Image courtesy of Håkan Dahlström

It’s the end of July. That means August is just days away. And with August comes the start of school…and soccer season! For you college kids, Fall is the season for both men’s and women’s soccer. For high school kids in Tennessee, Fall is the girl’s season and spring is the boy’s.

Hopefully your summer training has been going well. You’ve sweated a lot, gotten more explosive, refined your technique, and quickened your reaction time. Awesome. All that training has been leading up to this season. The excitement and mystery of what this season hold for you and your team is enough to get any keeper motivated to train hard and with a passion. I want to congratulate you for that and give you little bonus for your hard work.

I came across a video compilation of some of the best saves I’ve ever seen. I got goosebumps just watching it and was strapping my gloves on by the end of it. The saves in this video completely sum up what it is to be a keeper. You got keepers make 2,3, and even 4 saves in matter of seconds! Fingertip saves that make you wonder if Go Go Gadget Arms were involved and moments that take your breath away.

Watch this video again before your next training session or game. Can you point out some of the saves and techniques that you train for every day? How about pressure training drills where you hit the ground for a save at the near post and then pop up and move across the goal for a save at the far post…notice that anywhere? Drills on covering ground while you’re ALREADY on the ground to make a save…notice that anywhere? How about the desire, passion, confidence, and “never say die” attitude that the keepers in this video present? Do you bring that mentality to your training sessions? You should. Because this is what can happen. It’s a beautiful thing.

Keepers Save the Game!

-Mikell

In preparation for the 2011 Women’s World Cup Final in which two teams of destiny will face each other (that’d be Japan and the good ol’ U.S. of A.), I’m adding an extra post this week! Yay! Lucky you! There is quite a lot of chatter on the inter webs regarding the USWNT. I’m going list some of my favorites here for your viewing pleasure! I’ve tried to get as much of the media on the site as possible, but you’ll have to follow a link for some. Enjoy! Go USA!

There seems to be a lot of singing surrounding the USWNT…

Megan Rapinoe belted out some Bruce Springsteen when she scored against Columbia to kick off the July 4th weekend…

And then Rapinoe got a song written about her called The Megan Rapinoe Song. It’s received quite a lot of views thanks to a tweet from Julie Foudy “Found this nugget on utube. Song for @mPinoe. ‘Megan Rapinoe, I went 2 the casino to place my bets on u.’ ”

Not be left out, Head Coach Pia Sundhage seranades us in a press conference recently…

Abby Wambach’s goal in the fleeting moments of the Brazil game won Best Play at the ESPY’s

An elephant has been predicting World Cup winners

Nike Soccer has been pushing this image of Hope Solo…and it’s pretty awesome

The NY Times has a good write up of the USA/France game with some pretty sweet photos

Mac Nwulu from ESPN reports on Twitter that “USA-FRA – 4th most-viewed #WWC match w/ 3.35m pple + 450k on ESPN3.com.”

Grant Wahl, also from ESPN and reporting on Twitter, says “The Empire State Building will show the colors of USA & Japan from Friday to Sunday and the colors of the WWC winner on Monday night.” How awesome is that?!

And to top it all off, the USWNT had a signing day in the hallway of their hotel. Of course they signing gear and paraphernalia for each other…b/c they’re each others biggest fans! Pic posted by @ussoccer_wnt

Want more? Check out the US Soccer media page

What are some of your favorite web gems of the USWNT?

Keepers Save the Game!

-Mikell

Hope Solo saves Brazil's third penalty kick

What an unbelievable, but totally believable, Quarterfinal game! Completely amazing. It took me quite a while to recover from it as all my yelling, cheering, jumping, and running around in celebration left me feeling a little light headed. For Rapino to connect with Abby with only seconds left…EPIC. And then for Solo to make that huge save in PK’s….EPIC. I’ve ready many posts that credit Solo with “winning” the game because of her save in the shootout, but you and I know better. Solo SAVED the game. Because that’s what keepers do!

Instead of recapping the game here, I’m going to direct you to a montage of well written posts for your reading pleasure. All you could ever want to read about US vs. Brazil is here. But before you go (Go Go USA!) check out the replay of that magical moment in extra time of overtime….The quality is a little fuzzy, but this video starts a little before the goal happens and builds up the excitement!!

