Working Through The NSCAA's Goalkeeping Institute

In June, I had the fortunate opportunity to participate in the NSCAA's Goalkeeping program.   I fully intended to participate one year earlier, but a party at my house for the USA vs. England game took was going to take priority over any coaching course.  It just so happened that a very notable goalkeeping gaffe occurred on that very day.



The NSCAA Coaching Academy launched its Goalkeeping Institute in 1998 to focus attention on the education of coaches working with goalkeepers as a special and unique position to train.   The "institute" consists of 4 courses based on curriculum developed by Tony DiCicco:

1. Goalkeeping Level I / State Diploma
2. Goalkeeping Level II / Regional Diploma
3. Goalkeeping Level III / National Diploma
4. Advanced National Goalkeeping Diploma

My participation involved the Level I, II, and III courses.  Level I & II were 1-day courses.   Level III was a three day course.

My hope was to gain some new perspective on how other coaches approach the position more than it was to learn how to teach technique.   If I had to listen to 5 days of coaches teaching other coaches the importance of the "W" or finishing position angles, I was going to kill myself.  Thankfully, the NSCAA featured two notable goalkeeper coaches during the 3 courses.

The main instructor for the Level I and Level II courses was Rob Walker.  Rob has worked within the ranks of the US National program and currently holds the Head Coaching position at Saint Martin's University in Washington.  He was also instrumental in the development of Kasey Keller through his teenage years.   Apparently Rob and Kasey's mom hit-it-off at some point because they married several years after he began training with Kasey.

The main instructor for the Level III course was George Kostelis.   George also worked within the ranks of the US National program and was an Assistant/GK Coach at Yale for several years.  His goalkeeping knowledge also propelled him into a Director role at DiCicco's SoccerPlus Goalkeeping School.

George and Rob have very different styles.   Rob is very jovial and brings a fun attitude to the pitch.   George is extremely intense and demands a lot of focus.  Both gentlemen have a tremendous amount of energy.

The overall experience was a positive one for me.   I plan on incorporating pieces of the way both Rob and George teach the position into my own methodology.