April 2017

APRIL TRAINING SCHEDULE
There are three Keeper Club training sessions weekly through May 22: Junior Keepers (beginners and 10-and-under boys and girls) with Jim Walker on Mondays at 5:30pm; Intermediates (ages 10, 11, and 13 boys and girls) with Roland Sikinger on Tuesdays at 6:30pm, and Seniors (14 and older boys and girls) with Eddie Bloise on Thursdays at6:30pm. Keeper Club members may join other sessions if they miss, or if they wish to attend more than one session a week.
April calendar for goalkeeper training at Dyess Park:
3--Juniors, 5:30pm
4--Intermediates, 6:30pm
6--Seniors, 6:30pm
10--Juniors, 5:30pm
11--Intermediates, 6:30pm
13--Seniors, 6:30pm
17—Juniors, 5:30pm
18—Intermediates, 6:30
20--Seniors, 6:30pm
24—Juniors, 5:30pm
25—Intermediates, 6:30pm
27—Seniors, 6:30pm

Being a Goalkeeper; An Insider’s View
KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON
By Samantha Nichols
(Sam Nichols is one of the busiest members of Keeper Club. In addition to weekly training with the Intermediates and making U13 Dynamos Bronze, Silver, and Gold team appearances, she has been assisting regularly at Junior Keeper training. Here she gives her view of the special position she plays)
A goalkeeper isn't just a player. We are leaders on the pitch who can control the whole field of play. We direct defenders and even midfielders. We can run up for a corner or stay back and block a last-minute shot. If we push up too much and get dribbled around, players will blame it on you. But, if we stay back in the goal, players will tell you to push up and the last situation might happen. If a silly mistake happens to a GK, he or she will either get furious or sad. Personally, I get mad at myself, but I calm down quickly and get my head back in the game. Getting over the mistake is crucial because you might need to make another save right away, and you must have confidence in yourself to succeed. When I mess up, I think about it after a game. Once I figure out what went wrong, I talk to my parents about it on the car ride home. A note to parents: I’ve found it to be more helpful when the goalkeeper approaches the subject first. After a game, don’t run up to your child and start battering them about what they did wrong. My March 22 practice didn’t go well for me. We did a lot of field work (which is still important, even for a keeper) and I was playing with some people who were above my skill level. Even though I kept messing up, I kept asking for the ball and trying my best. And when the time came to play some 8v8, I was making key saves and was confident on the ball. As a goalkeeper, we have a lot of pressure. If a field player makes a mistake, they lose the ball. If a goalkeeper makes a mistake and a goal is scored, it could lose the game. I think playing as a keeper is the hardest position to play because of this risk of mistake/goal/loss, and the pressure to always perform at our best.

Holding a trophy is one of those joyful moments for a goalkeeper, but Samantha Nichols discusses how to handle the low times, too, in her essay in this month's issue of Keeper!

REIS KEEPS ‘EM LAUGHING
New U. S. men's national team goalkeeper coach Matt Reis was considered a jokester during his 11-year career as New England Revolution keeper, As an April Foot's Day prank one year, the Revs' front office announced a new foreign acquisition, Luis "El Lobo" Fangoso, who turned out to be Matt Reis, wearing a shaggy wig and headband. His antics helped Reis win over New England fans--to this day, Revs fans make joking references about Fangoso when discussing possible player transactions. Reis, who is bald, also convinced Mexican international Jose Manuel Abundis, a new signee, to shave his head for the MLS Playoffs. This has helped Reis attain cult status among Revs fans, who still remember him as the "skin headed, short-sleeved shot stopper."

LOOKING BACK
Training Diary From 2014
May 8—from Roli the Goalie: Lots of stupid keeper tricks, hand-to-ball stuff. Went through foundations, and then finished with some old school Coach G. and Tony DiCicco. Had them flying over bodies, catching, and placing the ball into my keeper gloves on the ground about five yards away. Kodi decided to walk there instead of flying. She covered it in two steps. Lots of bumps and bruises and moaning and groaning.
May 19—from Coach Walker: After oodles of diving on the cold, hard, unrelenting ground of Dyess #2, yielded to pleas for a round of soccer golf since park was empty. Testing their punting D ‘n A (distance and accuracy), found their distance dynamic, but accuracy atrocious as Ian, Aly, Ansley, Steven and Raul airmailed monstrous shots without proper addresses. Lots of grins on the red faces, however, as they toured the wide-open “golf” course, no walking permitted.

