Written and edited by Jim Walker
-- September, 2011
A publication of the Keeper Club
Written and edited by Jim Walker
TRAINING IN SEPTEMBER
Here is September calendar for keeper training at Dyess Park:
1--Regular goalkeeper training, 5:30pm
Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
5--NO TRAINING, in observance of Labor Day
8--Regular goalkeeper training, 5:30pm
Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
12--Regular goalkeeper training, 8pm
15--Regular goalkeeper training, 5:30pm
Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
18--Bring Your Own Keeper workshop, 3:30-5pm
19--Regular goalkeeper training, 8pm
22--Regular goalkeeper training, 5:30pm
Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
26--Regular goalkeeper training, 8pm
29--Regular goakeepers training, 5:30pm
Junior Keepers, 6:45pm
All Regular Goalkeeper training is open to boys and girls 10 years and older; Junior Keeper is open to beginning keepers 10 years and younger. Roland Sikinger conducts training on Mondays; Jim Walker on Thursdays. Fee for regular training is $50 per ten-week package, $100 if not playing for the Cy-Fair Youth Soccer Club or the Dynamos. Fee for Junior Keepers is $25 per ten-week package. The fall packages run from Aug. 18 until Oct. 13 and Oct. 17 until Dec. 8, and includes the annual Christmas party the week of Dec. 12, for all keepers. Boys and girls new to the program may attend a training session free to decide if they want to register. Please make check payable to Keeper Club and mail to Dynamos, attn: Loree, 10924 Grant Rd. #224, Houston 77070.
WORKSHOP SLATED
Sunday, September 18, 3:30-5:00pm
Coaches, Parents Invited To BYOK
Recreational and competitive coaches, and parents, are invited to bring one or more goalkeepers to a free workshop, “Bring Your Own Keeper,” on Sunday, September 18, 3:30-5pm, to discuss ways of nurturing young players learning the position. All ages welcome. Location will be the Dyess Park gazebo, with Jim Walker as the moderator. Coaches and parents will be invited to join in exercises as servers to learn how to help keepers develop their craft and prepare for games. To register, email jwalker332@aol.com with your name and the name and age of the keeper (s). Please bring a ball per person, and water.
KEEPER CAMP LEFTOVERS
“Put a Telli in your Belly”--That’s the copyrighted trademark of Locatelli’s, the oft-jampacked restaurant at Grant and Louetta, purveyors of tasty oven-baked dishes of delectability--not necessarily advised nutritional sustenance for goalkeepers, but certainly desired by the gloved practitioners. When all was said and done Aug. 13, and the keeper campers struggled from the field, the intense heat of a three-day camp crashing to a conclusion, smiles, and appetites suddenly rose up and the newly-arrived pizzas disappeared in a jiffy, aided by jugs of Powerade. The camp, deemed a success alike by keepers and their star-studded array of instructors--Brandon Renken, Heather Koudelka, and David Benner--attracted 24 boys and girls ages 9 to 19. Goalkeeper Camp participants were:
Kaylee Barrett, Austin Benner, Kelsey Cottrell, Joshua Croft, Alysson Crouch, Nathan Dunkley, Austin Gibbons, Owen Gibbons, Kendall Glueck, Josef Hollas, Jack Holroyd, Benjamin Hudson, Matthew Hudson, Felipe Lara, Braden Mann, Kennedy McGill, Kacie Paine, Sabrina Pasier, Mia Posey, Payton Salinas, Maddie Saucedo, Rodrigo Silos, Noah Schroer, Brady Stonebraker,
GO SLOWLY, PLEASE
A reminder to parents, and keepers who drive: Please proceed with caution when driving through the Dyess Park complex, whether or not it is filled with cars and players. If you’re late, take extra care; and, keepers, make up for your tardiness not by tramping on the gas, but by jogging to training after getting out of the car. It’s especially important to be careful when departing the park. . .there are usually more young players around and often their minds are filled with things soccer and not moving vehicles.
NOAH THE KWIZ KID
August’s Keeper Kwiz question was to name any one of the instructors at the Keeper! Club’s Summer Goalkeeper Camp. Winning the drawing and the prize of a $25 gift certificate for Soccer-4-All was Noah Schroer, who correctly selected “Brandon Renken.“ To enter this month’s drawing for a $25 gift certificate for a new soccer ball, send in two qualities of a good kick as described elsewhere in this newsletter. Hint: Not DNA, but D and A. Email your answer to Jwalker332@aol.com. All readers of this newsletter are eligible to enter the drawing.
