So, You Think You're a Goalie, Eh?

"Goalies are all a little weird. I mean, ya gotta be, right? Who else but a nut would let someone shoot vulcanized rubber at them?"

Everyone has heard how goalies are different than the average hockey player. We tend to be a slightly off-centre, our views a tad canted. Otherwise why would we ever choose to be a goalie?

Now try getting through all of that and being a woman playing a man's game. Means I'm even crazier, right? After all, we women are fragile creatures, given to fainting spells and broken nails. No girl could ever be a good goalie.

Don't worry, I'm not going to go on a rant about how woman are just as good as men, we shouldn't be looked down on, blah blah blah. I'll leave that for the numerous feminist pundits out there, as it gets me stressed out and I'm damn sure everyone's bored of hearing that sort of rhetoric anyways. Instead I'm going to write, from my experiences, on how to get through any of that biased thinking and play the game. This hub is for all those girls wanting to play goalie (in all leagues: women, men, or co-ed) who just need some help on the mental side of the game.

Yes, I know they're already crazy, stop the snickering in the back row!

I'm meaning the mental game of goaltending, which is a tad different for women than it is for men. Not that we're not as mentally tough as all you guys out there, we most certainly are. But many coaches don't know how to communicate with their goalies, to really get in their heads, and this is especially true for women goalies. We just seemed to have a few more cross-wires if you will. And since I've got those odd connections floating about in my cranium I think I can pass on some valuable knowledge and ease the road for the youngins.

Feel free to ask questions, pose problems or tell stories in the comment section. If you need more details on anything I cover, tell me and I'll be happy to elaborate.

Just keep in mind I am a goalie... do you really want the advice of a crazy person?

The above question is usually asked by a distraught parent, who had dreams of their daughter being the top scorer, right after said daughter has declared "Mom (or Dad), I wanna be a goalie!"

The usual response is "Ummm...just cause?".

This is a delicate time in a potential goalie's career. Most parents, mine included, think immediately of the cost of goalie equipment, the stress that goalies are put under, the injuries goalies can receive and how they really, really want their daughter to be that big goal scorer. So, a response of "just cause", or "it's fun", can seem wishy-washy and a parent will often try to talk their daughter out of their choice.

So, what does "just cause" actually mean to the young girl who said it? A fair number of things, many of which the potential goalie is unable to articulate, especially with their parent staring at them in disbelief. For me it meant "Gee, I really like the challenge of keeping that puck out of the net. I like how I'm the last line of defense and how important I am to the team. Oh, and when I make a good save and everyone cheers? That doesn't hurt either.".

My parents, bless their hearts and bravery, allowed me to follow my dream of letting people shoot pucks at my head. I started off in ringette, a sport created for girls so they didn't have to play the rough and tumble sport of hockey, as my local hockey association didn't allow girls to play. Some people hate ringette, seeing it as a put down to women, rather than a valid sport in its own right. I loved playing ringette and still do, as it taught me skills I've found invaluable to my hockey career. If you want to find out what it's like to get deked out of your hockey shorts, play goal in ringette. Stick in ring, rather than stick pushing puck, means a much higher level of control - enough to make a goalie dizzy.

I'm not saying that if you're a girl and you want to be a goalie you have to play ringette, not hockey. That was simply the best - and only - route I had to strapping on those big old pads. Today there are over 70,000 women and girls playing hockey in Canada, much higher than it was in 1990, when there was under 10,000 registered players. And the numbers are growing in other countries as well. According to their official webpage the United States had 57,500 registered in the 2006-07 season. Finland has around 3,500, and Sweden is at 3,647, the two other major international players in women's hockey. As one can see, ice hockey is not as big outside of North America, but it is growing. Which means more and more girls are going to be asking their parents, in various languages, to let them don the sacred goalie mask.

So, for the moment, I'm going to speak to those poor parents rather than their daughters, to help them sort out a few nagging issues.

1) If your daughter wants to play goal, let her. Don't allow your dreams of a superstar high-scorer get in the way of what she enjoys. And, trust me, being the parents of a goalie has its own rewards, especially after shut-outs or shoot-out wins. As well, many girls want to try being a goalie but decide quickly it's not their cup of tea. Allow your daughter to make that choice for herself.

2) Don't worry about the cost of goalie equipment. I know it's expensive, but you can buy things second hand or best of all, especially for the goalie who's still growing, use the equipment provided by the association. If they don't have any that work (too small, too big, not left-handed) ask the association to allow you to get equipment that will work, that they will keep in the association after your daughter is done with it.

3) Goalies are a little weird, but playing goal doesn't make your kid any weirder. If they want to play goal, odds are things were already going wrong upstairs anyways and this won't make it any worse.

4) Be supportive, always. If your daughter has a bad game, you can bet she knows it. You don't need to go shouting it from the rooftops, or replaying each mistake on the car ride home. If she wants to talk about it, and ask you for your take on what happened, make sure you start off with a positive. Constructive criticism is easier on a young goalie, when it's prefaced with a positive comment. Tell her she had did a great job on her angles, but she got caught on rebound control. Then she knows she did something right, and it'll be easier to focus on what her learning opportunites are.

5) Other parents are going to mouth off. I wish it weren't so, but it is. And people love to yell at the goalie, especially if they think the goalie is doing something to hurt their team. If I had my way anyone like that would be banned from arenas, but I don't control the world (yet) so they're going to be there. Protect your daughter from them as best you can, without clocking anyone. If there is a serious problem with another parent or fan, approach your daughter's coach, to see if they can remedy the problem. Referees can also ask people to leave a rink, as they are in charge of keeping the game safe and enjoyable for all participants. If things are really, bad going to the association's board members is also an option. Those morons yelling their heads of in the stands, using profanities and abusive language, are an accepted part of hockey life - they shouldn't be, but they are. So, always make sure your daughter knows that the only person she has to answer to is herself. Teach her self-confidence and she'll quickly learn that whatever's being yelled at her is simply background noise. (But if you can get the idiot banned, by all means do it!)

6) Goalies get hurt more. If you asked my mother she'd tell you all sorts of horror stories regarding bruises and cuts and whatnot that her precious child had to endure. Many of these were marks of pride for me, but made my poor mother winced in sympathy each time I took a hard shot to an unprotected portion of my body. Truth is goalies get injured about as much as any other player, but it is easier to predict what injuries a goalie may receive. Knee and back issues are always a concern, as are concussion from hard shots or cheap hits from the opposing team. Making sure your daughter keeps in good physical condition and stretches before and after each game reduces her chances of knee and back issues not caused by outside forces (aka. a player crashing the net just as she's dropped into the butterfly). Keeping her protected with proper equipment, especially in regard to her helmet/mask, will keep those concussions to a minimum. I've had three concussion in my time, none of which I received from playing goal in either hockey or ringette. Goalies seem to be more in the line of fire, but we're better protected than anyone else on the ice.

I'm sure there are other concerns that parents of potential goalies have, but when I called my father to ask him what his immediate thoughts were he said "I thought it was neat. I liked you better in goal than out skating. I mean, I saw how you skated..." Lucky for him I have a sense of humour and I've seen the videos of my skating - they aren't pretty. So, if there are parents out there who have a particular thought that's worrying them and stopping them from saying yes to their daughter's request, please feel free to ask.

Most of the this article/column/hub/whatever will be aimed right at the young female goalie, but any advice I pass along can be read by parents, coaches, and fellow players (especially you defensemen!) to help aid in a deeper understanding of what it means to be a goalie. There's much more to us than one too many pucks to the head.