Blog 21: Mentorship

Literal:
Mentorship Hours: Vanna White will direct you to the link on the right hand side of my blog.

Interpretive:
Through my mentorship, the most valuable thing I have gained would have to be my use of networking.  Of course, I learned a multitude of things about soccer and goalkeeping more specifically, but the networking aspect has been invaluable.  Through finding a Summer mentor, interview subjects, and other goalkeepers to talk to, I have learned the skill of networking.  I know how to get in touch with individuals I've never met before and subsequently ask them for more resources.  These people, especially my 3rd Interviewee, Janet Cassidy, have given me opportunities to meet many new people that may end up helping my coaching when I'm older.

Applied:
Independent Component is what gave me the answers, and mentorship showed me the details of all my answers.  These details were acquired through numerous hours of coaching and watching the game.  For instance, "...being psychologically prepared" was given a backbone when I helped the Girls Under 14 team's goalkeeper get past a major mistake.  "...having tactical awareness" was further explained by the mistakes that the goalkeepers made and were pointed out by my mentor, Kim Nemeth. "...having strong technical ability" was shown through the training with both the Under-14 and Under-16 girls teams.  I watched the technical abilities of the goalkeepers skyrocket while Kim and I were training them, identifying what worked and what didn't.

Additional Post 7: Understanding Weaknesses

A few weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to sit in on a one-on-one training evaluation done by Jeff Tackett, the goalkeeping coach I mentored under over the Summer.

The process goes like this:

Tackett attends a few games of each of his players and rates their tactical play (the in game "tactics" that are needed to produce a winning team).  During training sessions he takes note of their technical skills (the depth and spread of the "technique" used during each drill).

He basically grades each of the players on a 10 point scale in about 45 different sub groups falling under Tactical, Technical, and Personality.  He expects his younger keepers to be in the 7 range and his older keepers in the 9 range.  He requires a high level of intensity and skill, and at the very least, a high level of improvement.  Without either one of those things, his coaching career would be over.

After he's scored them, he sits with the athlete and her parents and goes over each and every skill.  He goes over problem areas, areas of great improvement, and explains things the keepers may not understand.  Tackett opens the floor for questions after each explanation so the keepers get the most out of their session.  Few coaches do this, and that's part of what sets him apart.

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hour Check

1. I am completing my mentorship wherever Kim Nemeth trains.  She follows her clients so some days we are in Chino Hills (Community Park and Grand Avenue Park) and others we are in Diamond Bar (Peterson Park and Pantera Park).

2. Kim Nemeth

3. Including the hours over the summer I have completed 49 hours of mentorship.

4. The 10 hours over the summer included working with Jeff Tackett, he is a goalkeeping coach local to the area.  I worked with ages ranging from 9-18, so I got a well rounded start to my senior project.  I worked in areas he needed me, especially taking slower keepers to the side and working with them.

5.  I will include the contact information in the email.

Additional Post 3: Repetition, Practice Makes Perfect

In order to improve yourself as a goalkeeper, you need to practice.  The practice you participate in needs to be meaningful and productive, otherwise you won't get anywhere.  In order to improve upon a skill there is a level of repetition that is necessary to break a cycle.  If you aren't very good at something, you do it over an over again until you get it right.  I'm going to relate it to my 1st grade class, and more specifically, when we were taught penmanship.  If your handwriting wasn't very good, or you forgot to put your name on your paper you had to write your name 100 times until you stopped forgetting your name and penmanship on your papers.

With goalkeeping, it's the exact same thing.  During my mentorship with Kim Nemeth on October 21st I was working one-on-one with one of the keepers.  She had proven herself to be worthy of the position and will likely be our starting keeper for the remainder of the season. However, she, like everyone else, needs work; most importantly, she needs to work on catching the ball better.  When the ball comes to her she often either pops it up and catches it on the second try or just misses completely.  I had tried everything, different drills, different hand positioning, and small things like wetting her gloves.   NOTHING was working.

Finally, Kim came over and told me to have her bounce the ball (A drill I knew well because I had a similar, albeit not as serious, problem.) for 20 minutes straight.  I went over to the keeper and told her the guidelines.  She had to bounce the ball and catch it every time, no basketball dribbles.  She had to push the ball down with as much force as she could handle catching, use the correct hand positioning, and stay on task the entire 20 minutes.  This required her focus intently on the ball so she wouldn't miss it.  I supervised for the 20 minutes and gave her pointers when she seemed to get frustrated or when she messed up.  By the end of the structured time her arms were exhausted, but she wanted more.  That's the best mentality to have in a keeper.  There is nothing better.

Coming out of that practice she had the knowledge (and hopefully the muscle memory) to catch the ball in the game.  She was tested that Saturday, and the repetition worked.  She caught many balls and even made a few spectacular saves.

I've watched her take a big step as a goalkeeper, and can't wait to see her make more.

Additional Post 2: Competing as a Team, a Tie and Learning from Mistakes

Coaching is extraordinarily rewarding.  Not only do the players have fun, but the coaches do to.  This is especially true if the team is doing well.  You get to watch a group of (in this case) girls, join together to preform in front of their parents, their friends, and coaches.  They warm up, get their heads in the game,

and score goals.  As teammates they rely on one another to keep the ball out of their half of the field, their third of the field, and most importantly, the penalty area. 