KEEPERTALK
Kelsey Cottrell, wearing Dynamos colors again after a brief respite, took a turn in goal during the Select Camp’s Trainers vs. Campers match, as did her Cy Woods HS coach, camp instructor Nathan Day. . .Thanks to Select Committee Chairman Joe B. Napier for his contributions to the Keeper Camp’s final-day prize drawings. . .Kenzie Peterson sadly missed all of Keeper Camp because she injured her hand at Thursday morning’s Select Camp, but she returned to training late in the month and people were still talking about her one-handed bump over the bar of a ball headed for goal in the Rush Cup tournament the weekend before. . .Kennedy McGill also has returned to training full speed after last spring’s broken arm and the U14 Division One keeper has been especially helpful with newcomers to regular keeper training. . .Kendall Glueck managed to attend all camp sessions despite a sprained ankle. . .Brady Stonebraker celebrated his 11th birthday at Saturday’s keeper camp session. . .Coach John Booker brought his entire team (called the Dynamo, orange jerseys) of upcoming U9 recreational league players to the opening fall training session of Junior Keepers. Every player was eager to learn about the position, so they would be ready when Coach Booker, a former keeper himself, calls upon them to take a turn in goal. . .Alyssa Bradley, who has settled in her new home in Michigan, sends word that she will continue training as a goalkeeper and says hello to all her former Keeper Club friends. . .Sabrina Pasier attended fitness training all summer, missing only twice, and made the opening keeper training session before returning for her sophomore year at St. Edward’s University, where she planned to try out for the varsity. . .Keeper Club alumnus-turned-midfielder Carolyn Kenaley has graduated from Virginia Military Institute and is headed to Pensacola, Florida, for flight training. . .Another Keeper Club alum in the military, Lt. Mya Morrison, recently returned to the United States from her tour in Afghanistan. . .Brad Friedel extended his English Premier League record for consecutive starts to 276 matches after making his Tottenham debut in its 3-0 loss to Manchester United. . . .If you have items of interest for Keeper! or for KeeperTalk, please email to jwalker332@aol.com.
TRAINING LOG
Names of keepers and field players who attended summer fitness training, and keeper training, during August:
1--Braden Mann, Jonathan Kauffman, Sabrina Pasier, Chaz O’Roake. Field players; Savannah Mallon, Delaney Reynolds, Clark Kauffman, Kyra McLeod, C. J. Cardenas, Kylie Austin, Fernando Torres, Oscar Torres, Stephen Sorensen, Rachel Dozier
2--Jonathan Kauffman, Sabrina Pasier, Braden Mann, Kevin Hobart. Field players: Kylie Austin, Savannah Mallon, Clark Kauffman, Fernando Torres, Bryant Munoz, Oscar Torres, Rachel Dozier, Zac Leal, Joey Navarette, Anthony Navarette, Judah Craft, Jose Molina, Edwin Gonzales. Guests: Brady Stonebraker, Ian Lancaster, Dylan Stonebraker, Luciano L’Abbate.
4--Sabrina Pasier, Kacie Paine, Braden Mann, Chaz O’Roake. Field players: Zac Leal, C. J. Cardenas, Kylie Austin, Savannah Mallon, Jessica Lykins, Fernando Torres, Oscar Torres, Rachel Dozier, Jose Molina, Clark Kauffman, Edwin Gonzales,
11-13--(Keeper! Club members at Summer Keeper Camp) Kaylee Barrett, Kelsey Cottrell, Felipe Lara, Braden Mann, Kennedy McGill, Kacie Paine, Sabrina Pasier, Mia Posey, Rodrigo Silos, Noah Schroer, Brady Stonebraker. Instructors: Brandon Renken, Heather Koudelka, David Benner. Guests: Kristi Koudelka, Bill McDonald
18--Kennedy McGill, Noah Schroer, Braden Mann, Mia Posey, Sabrina Pasier, Ian Lancaster. Junior Keepers: Ethan Brasher, Brayden Polkington, Jett Booker, Jake Grogan, Grayson Lattimer, Sebastian Arzac, Jacob Saldivar, Aidan Gaudet, Scott Gray, Jace Criswell Matt Haban.
22--Kelsey Cottrell, Braden Mann, Kaylee Barrett, Brady Stonebraker
25--Mia Posey, Allyson Crouch, Noah Schroer, Kennedy McGill, Kenzie Peterson, Ethan Brasher, Sabrina Pasier. Junior Keepers: Brayden Polkington, Jett Booker, Jake Grogan, Grayson Lattimer, Sebastian Arzac, Jacob Saldivar, Aidan Gaudet, Scott Gray, Jace Criswell Matt Haban, Bryce Fredrickson, Wyatt Fredrickson.
29--Kacie Paine, Kaylee Barrett, Brady Stonebraker, and Noah Schroer.
QUOTABLE
"To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe."--Marilyn vos Savant, who obviously had goalkeepers in mind when she said this over tea one day.
TIP OF THE MONTH
Kicking should be not only for distance, but accuracy. Vision is important here since a well-placed kick will land in an area occupied by more ot he keeper’s teammates than opponents. Even if the keeper’s team fails to control the ball, it may place the other team in an unworkable position. The key to punting is repetition. The basics must be mastered, and once mastered, the keeper should be a slave to them. Variety should come only in the ball’s direction.
KEEPING SECRETS
Your first and foremost priority should be to catch the ball. So hands, of course, are considered the most important tools you possess to accomplish that goal. But foot movement runs hand in hand, so to speak. Shoddy footwork can make even the best hands ineffective. Footwork not only bears the burden of getting your hands to the ball, but often is the key to preventing attackers getting off a shot at goal. Footwork enables you to make your best save the shot that’s never taken.