EXTRAS:

Follow the USWNT on Twitter

Be sure to keep up with Big Save Day on Twitter for updates on keepers from all over!

Exactly 12 years ago from this amazing game…another amazing game happened. And Scurry saved the 3rd PK in the shootout against China…just as Solo saved the 3rd against Brazil.

HOW DID YOU CELEBRATE?

I ran out the front door and did a lap around my front yard. Yelling and pumping my fists to the chant of U-S-A! U-S-A! Kobe, my miniature schnauzer, right on my heels. Good boy. Here’s how people around the country celebrated…

Keepers Save the Game!

-Mikell

Photo courtesy of Mister-E

Sitting the bench can be hard for a keeper. Being a second string keeper can be a hard pill to swallow. Being a third string keeper can be an even bigger knock on the ol’ confidence. And being the starting keeper doesn’t mean you’ll always be the starting keeper. Field players face the same thing. And probably get shuffled a little more than keepers do, as the US Women’s National Team has been doing this World Cup. For instance, Megan Rapinoe was benched for Lauren Cheney recently. Cheney did great and Rapinoe did awesome, coming off the bench and scoring for the US. The difference between Rapinoe getting benched a keeper getting benched? Rapinoe can expect to come in off the bench and get playing time. A keeper doesn’t get subbed in unless there’s an injury or red card. Unpredictable!

We already know that keepers aren’t like field players. And that the main difference is our mentality. It’s no exception in the starter / non-starter situation either.

As a keeper, you may land the second-string title. And as a keeper, you’re not happy with that. You want to be in the action. You want to be directing your defense and smothering shots. You want to save the game. As a second-string keeper (or third-string) your opportunities to fulfill those desires is severely limited. BUT YOU ARE NO LESS IMPORTANT. Keepers are expected to be a rock solid mentality. Nothing bothers you. You get scored on, so what…I bet they can’t score on you again. You make the big save…just doing business. Your nerves are steel…whether you’re on the field or off. A back-up keeper’s job is more difficult than a starting keeper’s job. You may be called on at any moment. And you can’t predict when that may be. Therefore, you have to be at the top of your game ALL THE TIME, even when you’re sitting on the bench cheering your team on.

You may be faced with a situation like France’s back-up goalkeeper was during the Germany-France WWC game today. The starter, Sapowicz, faced with a German cross and incoming German players, went at the ball with her feet instead of her hands, and completely took out the oncoming German player. Sapowicz earned herself a red card. In comes back-up Celine Deville. One minute she’s sitting on the bench, about 3 minutes later she’s facing a PK in the World Cup. No warm up. No warning. In about 3 minutes, Deville had to get focused. With no real warm-up, she has to get herself mentally prepared. Relying on the knowledge that she has trained hard and is prepared for the task at hand. Trusting her training and her body to take over and do exactly what she trained for…to save games. Unfortunately, Deville did not make the PK save and Germany proved too tough of a team for France. But now Deville is the starting keeper for the next match because Spapowicz will be suspended. A key question here is how will the rest of the team react? Will France have the same confidence in the “back-up” keeper as they did in the “starter”? If Deville has trained hard, gained respect, and exudes her own confidence, then there should be no problem.

Or maybe you find yourself in a position like Josh Saunders did in the 2009 MLS Cup. The starting keeper, Donovan Ricketts, suffered a hand injury and Saunders was called on to come into the championship match and make big saves. And that he did. He made a couple huge saves right off the bat and gained the confidence of his team right away. The game went to a shoot-out and Saunders came up big then too, making two saves and keeping his team in the game. What Saunders had to say about coming off the bench, “I had to come in and be prepared. That’s something I’ve been prepared for because that’s my job”.

So there we have it. Players, coaches, and fans expect big things from keepers. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the bench or on the field, you’re expected to be ready. It’s part of being a keeper. You have to be prepared for anything at any moment. It’s why the position is so exciting. It’s a big task and a mental battle, but people will remember that you were ready when called upon. And hopefully, when it’s all said and done, you can confidently say, “I saved the game”.

Keepers Save the Game!

-Mikell

Photo by: Mike Johnson - TheBusyBrain.com

A keeper uses their hands.

