Question from a newbie keeper parent

My son is a full time keeper for his U7 team, he started out playing on pitch but each knock he took ended with him in tears which is what lead him to the goalkeeper position! He watches football on the TV a lot and in doing so can read the game very well. He knows when to let the ball go out of play so he'll then get the goal kick etc. I've happily supported this role and am putting as much as I can into helping him learn his new position, we go out together once a week for a bit of training and he attends a dedicated goalkeeper coach training as well, He always plays in goal during his team's weekend training so he's getting plenty of practice and learning a lot! But... He's a sensitive kid (hence getting teary when getting knocked on pitch) and isn't the sort the throw himself around the goal with diving etc. I'm trying to build up his confidence and make him more brave because at some point he's going to have to go for those low smothers and could ultimately take a knock to the body at some point 😬 My question is... Those parents that have started out with their little ones playing in goal at this age, does this all happen over the next few years so therefore don't push it or worry about it too much? I can't help but feel the more training he's doing the more he's thinking too much about every move he makes and that in itself is preventing him from moving forwards with certain things as well as the fear factor. Naturally I will support him as much as I can but at the same time I feel I need to be careful to not push him too much at such a young age. It's a real tricky one because I watch some young keeper's that are fearless from the getgo and wonder if they're the type that make it into the keeper world. If you've got this far then thank you so much for reading my post that I didn't expect to be so long haha!

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