This is an exciting time of year, here in the northeast, the snow is gone, the fields are but a few short weeks from opening and everyone is yearning to get on with the spring season.

For SoccerPlus, the spring means we're getting things ready for our 27th year and with each coming camp season, we always believe it will be our best yet. Programs are filling up quickly and some are already sold out, so be sure to get your application in before it's too late.

As always we're here, your questions about the camps, goalkeeping or anything can be directed to us in the home office at 800.KEEPER.1 or you can e-mail your questions to questions@goalkeeper.com.
 

Shifting Perspective – Training Goalkeepers at Different Levels
of Development
by Shawn Mecchi, Assistant Director, SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School and Goalkeeper Coach, FC Pennsylvania Strikers

Throughout the years I’ve had the pleasure of working with goalkeepers at just about every level: from the 8-year-old trying on the gloves for a day to All-American collegians.  After this past year spent working only with my university keepers, I’ve recently returned to coaching younger players and the transition was not as seamless as I may have anticipated.

I had forgotten important differences, some obvious and some very subtle, that might have been more intuitively understood in past years when I worked more extensively with youth clubs.

The contrast in philosophies behind training middle-school players and collegiate keepers is fairly drastic, mostly because college players are understood to be at or near the peak of their development.  Also, the focus of a college program is first and foremost concerned with winning, whereas the objectives of a youth club program should value developing players above attaining competitive goals.

Some lines are not so easily drawn, however, and it’s important to evaluate your coaching with regard to both the characteristics of the age group and the individuals you’re working with.  The following are some guidelines that have emerged from my own re-evaluation that might help other coaches fine-tune their approach to working with their keepers: 

Merits and Pitfalls of “Age Appropriate” Coaching

The United States Soccer Federation publishes a superb 71-page manual called “Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the United States” (available at ussoccer.com under ‘Coaching Education’) that is mostly concerned with setting age-appropriate guidelines for structuring club soccer in ways that might best develop players.  While it is deservingly heralded as the foremost reference on coaching field players, the document openly admits that the soccer community is not decided on how to handle the anomaly of the goalkeeper.

The “Best Practices” therefore opted not to address goalkeeping in the body of the work and instead offers a somewhat vague one-page appendix with some important points that anyone can agree on:

• The implementation of goalkeepers within youth soccer is an issue that creates considerable discussion among coaches. Restricting a player to the position of goalkeeper at too early of an age may have a negative effect and eliminate them from future participation in soccer

• Children grow at different rates and times. It is impossible to predict who will develop into the best goalkeeper when they are ten. Early selection as a goalkeeper may not be in the player's best long-term interest.

• Development of a goalkeeper must be carefully monitored and conducted. The progressive teaching of technical skills is important given the concerns for safety within the position.

Upon reading this third point, I wondered about—but also appreciated—the ambiguity of some of the wording.  Safety is definitely a concern for any child playing the position.  But did the author(s) intend to say that the teaching of technical skills needs to be ‘progressive,’ so that they won’t be injured by attempting to jump right into advanced training?  Or were they instead acknowledging that the teaching of certain technical skills, even at young ages, could drastically reduce the number of injuries?

Consider, for instance, the breakaway save.  Even the youngest goalkeepers—the fearless, anyway—learn quickly that they can run out and throw their bodies in front of the ball to smother out an attacker’s chance on goal.  What they don’t know intuitively is the technique that will give them the least chance of injury in this situation.

The other important distinction laid out in this appendix is a chronological breakdown of how to choose goalkeepers and manage their substitution:

• U-6: No GK required for 3 v 3 games. No GK required for 4 v 4 games.

• U-8: No GK required for 4 v 4 games.

• U-10: GK is included within team - rotate players as GK.

• U-12: GKs identified within team - GKs share time but in order of priority, which is determined by the coach.

• U-14: GK chosen on ability and contribution to the team.

I could not agree more with this timeline for a number of reasons.  Among those reasons are the first two bulleted statements in the “Best Practices” appendix (as listed above).

