Written and edited by Jim Walker
-- January, 2013
A publication of the Keeper! Club
Written and edited by Jim Walker
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
JANUARY TRAINING
at DyessPark
Who We Are: The Regulars: Keeper Club members 10 years and older doing continuous training; Junior Keepers: Beginning Keeper Club members 10 years and younger
Fee for The Regulars is $50 per eight-week package ($100 if not playing for the Cy-Fair Youth Soccer Club or the Dynamos); Fee for Junior Keepers is $25. First Spring package runs from Jan. 3 until March 14; second Fall package from March 18 until May 23. Please make check payable to "Keeper Club" and mail to: Dynamos, attn: Loree, 10924 Grant Rd., #224, Houston77070. If you have questions, email jwalker332@aol.com or call 281-217-1612.
Here is the schedule for goalkeepers at DyessPark for January:
3--The Regulars, 5:30pm; Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
*7--The Regulars, 5:30pm
10--The Regulars, 5:30pm; Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
14--The Regulars, 8pm
17--The Regulars, 5:30pm; Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
21--The Regulars, 8pm
24--The Regulars, 5:30pm; Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
28--The Regulars, 8pm
31--The Regulars, 5:30pm; Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
*Time changeJan. 7
Please note that goalkeeper training on Monday, Jan. 7 will begin at 5:30pm rather than 8pm. Trainer Roland Sikinger will not be available, so Jim Walker will handle training that evening. Coach Roland will resume Monday training Jan. 14 and Coach Jim will handle Thursday sessions.
KEEPER CLUB IS 20!
The Keeper! Club is celebrating its 20th year of operation! Started in 1993, the Keeper! Club is the Dynamos' built-in support system for goalkeepers. After several years of a few keepers getting individual training, membership began with 11 and has ballooned to 50-plus in some years, covering ages from six years to 17. The unique training program was originally formed to accommodate boys and girls 12 years and older who aspired to be keepers. Because younger players expressed interest, a junior branch was formed. One of the original members, Brandon Renken, continues to appear as a summer camp instructor, long after he played at Cy-Creek HS and HarvardUniversity. Now an attorney with a prestigious Houston law firm and still playing, Brandon has emphasized to campers how much the Keeper Club meant to him on and off the field. Other former members who assist at camps and/or training when they can are Jonathan Kauffman, Heather Koudelka, Patty Walrath, John Kowalczyk, Michael Sicola, and Sabrina Pasier. Roland Sikinger and Jim Walker continue to conduct weekly training sessions for keepers at DyessPark and the annual Krazy Keeper Christmas Party has become a tradition, and a Summer Fitness Program provides conditioning sessions three times a week from June until August. At training sessions, young goalkeepers are urged to strive toward becoming "perfect within their range," to make decisions that enable them to collect the ball in the most efficient manner possible, and to put forth the effort to execute saves with proper technique.
WATCH, IMITATE OLDER KEEPERS
High School soccer begins this month and Keeper! Club members are urged to attend games of area teams to watch the goalkeepers, some of whom are fellow club members. Watch for things they do correctly and pick up positive behavior. Among keepers playing high school soccer this season are Kacie Paine and Isai De La Cruz at Langham Creek, Kaylee Barrett at Cy- Woods, and Braden Mann at Cy-Fair. Kacie earned All-District Academic honors last year at a sophomore for the Lobos. These keepers have spent hours executing the same warmup activities, handling exercises, pressure drills, and conditioned games you are performing at Keeper! Club training. These are all critical elements in your growth as a keeper, but there is additional knowledge to be learned by seeing how older goalkeepers respond to certain situations.
