March 2017

MARCH 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 11, 12, 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.
March calendar for goalkeeper training at Dyess Park:
2—Senior Keepers, 6:30pm
6--Juniors, 5:30pm
7--Intermediates, 6:30pm
9--Seniors, 6:30pm
13--Juniors, 5:30pm
14--Intermediates, 6:30pm
16--Seniors, 6:30pm
20—Juniors, 5:30pm
21—Intermediates, 6:30
23--Seniors, 6:30pm
27—Juniors, 5:30pm
28—Intermediates, 6:30pm
30—Seniors, 6:30pm

14 ATTEND BYOK
Seven prospective goalkeepers joined in activities with their parents and received many touches on the ball Sun., Feb. 5, with help from workshop assistant Samantha Nichols. The participating keepers, ranging in age from eight to almost 14, included: Kathryn Nguyen, Diego Trevino, Matthew Klages, Anderson Fisher, Morgan Fisher, Will Heeney, and Kiran Desai. Several others had to cancel late due to illness and Super Bowl Sunday commitments. The late afternoon clinic ended with drawings for Trash or Treasure selection, which included several brand new soccer balls and t-shirts and some used equipment. Matthew Klages, Anderson Fisher, Kiran Desai, and Kathryn Nguyen have attended regular goalkeeper training sessions since the BYOK workshop.

DUAL PRIZE WINNERS
Samantha Nichols and Isobel Herrod both return to the Keeper Kwiz winners’ circle this month as they were the only readers to respond. Although she couldn’t decide from the trio of Gianluigi Buffon, Manuel Neuer or David de Gea as her favorite goalkeeper, Samantha was the first and only reader to respond until Isobel beat the deadline with her entry. So Sam walks off with a new soccer ball (“Remember, I’m using a #5 ball now,” she added to her entry), and Isobel gets one, too, for her thoughtful reply: "While she has been a long time role model, and I don't fully condone her actions after the Rio World Cup against Sweden, Hope Solo is still a phenomenal goalie and one of my favorites to watch and control the field." For this month’s drawing, the question remains the same: please send in the name of your favorite goalkeeper, anyone you’ve seen perform as a goalkeeper anywhere, in person, on television, even in Keeper Club training! To enter the drawing for this month’s prize, another new soccer ball, please email jwalker332@aol.com.
C’mon, keepers, it only takes a few minutes to enter the quiz--I’m getting the feeling you’re not reading this newsletter, which can be an important part of your training to be the best goalkeeper you can be.

DON’T SHUN BASICS
Because they want to show courage and do the things they’ve seen more advanced goalkeepers do, Keeper Club beginners often fail to learn the A, B, C’s and try to rush, ignoring the proper steps of a specific technique. This leads to mistakes that prove costly to the keeper and the team. Catching the ball seems a given, but when boys and girls ignore the contour W technique, the ball invariably will go through their hands, if they fail to cushion the catch, it will pop back into play, if they don’t get their legs and feet behind the ball, it will slip through both hands and legs and go into the goal. Follow the Keeper Club formula: Listen, and Do the Simple Things Right!

LOOKING BACK
1997—Twenty-eight goalkeepers attended the second annual Keeper Club summer camp, held at Dyess Park for the first time. Guest instructor Terry Waldorf, all-league keeper for the Houston Hotshots, emphasized fitness, technique training and tactical situations during the nine hours of the three-day camp.
2005—Keepers at training were bemused to see the park ranger waving off three cows, visiting from a neighboring farm, grazing on the new fields at Dyess Park’s north end. Thinking he had scared them off, the ranger returned to his work, but when he looked up they were back. Flying to the scene in his four-wheeler, the park attendant began chasing the heifers, zigging and zagging the little cart. The cows seemed more intrigued than scared of the whining motor and didn’t depart without a chase. With the help of a few older keepers, the intruders were herded back to their pasture.

KeeperTalk
Spring ahead (set clocks ahead one hour) on Sunday, March 12, when Daylight Saving Time begins. . .Welcome to new Keeper Club members Anderson Fisher, Kiran Desai, Daniel Lara, Mathew Klages and Kathryn Nguyen. . .Seen on a goalkeeper’s t-shirt: “I do all my own stunts.”. . .Goalkeeper joy for Dynamos trainer Stacey McDaniel, a former netminder for the Dynamos, Jersey Village HS, and Texas A&M-Commerce: “So today I got a message asking me to take the keeper training tonight. What fun! Hope I remember how to do this.". .Stacey stepped in for regular instructor Eddie Bloise, who had another assignment. She obviously remembered because ten keepers had as much fun as she did. A week later, Stacey stepped in again, this time for Roli the Goalie, who was managing Future Stars. This time, Stacey worked with a dozen Intermediate keepers and afterward, she commented: “They worked hard, thanks again for trusting me with them.”. . .In helping her U11 Dynamos Silver team get to the finals of the Puma Cup, Caitlyn Burrell permitted zero goals in three games and battled hard in the final before her team bowed on a penalty kick. . .Former Dynamos player and Keeper Club member Kenzie Peterson was named to the second team all-District 20-5A basketball team, and the Tomball Memorial senior also was one of seven cagers honored as Academic all-district. . .. ..If you have news items, photos, anecdotes, or tips on goalkeeping, please send to jwalker@dynamossoccer.com

Grace Ehrenfeld was a guest player for the U12 Silver Dynamos in the Challenge President's Day Cup. The final game came down to penalty kicks, and Grace in goal prevailed. "This goalie mom is not made for all this pressure," said Kim, her mom. "But I sure do love watching her play! So very proud of her!"

QUOTABLE
“When you train, work hard on everything you do. Don’t let yourself get lackadaisical.”—Brandon Renken, Keeper Club alumnus who played at Cy-Creek HS and Harvard University, and returns each summer for Keeper Camp.

TIP OF THE MONTH
It’s one thing to see a ball that’s driven with spin, it’s another to react quickly enough to catch it. Sometimes the reaction time is slow, perhaps depth perception is inadequate, maybe concentration is interrupted, or maybe the catching technique is poor. But failure to handle such a ball usually boils down to the fact that visual skills cannot overcome or adapt to the challenge. Keeper Club helps goalkeepers to reduce mistakes with activities that improve concentration on moving objects, increasing the speed of recognition, improving depth perception, and decreasing response times.

KEEPING SECRETS
As a keeper, you use your defenders much like pawns. When in the correct position, they are a tremendous asset to "shortening the size of the goal." Ideally, the defender puts him/herself in a position between the post and the shooter when they are too far away to close them down. This allows the keeper to play the space between the far post and the defender as the width of the goal, saving a precious 3 to 4 feet of the goal mouth. However, if the defender positions himself too far inside the goal (not covering one post or the other), this forces the keeper to choose one side or the other of the defender. If the forward shoots at the other side of the defender, the results are often a goal as the ground is too much to cover. Having a defender in this scenario is essentially like having the keeper cover the whole goal but being out of position by two steps to one side giving a good forward essentially an open goal to shoot at.—David Benner, one of the inspirations for the formation of the Keeper Club in 1993 and who still returns from time to time to lead activities at the summer camp.

Success comes in cans, not in can’ts