KeeperTalk
Easter is April 16. . .Heads up, Keepers, Dynamos Select tryouts are coming up in May (U11 thru U13) and June (U14 thru U19). More details in the May issue of Keeper!. . .Thanks to Samantha Nichols for her thoughts in this month’s newsletter on how to overcome the perils of being a goalkeeper. . .Keeper Club regular Grace Ehrenfeld, who plays for the U12 Dynamos Gold, competed in the Youth Horse Show during the last weekend of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Appearing in only her second show ever, Grace, with her horse Frazier, placed fourth in the Western Pleasure class. . .Choice of “favorite goalkeepers” by entrants in this month’s Keeper Kwiz included: from Claire Juenke—Ashlyn Harris and Isobel Herrod; from Samantha Nichols—Bianca Henniger (also Gianluigi Buffon, Manuel Neuer and David de Gea); from Isobel Herrod—Hope Solo; from Ally Livingston—Claire Juenke; and from Kieran Desai—Petr Cech. Winner of a new soccer ball in this month’s drawing is Keeper Club newcomer Kieran Desai, who though only eight knew how to spell, and pronounce, Cech's name. This month’s question: What goalkeeper was called by fans “the skin-headed, short-sleeved shot stopper? Send the keeper’s name to jwalker332@aol.com to be entered in the drawing for a new soccer ball. . .Tyler Deric of the Houston Dynamo is making up for what he considers a “lost season” during last year’s subpar and injury-riddled performance. “A lot of last year sticks in my mind,” Tyler told the Houston Chronicle’s Corey Roepken. “I try not to beat myself up too much about it. I am still learning every day and making mistakes every day. I am trying to learn from them and move on.” The Klein HS product has begun this season with two strong Major League Soccer performances. . .Former Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall is wearing a different uniform these days. He has been officially sworn in as an officer in the Orlando Police Department. The 31-year-old Hall cited a lifelong "calling to serve" as a policeman as his reason for retiring from pro soccer. . .In picking up the shutout in the U. S. national team’s 6-0 romp over Honduras in World Cup qualifying, Tim Howard had a relatively quiet performance with routine saves until he was pressed to block a late free kick in the final minutes to preserve the clean sheet. . .Goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann, who earlier in March was awarded the Golden Glove while starting for the U. S. U20 Concacaf championship team, will go on trial with English Premier League club Everton after attending the U20 training camp next week in preparation for the U20 World Cup in South Korea May 20-June 11. Klinsmann, a sophomore at University of California-Berkeley, has been training with VfB Stuttgart, where his father, former U. S. national team coach Jurgen, starred as a striker in 1984-89. . .If you have news items, photos, anecdotes, or tips on goalkeeping, please send to jwalker@dynamossoccer.com

KEEPER LOG
Goalkeepers who attended Keeper Club training during March 2017:
2—Kaeden Johnson, Bryant Brooks, Audrey Faucher, Ethan Urrutia
6—Daniel Lara, Kiran Desai, Sophia Wilkinson, Victoria Finidori, Samantha Nichols, Claire Juenke
7--Amber Zlatich, Claire Juenke, Grace Ehrenfeld, Kate Nguyen, John Steadman, Ethan Baylis, Holden Calder, Robbie Steadman, Noah Bar, Andy Garcia, Andrew Nelson, Zac Cannon, Matthew Klages, Samantha Nichols.
9—Kaeden Johnson, Bryant Brooks, Ethan Urrutia
13—Anderson Fisher, Samantha Nichols, Payton Salinas
20—Kieran Desai, Sophia Wilkinson, Victoria Finidori, Daniel Lara. Assisting: Samantha Nichols, Claire Juenke
21—Amber Zlatich, Ben Jones, Matthew Klages, Alli Thompson, Zac Cannon, Montse Mendez, Claire Juenke, Samantha Nichols, Noah Bar, Andrew Nelson.
23—Kaeden Johnson, Bryant Brooks
27—Anderson Fisher, Braden Southard, Kieran Desai, Victoria Finidori, Sophia Wilkinson; Assisting: Samantha Nichols
28—Amber Zlatich, Kate Nguyen, Grace Ehrenfeld, John Steadman, Robbie Steadman, Andy Garcia, Alli Thompson, Zac Cannon, Montse Mendez, Samantha Nichols, Noah Bar, Andrew Nelson, Ben Jones
30—Kaeden Johnson, Steven Franke

QUOTABLE
“The goalkeeper needs to be a special kind of kid who is able to concentrate and to tolerate the extremes of going flaky from boredom and slaphappy from getting shot at. Goalkeepers are to be loved, not yelled at.”—Coach Lou Confessore

TIP OF THE MONTH
When a keeper shouts, “Who has 11?” or “Cover the middle,” it’s not specific enough. Quite often, there is no response. The command should be: “Dylan, left, 11” or “Daisy, stay middle!”

KEEPING SECRETS
One of the prime aspects to your improvement as a goalkeeper is footwork. This is the key to reaching distant shots, to charge off your line on breakaways, to clear dangerous high balls, and to generate the momentum required for extension diving. Don’t neglect working on your own and doing your best when following a trainer’s request for repetitions for footwork improvement.

BE PROUD TO SAY: ‘I’M A KEEPER’