PARTY REPORT
DyessPark's Far Pavilion survived another holiday gathering of unpredictable goalkeepers Dec. 13 and the keepers themselves survived another round of Krazy Keeper gift swapping. Seventeen practitioners wearing gloves and padded elbows survived Coach Roland Sikinger's pre-party training session, then attacked Locatelli's seventeen-inch pizzas with uncanny appetites, washing it down, along with delicious dessert offerings, with various shades of Powerade. Roly the Goalie dove, as only a former Olympic keeper can, not only into the cuisine but the frantic unwrapping of the trash and treasure that is keeper bounty and walked away with the night's "prize"--a foot-tall nutcracker wearing a blonde wig. In a historic test of mathematical wills, Marissa Mills finally won the candy-counting contest in triple overtime, as Kaylee Barrett's Candy Jar stole the spotlight. Maddie Saucedo, Kacie Paine, Brady Stonebraker and Izzy Tullier were awarded new soccer balls for top attendance during the year and Maison Bell's mom was declared MVP (Most Valuable Pizzadeliverer) for her timely arrival before the sweaty keepers emerged from the fields. Attending were Kaylee Barrett, Maison Bell, Alysson Crouch, Steven Franke, Briahanna Gist, Marissa Mills, Kacie Paine, Mia Posey, Ethan Rimbey, Maddie Saucedo, Samuel Saucedo, Rodrigo Silos, Alex Stabell, Brady Stonebraker, Dylan Stonebraker, Isabelle Tullier, Ethan Urrutia, Guests: Patty Walrath, Kacie Cardenas, assorted moms and dads, aunts and siblings. Thanks to those moms who pitched in to help, especially Alysson's courageous Aunt Kristen, who delivered a bouncing baby girl less than 48 hours after the party. History-making events all around!
KEEPERTALK
Welcome to new member Isobel Herrod. . .After all the dust cleared from the Krazy Keeper gift exchange, left holding the second annual "Keeper Club Starter Kit" was veteran member Kaylee Barrett. Valued at $5 in actual cash worth, but priceless in the hearts and minds of goalkeepers everywhere, the contents (all available at your nearest Dollar Tree store): 1) Gloves (12-inch oven mitts, in Dynamos blue); 2) Super Glue (guaranteed to solve fumbling problems); 3. Spiderman body wash (for squeaky-clean catches and spider-power punch); 4) Super ball (smaller than a ping pong ball, easy to hold); 5) Panic alarm (ear-splitting beeper to call for help). . .Early questions for keepers: What did you get for Christmas? Lots of money, as so many desired? FIFA 13, another high on the wish list? Mountain bike? Stop watch? Sure to be some interesting replies!. . .Thanks to keepers who attended the Kick Cancer Camp held at DyessPark Dec. 14-16, you helped a great cause--pediatric cancer research. They included Payton Salinas, Izzy Tullier, Maison Bell, Ethan Rimbey, Brady and Dylan Stonebraker, Alysson Crouch, and Steven Franke. . .Dynamos' Puma Cup (Feb. 9-10) Director Andrew Naudin Facebooked a so-true quote (author unknown): "People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.". .We welcome goalkeepers, coaches, and parents to share items with us about this special position of soccer. Photos, clippings, letters, anecdotes and other thoughts will be accepted for publication. Simply email to jwalker332@aol.com.
TRAINING LOG
Goalkeepers who attended Keeper Club training sessions during December, 2012:
3--Steven Franke
6--Steven Franke, Mia Posey, Briahanna Gist, Marissa Mills, Isobel Herrod, Kennedy McGill, Alysson Crouch, Payton Salinas, Rodrigo Silos; Junior Keepers: Maison Bell, Alex Stabell
13--Kaylee Barrett, Maison Bell, Alysson Crouch, Steven Franke, Briahanna Gist, Marissa Mills, Kacie Paine, Mia Posey, Ethan Rimbey, Maddie Saucedo, Samuel Saucedo, Rodrigo Silos, Alex Stabell, Brady Stonebraker, Dylan Stonebraker, Isabelle Tullier, Ethan Urrutia,
CASILLAS TO MLS?
In an interview with Spanish TV station La Sexta, Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas indicated he would like to end his career in the United States. The 31-year-old admitted that while he would like to retire in Madrid, the pressure might eventually cause him to seek a move elsewhere. “Yes, I would like to play out my soccer in the future in a more relaxed environment and if I have to play somewhere else then it would be for a team that would not come into direct competition with Real Madrid,” the Spain international said. “For example, in the USA, which I love. I would like to retire with Madrid, but if the critics are fierce when I am 31, imagine what they will be like when I’m 37.” Real Madrid is currently 11 points behind La Liga leader FC Barcelona; both teams have qualified for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, which begins in February.--Football Espana
QUOTABLE
"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best."-- Henry van Dyke.
TIP OF THE MONTH
Keepers who succeed handle the ball on their own between games and training sessions, for five minutes, fifteen minutes, a half hour. Take two or three simple handling drills and do them over and over, get simple things to a state of perfection. Do your best on every touch. Each week add a new handling drill, but don't discard the ones you're already doing.
KEEPING SECRETS
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquest of it.
Read more http://dynamossoccer.com/KeeperClub/Keeper/tabid/375/newsid744/204/KEEPER-Vol-20-No-1/Default.aspx