A keeper is the only one on the team that can use their hands. This is common knowledge. However, on the flip side, this doesn’t mean that a keeper can’t use their feet. “Duh” you may say. But think about it. As a keeper, how much time do you spend working on your foot skills? Just how comfortable are you with the ball at your feet? Could you juke a forward? Could you control a wild passback from you outside back in one touch and safely clear the ball with another tough? I’ll give you a few minutes to think about that…

…

Ok, we’re back. Generally, keepers aren’t known for their foot skills. At the younger age, sometimes the kid with the worst foot skills gets unanimously voted into the role of goalkeeper. But you can’t ignore your feet. This is soccer after all. The game where you use your feet.

Having superb foot skills as a keeper is a definite plus. You’re team will have more confidence in you and your coach will be excited that he/she can now include you more in the game…i.e. having the keeper as an option while swinging the ball around the back can spring free one of your backs. Or if a thru ball gets through your back line and your center back is coming right at you, your CB will have confidence that he/she can give you a passback instead of trying to make a difficult turn with a striker on their back.

 Ok, time for another break.

If you watched the Seattle vs New York MLS game this week, you probably already know what I’m about to direct you to. It involves NY’s keeper Greg Sutton. Watch this VIDEO.

I’m sure there were mixed reactions from you, the audience. Laughter, disbelief, a sinking feeling. But no matter what reaction you had, I bet all of you had a feeling inside of “I’m sure glad that wasn’t me!”. Or maybe this has already happened to you before and I just reopened a wound. Sorry, but I need to motivate you to stop neglecting your feet.

 “You mean I have to train as a keeper AND a field player?!”

Hey, playing keeper isn’t for everyone. It’s tough work, it’s dirty work, and requires a certain mentality. For every 10 field players, there is 1 goalkeeper. Ever wonder why that is? Because you have to be crazy to play keeper. And a lot is expected of you…including a decent pair of feet.

 So let’s get those feet kicking!

Most practice sessions are not geared towards increasing the keeper’s foot skills. It lies mostly on the keeper to put in that extra work on their own. Juggle everyday, just for 5 or 10 minutes. Or longer if you like! Some of you may have been field players that converted to keepers and already have some decent foot skills. That’s great! But make sure you stay sharp. You still need to practice with your feet on a regular basis. If you’re in high school and play keeper for your varsity team, ask your coach if you can play on the field for JV games. I suggest NOT playing defense on the field. Playing as a midfielder or striker allows you to see the game through the eyes of the positions that are trying to score on you. It’s a great perspective to have!  As a keeper coach, I do spend most of my time coaching hands, but I always make sure that my keepers get to jump in on small sided possession games during practice with the rest of the team. There are also some pretty great sites out there that showcase footwork drills that you can do on your own. The Soccer Essentials has some pretty great videos of drills you can do in your own living room!

The lesson here…don’t neglect your feet. Be amazing with your hands and confident with your feet. Take on this challenge and go win a juggling competition. And then tell everyone you’re a keeper!

Keepers Save the Game!

-Mikell

I’ve trained keepers of all age groups and all levels. The single most frustrating habit that (surprisingly) most keepers come to me with is…..going to your knees to save a ball on the ground! This is a HORRIBLE habit and I cannot understand why it is taught to beginning goalkeepers.

The picture above is of Robert Green during the England vs. USA World Cup match in 2010. You probably remember what happened next…but if not, or if you need to see it again…check out the video at the end of the post!

If you’re a keeper and you have this habit

STOP IT. I want you to understand that I am in no way frustrated at the keepers that come to me with this bad habit. On the contrary, I FEEL FOR YOU. You have been the victim of bad advice and you deserve better. Sure there are some adjustments that younger keepers must make when first learning the position of goalkeeper, but from my experience, going down on a knee to make a save is the most devastating and hardest habit to break. I can’t tell you how much time and effort has gone into trying to break this habit with some keepers.