Pre-Game Warmup

" I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion."

-Mia Hamm, former Women's National Team player

Referring back to the penalty area, it is the goalkeeper's job to defend it.  It is their house; their home.  It is the job of the goalkeeper to keep the ball out of the net.  If you ask anyone of us about our least favorite sound on the field, it will always be the sound the ball makes when it hits the back of the net.  To prevent that noise from happening a goalkeeper is required to communicate, be in good form, and be aggressive.  I am putting a lot of stock into the keepers.  There is fault in that.   During play there are 10 other players on the field capable of stopping the ball before it even gets into the penalty area.  Those players are there to prevent goals.  In fact, I was once told by a wise individual that 99% of goals scored aren't the fault of the keeper, but the other 10 players that allowed the attackers to get close enough to score.

"The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible.  It's the biggest sin in [soccer] to make him do any work"

- George Graham, former Arsenal head coach

The team I am helping coach had a game today, 9.21.13.  I went through last minute pointers with the keepers that took the field and then left them to their own devices.  A good coach doesn't scream at the players on the field, but lets them play and learn from their mistakes.  That is exactly what happened today.  The girls were ahead.  A girl from the other team controlled a ball after a corner kick and took a big swing.  She got lucky, and it went in.  Now we were tied.  After half time the opposing team scored again.  There was a new keeper in for us now.  She hasn't been at practice and hasn't benefited from any coaching.  She let in a goal at the near post.  A poor mistake, but one she'll learn from.  It took us until the last minute of the game to tie it up again.

The elation on the girl's faces after they scored that second goal that tied the game was unmatched.  There is a raw happiness that comes from the girls that you don't see very often.  There is no faking the happiness they feel when they come back from the bottom.  I remember that feeling, and I experience that still today.  But that's for a later post.

After today, the girls know they need to forget about the game, yet still learn from their mistakes.  Kim and I made the plan for the next practice.  We know what needs to be done, and together we will make the team better.

Additional Post 1: Hands, A New Breakdown of Positioning

During my mentorship over the summer I was watching Jeff Tackett explain hand positioning to a young goalkeeper (probably about 10 years old).  She was still in the beginning stages of her training focusing on hand positioning, foot skills, and agility.

Keeping in mind that I've been a keeper for approaching 8 years, ever since I learned hand placement, I never changed anything.  It's always worked, and if done correctly never fails.  During one training session Mr. Tackett explicitly explained the hand positioning showing her up close not only using her own hands, but also from other perpectives using his hands.

This picture shows the hand positioning for catching a ball above the waist.  This is how I learned it when I was still a kidlet.

The hands are arranged in a "W" position to give the catcher a strong hold.  With the hands in this position the ball can't continue it's forward momentum into the keepers body, or worse, the goal.

Another advantage to this hand position is that with small hands (like me and the young girl) it gives you a lot of coverage over the ball.  Your hand is touching much more of the ball than if you were to just put your hands out as if you were trying to tell a large vehicle to stop.



This hand positioning is also for catching above the waist, however, this is how many younger goalkeepers are being taught to handle the ball.

This hand positioning is more similar to catching a hand-egg (an American football).  The hands are a little further apart, but if the fingers were touching they would resemble a diamond.

I asked Mr. Tackett why he chooses to teach the younger group this style of hand positioning, and he said because it gives you even more surface area on the ball.  The positioning also has less chance of the ball going over the "W" since the hands are closer together at the top.

Although not the best choice, if a keeper decides not to wear gloves in the goal this would be the better option.  I would normally try to keep up with the changing status quo in the game of soccer, but hand positioning is something that I no longer think about.  It just happens and trying to change things messes everything up.  However, for new keepers, like the kidlets I've been helping Kim train will certainly benefit from the altered hand positioning.

Summer Mentorship Component

Literal:

1. This is my mentorship log outlining what I did at each training session.
2. Kim Nemeth, Personal Goalkeeper Trainer and AYSO Coach, 909-573-6378
    and Jeff Tackett, Southern California School of Goalkeepers Director and former Cal Poly Pomona       Assistant Coach, 909-229-7929
3. What direction do I want to head with this as my senior project?
    Do I want to do the training side of goalkeeping, or the athlete side of goalkeeping?

Interpretive:

4. Coming into contact with the number of goalkeeping coaches that I did this summer is perhaps the         most valuable thing I have gained from this experience.  Not only Jeff Tackett, but all of Kim                 Nemeth's trainers, and Jeff's colleagues.  I have so many people I can outreach to if I need help with       something.

Applied:

5. Being on the field several times per week helping to coach goalkeepers has not only showed me that     I am really passionate about the position, but that there are a million and one things I can continue to       learn.  Helping train goalkeepers of all ages has shown me an inside look at the progression I took         when I was younger.  That birds eye view has helped my game on the field, but it is also an                   interesting perspective of the game that I've never really seen.  I can't wait to continue helping Kim         Nemeth and Jeff Tackett with their training for the rest of the year.