Parents and post-game feedback

This weekend was State Cup for soccer. Today, I was the assistant referee for an u15 girls soccer game, and I was in front of the parents. I have had both teams several times during the spring league, and I am familiar with the players. Early in the game, the better team scored a soft goal.They kicked the ball high and in the direction of the goal. It was not really a shot. The ball was coming down into the goalie's hands about 6 yards in front of the goal line. There was no pressure on the goalie. The goalie's hands were over her head, and somehow the ball bounced off of her hands and into the goal.It was a bad goal to concede. The goalie knew it. She dropped to her knees, pounded the ground with her fists, and apologized to her teammates. It was unfortunate, but with fairly inexperienced keepers, I believe that this is her first year as a goalie, mistakes happen.Later in the game, as she bobbled another ball before retaining possession, her father said to another father, "The goalie is my daughter. I'm going to have to yell at her when we get home because she let the first goal bounce off her hands. That should never happen."He's right. At u15s, it really should not have happened. But, it did, and she knew it. No admonishment from a coach or parent is going to change the result, or be worse for the player than the humiliation that she felt in the middle of the game. How is yelling at her and telling her that she made a terrible mistake going to help or fix anything?I actually like the goalie. This was not the first soft goal that I have seen her concede, but she fights. She's fearless going for balls, even after she was leveled by one player and kicked by another. Last week, when I had her game, she was leveled by an opponent as well. Despite the physical toll, she goes hard after balls. She runs 20 yards outside her box to get to balls. She has some of the internal qualities that I would want in a goalie despite not having the best hands or positioning right now.Rather than destroy the girl by yelling at her for a mistake that was obvious and about which she felt bad, possibly turning her away from soccer or goalkeeping altogether, why not help the player? Why not build her up after the poor goal? Why not encourage her? Why is yelling at a player the go-to response? What would the feedback accomplish?By Brian McCormick, PhDDirector of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development LeagueAuthor, The 21st Century Basketball Practice and Fake Fundamentals