If you’re a coach and are teaching your keepers to go down on a knee

STOP IT. It may seem like this is a safe way to teach your keepers to make a save, after all, no one want the ball to go between the keepers legs and score. Maybe you’re a high school or club coach who doesn’t have much experience with goalkeepers. Maybe all you know about goalkeepers is 1. GK’s can use their hands and 2. GK’s don’t have to run as much as the field players. It’s common for head coaches to be somewhat naïve about goalkeepers…it’s OK. What’s not ok is if you don’t do anything to make yourself more knowledgeable about keepers. We’re a vital part of the game! So let’s start with this horrible one knee save myth.

There are two main reasons I can think of for why a keeper would be taught to go down on one knee. I’ll outline them here and then explain why it would be more beneficial to do it the correct way and stay off that knee to begin with.

1. Bending over to make a save leaves a beginner keeper open to having the ball go through their hands, between their legs, and into the goal. The keeper feels silly, the coach feels silly, and the rest of the team feels silly. It’s an embarrassing situation for everyone! No one wants that. But that doesn’t mean we have to go down on one knee to make sure that doesn’t happen! Shots slip through a keeper’s hands because the elbows are not together. Teach the elbows, not the knees. Instead of spending 2 minutes with the beginner keeper and simply telling them to go down on a knee so the ball doesn’t go between their legs, spend about 5 minutes after practice for about a week practicing low shots and keeping your elbows together when you make the save. I promise you, keepers are smart and we’ll get what you’re coaching. The key is repetitions. Make it a habit to keep the elbows together and eye on the ball.

2. Getting the knee behind the ball will, in the worst case scenario (if the ball gets past the keeper’s hands), allow the ball to rebound off of the knee instead of continuing through the keeper’s legs and into the back of net. IF this happens, you’re team will probably get scored on anyways. It’s true. You’ve just managed to delay the inevitable by about 2-6 seconds. The keeper won’t be able to recover in time to make the second save (the rebound save). Once you’re on that knee, you’re stuck there. One of the keys to being a successful keeper is mobility and balance. If you’re down on a knee (go ahead, get down on a knee) it will take you a few seconds to get back to your feet and be able to move across the goal to where the ball just rebounded off you’re knee. So instead of being on your knees, stay on your feet, knees slightly bent, feet slightly staggered, bent at the waist and maintaining a good center of gravity for balance. You’ve got your hands low and behind the ball and elbows together. Now, if the shot rebounds off your hands or maybe off of your foot you’re in a great position to recover and make the second save.

Here’s what it comes down to

Being a keeper is about mobility, reactions, balance, and being in position to handle the unexpected. A goalkeeper on a knee is none of these and therefore is being denied the ability to do their job. Teaching a keeper to keep their elbows together can be almost as time consuming as trying to break the one knee habit. So let’s just pick on the focus on…the elbows!

Keepers, coaches, parents, fans….join me. Stop this one knee habit. You may see another keeper make a save while on one knee, but trust me, there is more danger with the one knee than there is being on both feet. Start breaking the one knee habit NOW. Goalkeepers will progress their skills quicker without the one knee habit. No one benefits when a goalkeeper is on a knee….except maybe the other team.

Coaches, if the goalkeeping position is a foreign world to you, don’t worry! It is for a lot of coaches. Find a goalkeeper coach that can come in for just a week of practices. Or even just for a day or two. It will help tremendously! I’ve worked with high school teams for just a single week and have been able to transform a player that wants to be a goalkeeper into a player that better understands the position and can actually BE a goalkeeper. Also, the NSCAA offers a State Level Goalkeeper course that is geared towards the team coach learning the basics of goalkeeping and understanding the position better.

Goalkeepers, find a goalkeeper coach! Ask your head coach to help you in the search. Goalkeeper coaches usually charge by the hour for lessons, but sometimes it only takes a couple of lessons to really make a difference. Many college goalkeepers are happy to give lessons in the summer and will probably charge a little less than full time goalkeeper coaches.

If you have questions about how to break the one knee habit, please don’t hesitate to contact me! I’m happy to give some more detailed instruction and advice in whatever way I can.

Keepers Save the Game!

