I am a keepers dad and have the gray hair, pocket full of Tums, and portable defibrillator to prove it. This season I have seen some outstanding keeper play by many of our opponents. It has been wonderful to watch and is much better overall goalkeeping than I have seen in seasons past, both in high school and club ball. Just to ask the coaches out there, do you see the same? Are you practicing your keepers more, or differently? What's up?
Not a coach, but also a keeper's dad. My theory is we are seeing the result of more and more clubs having added keeper specific training to their programs. Most of the better keepers in high school also play club, so the high schools benefit. I know my daughter has improved greatly as a result of keeper specific training, both through her club and private lessons (before the club offered it).
Who would you rate as some of the top keepers in the state this year?
Caitlin Fountain, Blue Ridge. 4 year starter, 15+ career shutouts, 541 minute school record shutout streak from last year. 7 shutouts this year. Also the leading scorer on the Blue Ridge team this year as she comes out and plays midfield/forward.
dont know names, but for 3A, the keepers at chapin and south aiken are very solid.
Morgan Hert of Mauldin AAAA region 2 is outstanding and she has committed to play for the Lady Tigers.
I have watched Morgan play for CESA. She is great keeper. Good Luck with the Lady Tigers.
Thanks HeTakes Pictures! I am sure there are several of us out there. My daughter had to fill in as a keeper in a tournament in Statesville, NC when she was a U11 and has basically been in the goal ever since. It was ugly at first but she has attended one or two camps every summer and had specialty keeper training from an outstanding keeper coach in Augusta. It has made a difference, as have just growing older and gaining more experience. Like any player she has good games and not so good games but she says all of the time that she "just loves the sport". That is the reason I am LadyVolDad. She joins the Tennessee Lady Vol Soccer squad this summer.
Her name is Katelyn Harnage; she has also played three years at CUSC on the '90 Girls White team--unfortunately for us she is graduating this year, but she has been our starting keeper since her freshman year. She has worked hard since her first day in goal, and has helped us build our defense and drop our Goals Allowed tally drastically. She does make some very acrobatic saves!
Wormburner:
Is your keeper position stronger this year or last year?
Danielle van Hulst is an incredible keeper playing for colleton county. Anyone that has played us has watched her put on a display.
What about keeper comparison by clubs versus the high schools they attend? Do most of the outstanding keepers stay close, i.e. play at high schools near their club areas and vice versa? Dou you think CESA keepers might be better than CUFC, or Bridge, Lexington, Bulls, etc, or maybe some other club has a better keeper program? I take it as a given that larger clubs have better keeper training and expose good keepers to higher levels of play. Is there a trend of better keepers coming from certain areas? What camps or training are our better keepers attending? If you look on topdrawesoccer and similar sites, they don't do a very good job highlighting our South Carolina keepers. How are our keepers getting noticed? Lots of questions!
Anyway, always had to do whatever I could to keep the friendly rivalry interesting!