In addition, today’s game demands that goalkeepers be at least comfortable with a ball at their feet and proficient in receiving and striking.  If they’re locked in as goalkeepers at too young an age, they will never touch the ball enough with their feet to develop these necessary skills.

Looking at the timeline a little more analytically, it’s no coincidence that we’re expecting specific goalkeepers to start to emerge by U-11 and U-12.  This is also the time that all young players start to come into their own identities and gravitate toward certain preferences in all aspects of their lives.  This is the time many players will make a stronger commitment to one sport over another, or even begin to seek out teams that have players of a similar commitment and ability level.

It’s only natural that this would be the age that a player might fancy themselves exclusively as a goalkeeper.  However, I agree that to only play in goal at this age can have detrimental effects on development.  Coaches should still rotate goalkeepers regularly, and keepers should take their turn on the field when they are not in goal.

Not naming specific goalkeepers until the U-11 age also relates well to players’ lives outside of soccer.  Not only should players not be confined to positions at such an age, but they strongly benefit from experiencing doses of some different sports.

There has long been discussion of why American goalkeepers were the first and most frequent of our players to enjoy success in Europe’s professional leagues.  One theory that encounters little argument is that goalkeepers in the US grow up playing a number of different sports, even if just on the playground or in the backyard, that involve different kinds of eye-hand coordination.  Compare this model with that of many countries across the globe, where soccer is so predominant that children who are attracted to the sport will not spend much time experiencing any other, and thus will not develop these different types of athleticism that are demanded by the goalkeeper position.

What’s missing from the guidelines established in “Best Practices” are suggestions as to age-appropriate content or methods of goalkeeper training.  It’s possible that the reason for this is that the specific physical and technical demands of the position create a widely varied rate of development, even among goalkeepers at the same age group.

Fortunately, the training environment between keepers and their goalkeeper coach is typically an intimate one, where development can progress according to the keepers’ individual needs and abilities.  But how do we, as coaches, decide what topics and techniques are appropriate for each individual or group?  How much time should be spent on technical versus tactical training?  How do coaches know when their keepers are ready for more advanced concepts or more physically demanding training?

In next month’s edition of The Keeper’s Line, we’ll more closely examine these questions in the areas of Physical, Technical, Tactical, and even Emotional development, and we’ll suggest a few guidelines that could help you determine the answers as they pertain to each of your aspiring goalkeepers.

Shawn Mecchi is currently a SoccerPlus Goalkeeper Assistant Director, the goalkeeper coach for the FC Pennsylvania Strikers. He has previously coached collegiately at Illinois State, University of Indianapolis, NPU and the College of New Jersey. He is also a former ANTC Student.
 

Shawn Mecchi: Addressing Campers following a challenging session.

Special SPGS Programs in TX & IN
SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School will be coming to the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas for two clinics on Friday, April 25th and Saturday, April 26th. Texas has been hosting SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School for more than 20 years and we enjoy every visit.

Come join SPGS Directors Anthony DiCicco, Adam Clementson and other Goalkeeper School staff for this special event. On Saturday, April 26th, the TCU Horned Frogs will have their annual alumni game.

When: April 25th - 5:30-8:30pm
April 26th - 10:00am-1:00pm

Where: Garvey-Rosenthal Stadium at TCU

Who: All goalkeepers U11 or older

For more information, you can e-mail Anthony
or REGISTER NOW!

If you are interested in hosting a SoccerPlus clinic in your community, please contact us at tkl@goalkeeper.com or 1.800.KEEPER.1.


Goalkeeper Day Camp
(Zionsville, Indiana)

An addition to the 2008 Summer Schedule. SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School will return for a second year to the Eagle Fields in Zionsville, Indiana (outside of Indianapolis) to host a goalkeeper day camp. An abbreviated version of the residential program, the camp will run June 9-13 from 9am-3pm. For more information, please visit: www.goalkeeper.com/indy or call the SoccerPlus Main Office at 1.800.KEEPER.1.
 

