are competing for time with someone that is clearly better than you despite your efforts, it may be time to move to a team where you are going to get the playing time you want.
  9. Don’t quit. You love the sport and the position. The improvements you are working on will not be evident right away. Progress is often made slowly but surely. Are you doing everything you can to improve? We all enjoy being good at something. In order to continue to enjoy the game, it might be worth playing at a lower level until your improvements shine through. You are more likely to want to work on your game when you are enjoying it.