The second session of Goalkeeper Union hosted by the Waterfall-based team focuses on tactical and technical prowess
he second session of The Goalkeeper Union initiative takes goalies through their paces on their tactical and technical awareness.
In modern football, goalkeepers are considered to be the critical last line of defence for any team.
And as such, they need to be technically and tactically astute if they are to retain their team’s first-choice keepers between the goalposts.
These were some of the aspects that the second session of The Goalkeeper Union training programme focused on.
The session was held at Curro Waterfall by Total Football Excellence on June 28.
The aim is to better equip them with technical and tactical skills to help them be better goalies and know how to command their defence. Also, improve the level of goalkeeping around the country and provide specific training to keepers across Gauteng.
The programme is headed by former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper coach, Alex Heredia. The experienced Heredia has coached in 128 official games for the South African senior national team.
Technical director at the academy David Ribeiro said the former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns former coach plays an important role in the ongoing keeper initiative as he comes with much-needed experience.
Ribeiro, former goalkeeper coach at SAFA’s Women’s Academy and South Africa’s U17 and U20, said they started The Goalkeeper Union training to allow goalkeepers to be trained by several guest goalkeeper coaches.
“In the recent session, we focused on the technical and tactical aspects of the goalkeepers. It must be noted that some keepers are naturally gifted technical and tactical-wise while others develop these skills over time. And that is what the session focused on because they are trained by experienced specialised goalkeepers and that will raise the overall level of goalkeeping,” said Ribeiro.
He said this was the programme for keepers to experience training from an experienced goalkeeping coach and take their defence to the next level.
Ribeiro said during the first day of the programme, they saw about 30 goalkeepers from around Gauteng including three national SA U17 ladies join them.
He said this will be an ongoing programme and those upcoming keepers seeking to acquire new knowledge are welcome to join them in the next session.
In modern football, where tactics have drastically changed, gone are the days where keepers are only there to just stop the ball from going into the back of the net.
Nowadays, keepers are required to better distribute the ball to launch quick counterattacks.
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