Analysis of Goalkeeping from
the 2008 Algarve Cup
by Mariel Wilner, SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School Assistant Director and Assistant Coach, Penn State University

At the 2008 Algarve Cup in Portugal, our NSCAA Coaching Symposium group had the opportunity to see twelve goalkeepers from eight different countries train and compete. On the second day of the symposium, we listened as [former SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School Director and newly appointed Syracuse Head Coach] Phil Wheddon, the goalkeeper coach for the U.S. National Team, spoke about the changing nature of the goalkeeping position. He emphasized that goalkeepers have evolved and that they are no longer simply required to be shot stoppers. Instead, goalkeepers today are bigger, stronger, and faster, are required to read the game well, and must be competent and confident playing with their feet – in essence, they must be total soccer players. Evidence of this evolution, or lack thereof, separated the international goalkeepers that we observed.

U.S. goalkeepers Nicole Barnhart and Hope Solo encompassed the traits of which Wheddon spoke. Their athleticism, their ability to anticipate the play, and their team’s willingness to play the ball to their feet set them apart from the rest of the goalkeepers in the tournament. Athletically, they were in a different class; their quickness and their agility were far superior to more deliberate goalkeepers such as Tinja-Riika Korpela (Finland) and Yanru Zhang (China). Efficient ready positions followed by good, crisp footwork kept Barnhart and Solo on their feet more than the others and made their responses look easy while serving to increase their ranges. Korpela and Zhang, on the other hand, could be seen diving for balls that they could have easily saved while still on their feet. Specifically, Zhang was beat once underneath by the Norwegians while diving for a ball that was struck no more than a yard and a half away from her.

Additionally, a direct correlation was seen between Barnhart’s and Solo’s ability to cover ground quickly and their ability to remain connected with their backs and play high on the field while the United States held possession. The U.S. goalkeepers’ willingness to be soccer players and to not simply wait for the next shot to come helped to shorten the field for the United States. With the U.S. backs playing high on the field, Barnhart’s and Solo’s aggressive vertical positioning allowed them to clean up most of the balls played in over the top by their opponents.

As a general rule, Norweigan goalkeepers Ingrid Hjelmseth, Christine Nielsen, and Erika Skarbo also did well to shorten the field for their team with their high vertical positioning. Nielsen, specifically, could be found up to 35 yards off her line while the Norwegians possessed the ball in their final third. And, when her team did lose possession, Nielsen did not immediately retreat back to her goal line; instead, she read the play along with her team and remained connected to her backs as they dropped into a more defensive shape. Consequently, like the U.S. goalkeepers, she was able to clean up many of the balls played over the top of or through her back line.

Wheddon also spoke about the intangible qualities of leadership and presence as necessary traits for successful international goalkeepers. Goalkeepers such as Solo, Silke Rottenberg and Nadine Angerer (both from Germany) illustrated these qualities. Given Solo’s recent consistent exposure as the U.S. starter, Rottenberg’s spot in the starting line-up during Germany’s 2003 Women’s World Cup win, and Angerer’s spot in the starting line-up during Germany’s 2007 win, their confidence and their leadership in the net was not surprising.

It was interesting to compare the presence of Solo, Rottenberg, and Angerer to some of the other goalkeeper’s lack thereof. Zhang, for instance, appeared as though she did not even want to be on the field and could not be seen or heard communicating to or directing her backs. It is also important to note that given the closeness in abilities of the U.S. goalkeepers, Solo was able to separate herself from Barnhart with her on-field leadership; Barnhart’s inexperience with the full team (she earned her 5th and 6th caps at the Algarve Cup) manifested itself in her reluctance to organize the players in front of her.

Overall, the goalkeeping at the 2008 Algarve Cup can be best described as inconsistent. Some of the goalkeepers had fantastic athletic qualities, and some did not. Some of the goalkeepers read the game well and cut off their opponents’ attacking opportunities, and some sat back and waited for the play to develop in front of them. Some of the goalkeepers remained connected to their backs, played high off their line, and were confident cleaning up balls with their feet, and some were reluctant to leave their penalty area. And finally, some of the goalkeepers exuded a strong presence and exemplified the intangible ability to lead and empower their teammates, and some played inside their own head and failed to make the players in front of them better. Given the play of the goalkeepers in Portugal, it is evident that the evolution of the goalkeeping position is still working its way to some areas of the globe.



