Thanks for the recommendations.
But at what age do most keepers get a private trainer? And how frequently do they attend? And are we talking individual or group sessions? I'd really like to know at what age your keeper started with private training, whether you found it helpful/not helpful, and whether you'd do anything different in retrospect.
Are 8 year old keepers finding twice-a-week private sessions a worthwhile investment, or are most people waiting until age 10 and doing once a month? Or something else?
My experience, for what it's worth:
My daughter went from AYSO to club just before she turned 10. From 8-9, I just trained her whenever she asked me to take her to the field or the day before a big game. Her club had weekly keeper training which she started at 9. It was free and the coach was very good. But yes, it was ALL shot blocking and basic physical technique (scooping, catching and footwork and eventually diving). I wanted to give her more (kicking, 1v1, punting, distribution, defending set pieces, etc.) but her GK coach chastised me because his philosophy was to build her over the long haul, and did not want me to clutter her head with tactics at a young age. He believes that keepers lose their instincts if they over think, so he was very protective of her. So I let go and let him do his thing. She went on to another club, but retained him as her keeper coach ever since, going on 7 years now. We started paying for his services around u13/14. Once a week, 1.5 hours, small group training, around $40 per session. It's worked out well for her. She's done other keeper training to supplement here and there, but has stayed with the one coach consistently as her core training. Her latest club has a good keeper coach and does 1/2 of one of her normal practices with that coach. But it is difficult to involve more coaches because everyone has different styles and technique, and if you bounce around, it can confuse the kid.
My younger son (9) has shown interest in playing keeper, but we're waiting before putting him in club. Our plan is to play AYSO until he either moves on to other interests or shows a real passion for soccer, and at that point introduce him to weekly keeper training. There is a constant rush to specialize earlier and earlier in youth sports, but I really believe you have more time than you think. Waiting until after 12 or 13 (puberty) might be too long a wait, but 10 isn't too late to start IMHO.