-Mikell

p.s. Here’s the video of Robert Green’s worst nightmare come to life…

My last post, Sign at the X, I highlighted goalkeepers in the area who have recently signed to play college soccer in 2011. The keepers all signed at schools outside of Middle Tennessee. This is probably pretty common for local keepers. I’d say a majority of keepers, and graduating seniors in general, typically pick a college outside of their hometown. Reasons may vary including finding a school with your particular major or interest, having a lifelong dream of attending a certain school, or simply trying to get as far away from home as possible! I started my college search with the latter in mind, not because I didn’t love home, but because I felt like I would gain more independence that way and I wanted to experience a new area of the country. “But Mikell!” you may say, “you went to Belmont! Isn’t that 5min down the road from where you grew up?” Yep, you’re right, it is. It surprised me too, but in the end, I had to pick the college, team, and coaches that I thought were the best fit for me. And I picked Belmont! At least my laundry was free

With all that in mind,

I’ve decided to highlight the college goalkeepers in the Nashville area that made the same decision as I did…to stay local!

The Belmont Men’s team brought in Luke Roman last year from Christ Presbyterian Academy. Luke had a pretty successful career at CPA earning Defensive MVP in 2010 and was also a State MVP quarterback in 2009.

Trevecca’s roster for both the Men’s and Women’s team are stacked full of local talent…including goalkeepers…

Neira Ahmespahic and Bekah Headrick are both local, both play for Trevecca, and are both upcoming juniors. Neira played her high school soccer at MLK Magnet. MLK just happens to be my own high school Alma mater and if you look above the entrance to the school’s varsity gym, you’re likely to see my picture!  But enough of that…. Neira was names TransSouth Defensive Player of the Week last season and recorded a 1.68 GAA. Bekah played her high school soccer at Aaron Christian Academy in Hendersonville, TN. She battled some injuries this past season but was able to land six starts in goal and record 33 saves.

The Men’s team is also graced with local talent. Shane Carter from Sparta, TN developed his talent at White County HS and Hayden Coffman attended Hendersonville HS in Hendersonville, TN. Hayden has been named TransSouth Defensive Player of the Week during all three of his seasons at Trevecca and was named First-Team All-TransSouth this past season. While Hayden has seen most of the action in goal for the Trojans, Shane did secure a win with six saves last season.

Well, those are the local college keepers in the area who also attended local high schools. Maybe you played against them in HS? Maybe their picture is on the “Wall of Fame” at your HS. Next time you’re at a Belmont Men’s game or a Trevecca soccer game, take a little pride in knowing that you and Luke, Neira, Bekah, Shane, and Hayden all share a similar background…Middle Tennessee!

by Wiertz Sébastien

Signing Day!

Signing day is a fantastic and exciting milestone for many goalkeepers. It means that you’ve found a place to continue your playing career, a place that will push you to become a better keeper and challenge you everyday. You’ll make new friends and make memories that will last forever! It also means that you’ve found a place to further your education, and we’ve all heard how important that is!

Since I launched this site after signing day for 2011, this post is definitely a little late. After thinking about whether to write this post about signing day or not, I decided it was important to recognize these goalkeepers even though I am a few months behind with it. Better late than never! Right?

One of the reasons I starting this blog was to highlight goalkeepers in the area, and signing day is very big highlight! I’ve tried to find as many keepers in the area that have signed for next season, but if you’ve signed and I haven’t listed you…please let me know! I’ll get you listed ASAP. After the signing list I’ve also put together a list of goalkeepers recognized by TopDrawerSoccer.com as players to watch.

Committed goalkeepers for 2011 (in no particular order)

• Katie Starr from Brentwood SC and Brentwood High School signed with West Point
• Alex Blanton from Brentwood SC and Brentwood High School signed with SMU
• Megan Grindstaff from Brentwood SC and Battleground Academy signed with Baylor
•  Julie Eckel from Tennessee Rush and St. Benedict at Auburndale signed with University of Tennessee

Goalkeepers to watch

• Audrey Sanderson from Tennessee FC and Ravenwood High School
• Rachel Jent from Harpeth FC and Waverly Central High School
• Bijan Gloston from FC Alliance and Clarksville High School
• Alex Renner from Clarksville Kaos

Congrats and thanks for your inspiration!

Keepers Save the Game!

-Mikell

p.s. Do you have a signing day picture you’d like me to post? It doesn’t have to be from this year, it could be from when you signed 10 years ago! Better late than never And who doesn’t like to reminisce? Send it and/or your story to bigsaveday@gmail.com or hit me up in the comments!