Mariel Wilner attended the Algarve Cup as part of a NSCAA Women's Committee Sponsored Coaching Education Course in which participants have the opportunity to not only watch matches, but meet, interact with and question national team coaches from the US and abroad in addition to the course instructors, former WNT Coach April Heinriches and former WNT Sports Psychology Consultant Colleen Hacker. For more information about the NSCAA Course for 2009 or to be informed when more information is available, contact Lisa Cole at lisa@soccerpluseducation.com.
 

Phil Wheddon: Former SPGS Director and US National Team GK Coach has been named the Head Coach at Syracuse.


Nicole Barnhart: Earned her 5th & 6th career caps playing for the USA at the Algarve Cup.


Hope Solo: Encompasses the traits of a modern goalkeeper and has experience to back it up.


Yanru Zhang and the Chinese women struggled at the Algarve Cup finishing 9th place out of 12 teams.


Ingrid Hjelmseth: One of three Norwegian keepers  fighting for the starting job at the '08 Olympics.


Nadine Angerer: One of the best goalkeepers in the world, plays for Germany, one of the best teams in the world.


SPGS Directors (L to R): Mariel Wilner, Katie Shields & Lisa Cole during a break at the 2008 Algarve Symposium.
 

Colin Burns: Former SPGS Camper following his dreams overseas.






Colin Burns: Preparing to make a save fro his club team Ljungskile SK in the Swedish Premier League.


 

RetroLine (Issue 117, Jan/Feb '98):
This Summer...
Make the Correct Camp Decision
by Tony DiCicco, US U20 Women's National Team Coach, Head Coach Boston Breakers (WPS)

There is no doubt that America has created a development structure for soccer players not seen in many parts of the world. At least not seen at the same frequency witnessed in America. This structure is the soccer summer camps.

There are camps, day and residential for every age; for boys or girls; and for specific positions like strikers or goalkeepers. Let's talk about what's out there for goalkeepers and hopefully it will help you decide on which camp is best for you.

The Specialty Camp:
There are a number of programs being offered for just goalkeepers. These camps feature well known keeper experts that design the program so that every aspect is covered and is for the benefit of the keeper attending. Most of these camps, offer different level programs. Entry level for the youngest keepers to learn the basics right up to Advanced or Elite level course for the technically sound keeper that probably has been going to summer camps for a few years and needs to have the bar continually raised.

These camps are excellent because the entire week is designed to getting the goalkeeper to understand the position better and then translate that understanding to success on the field. Basically, there are few, if any collegiate goalkeepers out there that have not attended a specialty goalkeeper camp at least once.

What to look for: First, although all these camps look alike on paper they are not. Just like anything some do it better than others. Find out by calling and obtaining the brochure and by calling the office to speak to the owner or directors of the program. This is important because some keeper programs are put together in a couple of months while the top keeper programs have year round offices that are staffed with directors that can answer questions and give you first hand information on different sites or levels offered. The other obvious factor here is that if the office is up and running all year round, the extent of preparation and attention to detail is much greater than if you call office and continually just get voice mail with request for address so a brochure can be sent to you.

Second, the key components of every goalkeeper school are the philosophy and the staff. The philosophy of a program should be clearly stated and make sense to you and be consistent to what your aspirations are. The staff is without question, the most important component of the program. If the staff is spotty, your chances of having the type of experience you are hoping for is a "roll of the dice." If the staff is professional, consistent from year to year, and have credentials of coaching at top collegiate programs or even internationally then your chances of having a top-notch experience are greatly enhanced.

Beware of the "appearance syndrome." Many camps list top goalkeepers but disguise the fact that they are just making an appearance or worse have staffed the school in the past. That's nice, but the ability for them to impact you the student is greatly diminished. Also, if they are just making appearances then the chance of them being at your site is also not confirmed and probably won't happen.

Some programs do a better job for girls than other. Do they offer female-only programs or are all of them co-ed. Co-ed is okay, but who are the female role-models that will staff and do the teaching? What is the reputation of the program for developing top female keepers?

