You're looking out at your team and the opponents. One person is standing out in front of the others. You have one job: protect the goal.
Being a goalkeeper in soccer is a thrilling ride of ups and downs. Goalkeepers, being able to use their hands along with their feet, protect the goal. They are the last line of defense. Goalkeepers always have to be ready for a game, physically and mentally.
The mental state of a goalie is key to playing well. They need to be aware and aggressive at all times, to not get down if the opposing team scores, and to not give up or take it easy no matter what the score is. This is one of the reasons you usually don't see that many willing goalkeepers, especially once you start getting older.
While goalies get shot at straight on with hard kicks, it is not as scary as it seems. Having gloves with padding cushions even the hardest of shots. Don't forget about the shirt that has padding on the arms and chest. When getting hit in areas that don't have protection, it feels like being slapped. The speed and power of the ball controls how hard getting hit is if letting the ball make contact. Learning the skills gives a lower chance of getting hit. Over time, goalkeepers start to build up a tolerance.
Goalkeepers need to learn a certain skill set to be educated to play full time. They learn how to punt, throw, roll, and do long kicks to distribute in different situations, plus the skills learned to defend the goal; side contours, diving, collapse diving, and learning to catch the ball are all important skills that help out. All of these skills take time to learn and get the hang of, but working hard and practicing every day will make it fly by in a breeze.
The goalkeeper can see everything on the field. This is one of the reasons watching them can lead to hearing them shouting at teammates to get back into their spots, or to mark someone. One frustrating thing goalkeepers dislike about this is to watch the opponents pass to someone that had been called out previously.
Goalkeepers sometimes get blamed for letting the other team score, but it has to go through everyone else first. The hardest shot to block is when it is kicked off a penalty kick. The goalie and one opposing player are inside the 18 yard box, goalkeeper at the line of the goal and the player at the 12 yard spot. They are caused when your team fouls a player in the 18 yard box.
It takes practice, like anything else, to control or hide emotions, but having a nice team means this usually never happens. In the case it does happen the coach is the best person to talk to if feeling someone is trying to blame the goalkeeper; the coach can usually sort it out.
The feeling when blocking a shot is amazing. Everyone cheers, and the support from the team is amazing. Underlying pride starts rising up, as well as a feeling of confidence. Just like in real life, challenges block your goal, whether it be work or socializing. The same thing happens again. Overcoming these challenges leads to support and results in the feeling of pride and confidence in facing dilemmas.
-Abbylynn S.
I like how you tried to hook the reader with something that most people have done before not if it's soccer but if it was a different sport. I also like how in the next paragraph you kept the same pace and just got me into the story that is what a writing peace should be like. Something I also thought you did well is you explained how a soccer ball feels when you get hit. I had a good feeling that perseverance was the central idea and I think that most people could relate to it because there comes a time in everyone's life where they show perseverance if not in a sport in something else in their life I know when I play a sport there always comes a time where I can show perseverance. Like when I play football in the 4th quarter when you are down your whole team will start showing perseverance 99 % of the time. It takes practice, like anything else, to control or hide emotions, but having a nice team means this usually never happens. Abbylynn says, witch show if you don't have a nice team you have to show perseverance.
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about how there are challenges that block your goal. I can relate. I had a goal of running an 8 minute 15 second mile. Everyday I would have to face the challenge of getting up and running miles to train. I finally achieved my goal, and like you said, it was an amazing feeling. I also like how you talk about a goalies point of view, like when you said, “One frustrating thing goalkeepers dislike about this is to watch the opponents pass to someone that had been called out previously. In one sentence you wrote, “Being a goalkeeper in soccer is a thrilling ride of ups and downs.” This is really good because it makes me feel like a goalie making saves and getting scored on. I can just imagine a goalie being sad when they get scored on, but then are happy when they make a save, and I think this is a great example to show that. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think your message was overcoming challenges and facing your fears. You said, ¨Overcoming these challenges leads to support and results in the feeling of pride and confidence in facing dilemmas.¨ Basically saying if you work hard to face your fears the work will pay off. I like how in the end you used everyday life to help explain your message because obviously,not all people are soccer goalies. You said, ``Just like in real life, challenges block your goal, whether it be work or socializing. I like how you gave details about how the goalie sees soccer differently from fans and other players. You said ¨Goalkeepers sometimes get blamed for letting the other team score, but it has to go through everyone else first. ¨ It really helped the reader understand your point of view.
ReplyDeleteBeing a goalkeeper sounds like a lot of work. It also sounds very hard. A quote I liked was “Goalkeepers sometimes get blamed for letting the other team score, but it has to go through everyone else first.” I agree if it gets to the goalie then it’s not just the goalies fault, part of it is on the team too. I like how you give us the feeling of being in the goal. I think the central idea of the story is thrill. Good job!!!!
ReplyDeleteI can connect with this because I play center in flag football. In flag football, the center is the key position as it is the one to snap the ball. If they mess up the snap the play is dead. Abbylynn says, “They need to be aware and aggressive at all times, to not get down if the opposing team scores, and to not give up or take it easy no matter what the score is.” I liked how throughout the piece you used lots of detail, like talking about how you get hit a lot. The detail really showed what the job of a goalkeeper is.
ReplyDeleteAbbylynn, I personally feel connected to this piece in many ways, and not only the fact that I have played with you as my goalie before. One way I feel connected to this piece is when you brought to my attention in your conclusion, “Just like in real life, challenges block your goal, whether it be work or socializing.” You did a fantastic job at making me feel like I'm on the field, especially when you mentioned the different yard lines and marking your opponents. You also did an excellent job with engaging the audience with all the facts on the components to being a goalie.
ReplyDeleteAbby, what I took away from your writing piece is that it takes time and effort to be the best you can be, and when you're committed to it, nothing brings you down. “...to not get down if the opposing team scores, and to not give up or take it easy no matter what the score is.” And, “It takes practice, like anything else, to control or hide emotions, but having a nice team means this usually never happens.” This shows that you can't let anything get in your head and when you make a mistake, nothing brings you down. I loved your use of language. “Underlying pride” really made me feel the support of the team, and made me think of a time where the energy brought up the spirit of everybody.
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