The Ten Seconds After the Save

The crowd reacts to the save. Then everybody looks up the field to see what happens next, and almost nobody watches the person who just made it.

Which is a shame, because the next ten seconds are where a goalie either hands his team a possession or hands it straight back.

Coaches know this. College coaches watching recruiting film know it — a clean outlet under pressure counts for as much in a reel as a diving stop. Most families in the stands have never been told to look.

The short version

A save creates a possession. The clear is what converts it.

He has a limited count in the crease — four seconds at every level of the boys' game — before he must pass or step out. In those seconds he has to turn, find an outlet, and either throw it or run it.

A goalie who clears well is worth several extra possessions a game. A goalie who doesn't is a turnover generator in the most dangerous part of the field.

What's supposed to happen

He calls it immediately. "Break!" or "Clear!" — the transition starts with his voice, and his defense can't release until they hear it. The calling is half his job.

He gets his feet and head up. Not admiring the save. Turning and looking up the field for where the outlet went.

He picks a side and commits. The defenders break wide to give him two options. The commonest young-goalie failure is indecision — looking at both, throwing at neither, and getting stuck in the crease as the count runs out.

He throws to space, not to a body. A pass to where his teammate is running, ahead of the ride.

Or he runs it out. Perfectly legal, frequently correct, and terrifying for every parent watching. Once he steps out of the crease he can be checked like anyone else, which is precisely why the decision has to be quick.

And he gets back. The most-missed part. A goalie who clears and then jogs back is the reason a fast break scores thirty seconds later.

What to watch for

Does the ball leave quickly? Count in your head. If he's still holding it at three, the ride is already set.

Does it reach a teammate in stride? A pass behind a running player is a turnover about half the time.

Who's he throwing to? Good goalies use the same two outlets all game because it's practised. That's a sign of a coached defense, not a lack of imagination.

And what happens when it goes wrong? A failed clear near his own goal is the highest-danger turnover in the sport. Watch whether he sprints back into the crease or stands there watching.

Suggestions on what you can do

Watch your goalie instead of the ball for one clear a quarter. It's the fastest way to see the half of the position nobody talks about.

Praise a clear out loud. "That outlet in the second was excellent" is a sentence almost no goalie has ever heard from a parent, and it lands accordingly.

Ask him who his outlets are. He'll know their names and where they're supposed to be. It's a good window into how coached his defense actually is.

Throw for the clear at home. The tossing-partner job includes catching outlets — stand twenty yards away and let him hit you on the run. It takes five minutes and it's the most game-relevant thing a parent can do in a driveway.

And know it matters for later. When the recruiting film gets built, the clears belong in it — coaches weight them heavily.

By age: third and fourth grade, getting the ball out of the crease at all is a win, and an outlet to anybody counts. Fifth and sixth, the decision tree gets taught — who to look for, in what order. Seventh and eighth, clearing accuracy under a real ride becomes a training focus of its own. Ninth and tenth, he's reading the ride and choosing between the pass and the run. Eleventh and twelfth, the clear is an offensive weapon and a good goalie starts breaks rather than surviving them.

A few things worth avoiding

Try not to shout at him to hurry. He's counting already, and a second voice makes the decision worse.

Go easy on the running clear. It looks reckless and it's frequently the right call, and a kid who hears "don't run it" from the fence will stop making a decision he should be making.

Try not to blame him for a bad outlet alone. A clear needs two players moving correctly, and the receiver is at fault about half the time.

And don't measure his game on saves alone. The number that shows up in the scorebook is the least complete story available.

The version worth remembering

Half of this position happens after the crowd has stopped watching.

Turn, call, commit, deliver, get back. Ten seconds, several times a game, deciding possessions that decide games — and it's the part of your kid's job that almost nobody in those folding chairs can see.

Now you can.

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Clearing is its own weekly block in the program from fifth grade — a decision tree, then accuracy, then doing it against a real ride. Three real days of a fifth-grade week are open on the site, no signup. Take a look at the free week.

Coach Greg — LAX Goalie Hub