What's the downside to a specialty keeper camp?
Is the program just a technical-based program that will not teach you about the tactics and decision making that is so import for keepers? Don't get me wrong, if you are not technically sound then you must attend a program that spends a lot of time teaching technique, but the other aspect of the position, namely making the correct choice at the correct time sets keepers apart.

Does the specialty school work with the keepers as soccer players? In the modern game, every keeper must be a soccer player. If you can not use your feet to play the game, you are greatly impaired and sooner or later it will catch up to you.

Does the program have important aspects of goalkeeping like "Mental Skills Training" or even a sports psychologist? What about nutrition and prevention and care of injuries? Research will answer these questions.

The General Soccer Camp
This is a program that runs a goalkeeper school adjunct to it. First, understand that these are camps for field players and that they goalkeepers to train field players and so a program is added. Some are very good and others are a waste of time. Who is the number one person that will direct the program. If it is the goalkeeper at that particular university; that isn't so good. If it's a big namer that won't be there, that isn't good either.

How much goalkeeper instruction will the keeper receive during the week? What's the ratio of keepers to instructors? One aspect of these camps is usually very good, is that the keeper will play in a lot of 11 v 11 or close to full games. This is an aspect that few if any specialty keeper schools can offer. Is it enough of a feature to sacrifice good keeper coaching? Probably not, but that's when the decision on which camp gets a little bit tricky.

So what's my recommendation?
If you can do two weeks of camps during the summer, the first should be a specialty keeper program (research them well) and then the second can be a camp that will offer a lot of full-sided games. Key here is to look for the top-rated keeper program that is affiliating with a top-rated fieldplayer program. If you can only do one week, then do a specialty camp because the knowledge you gain will carry you a lot further than just playing games every night. Again, don't get me wrong, you need games, but hopefully you are playing on a club team or two or maybe with a state ODP team so games are part of your year-round training.

Good luck,

The Check List:
1) Obtain literature, visit websites and speak to directors to get a feeling for the program.

2) Make an honest and objective evaluation of where you are as a keeper and find the program that will best help you to get to the next level.

3) Don't get caught up in going to the camp that the rest of the team is going to, that camp may be great for them, but a big mistake for you.

4) Who will be doing the coaching?

5) Take a look at your whole summer and whole year and find the week that makes the most sense for your development.

6) Go to camp FIT. Don't go out of shape or injured.

7) Go with an open mind and ready to learn from top professionals.

8) Go to camp with specific goals to achieve and share these with your coach as early in the week as possible. Don't worry, they will be happy to listen and help.

9) Be enthusiastic, smile, have fun and work on your leadership skills.

10) Make sure you take notes on drills used, concepts taught and coaching points made. They will come in handy when you are back with your team and need to look back on your week at camp.

Tony's Bookshelf:
No Shortcuts to the Top
by Ed Viesturs and David Roberts

This gripping and triumphant memoir follows a living legend of extreme mountaineering as he makes his assault on history, one 8,000-meter summit at a time.

For eighteen years Ed Viesturs pursued climbing’s holy grail: to stand atop the world’s fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But No Shortcuts to the Top is as much about the man who would become the first American to achieve that goal as it is about his stunning quest. As Viesturs recounts the stories of his most harrowing climbs, he reveals a man torn between the flat, safe world he and his loved ones share and the majestic and deadly places where only he can go.

A preternaturally cautious climber who once turned back 300 feet from the top of Everest but who would not shrink from a peak (Annapurna) known to claim the life of one climber for every two who reached its summit, Viesturs lives by an unyielding motto, “Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” It is with this philosophy that he vividly describes fatal errors in judgment made by his fellow climbers as well as a few of his own close calls and gallant rescues. And, for the first time, he details his own pivotal and heroic role in the 1996 Everest disaster made famous in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air.

In addition to the raw excitement of Viesturs’s odyssey, No Shortcuts to the Top is leavened with many funny moments revealing the camaraderie between climbers. It is more than the first full account of one of the staggering accomplishments of our time; it is a portrait of a brave and devoted family man and his beliefs that shaped this most perilous and magnificent pursuit.