Credit goes to the Flickr stream of mauri212

One of the cool things about goalkeeping is the gear.

There are ENDLESS (ok, not endless, but it seems like it!) options for goalkeeping gear out there. You can get jerseys that are short or long sleeved, padded just a little, padded a lot, or padded not at all, jerseys with superhero designs, jerseys with so many flourescent colors you’ll risk a seizure, or jerseys that are just one simple color.

The same goes for goalkeeping gloves. Not only are there options of color and design, but also type of wrist closure, the option for fingersave technology, and glove padding developed for certain playing conditions.

There are also shorts, sliders, pants, cleats, head gear, knee pads, and elbow pads to think about.

Don’t let this intimidate you! I’m here to help.

Some of these options are simply personal style. Like picking out what color jersey you want that flashy forward to see when you make it clear that they won’t be scoring on you today. See a frustrated FW here and smile. Other options, like padding and head gear, are concerned with safety. And this is exactly what I’m discussing today.

It’s O.K. if your parents make you wear knee pads. It’s not O.K. if you’re sitting on the sideline because you’ve got a bum knee.

Playing keeper requires a mastering of certain techniques. These techniques require practice, lots of practice. And this is where the protective equipment comes into play. When a new keeper is training technique, it may be necessary to wear knee pads, arm protection, or shorts with padding at the hips. These are the three major areas that can easily sustain bumps and bruises while you’re learning technique (and becoming a better keeper!). This equipment may not completely eliminate bumps, bruises, or scrapes, but it will reduce the severity and hopefully keep you training.

While in junior high school, I wore padded, shorts, padded sliders and a padded jersey.  Of course my mom suggested knee pads. I looked ridiculous! I even decided to throw on a headband to add to the humiliation! But I’m glad I looked silly. It kept me injury free through my beginning stages of becoming a goalkeeper and helped give me the confidence to try things that my brain was telling me would hurt (and they ended up not hurting). So I wore all my padded gear and increased my goalkeeping ability fairly quickly. As my skill increased, my need for protective equipment decreased. My mom also recognized this and eventually agreed that I didn’t need to wear the knee pads anymore. Woot!

Sometimes, the playing conditions require a little extra protection.

I played on a dirt field that was scattered with rocks in high school. Can you imagine coming out for a breakaway or trying to land after a power dive? OUCH! This was another reason I wore padded compression shorts and jerseys for most of my high school career. I like to think this time period toughened me up a little. And when I got to college where the fields were either turf or beautiful Bermuda grass, I had an even greater appreciation for the playing surface. My protective equipment didn’t just end in college though. I learned this the hard way while playing on turf in Missouri one year. I was wearing my typical team shorts, with un-padded compression shorts underneath and I came home with some painful strawberries, mostly on the outssides of my knees. Pants would have been a good solution, or even simply pulling my socks up over my knees would have helped.

Protect those digits!

Goalkeeper gloves have evolved tremendously over the years. A popular addition to the family is the thumb and finger spines. These are pieces of plastic that are inserted into each finger of the goalkeeping glove and act as a “spine” for each finger. This helps to protect against jammed fingers and also helps keep the fingers from hyper-extending backwards. Personally I prefer gloves without the finger spines (they didn’t make those finger spines back in my day, sonny) most of the goalkeepers at the college I coached at wore them.

What it comes down to…

…is what makes you feel comfortable and gives you the confidence to perform at your very best.  Here are a few examples of some of the more common equipment.

Padded compression shorts: Worn under soccer shorts and great for avoiding “strawberries” and hip bruises.

Eurosport has a fairly good selection here: Compression shorts

Padded soccer shorts: While these don’t protect against “strawberries” as well as the compression shorts, they add extra protection against bruises.

These are pretty similar to what I wore at the beginning of my career: Lanzera Goalkeeper Short

And here is another option: Adidas Basic Goalkeeper Shorts

Padded goalkeeping pants:  Protection against “strawberries”, bruises, and weather.  Also protects the legs when playing on turf or other unfriendly fields.

These are very similar to what I started out wearing: REUSCH 868 ALEX PANT

However, there are many more options available including 3/4 pants: Lanzera Campione

Padded goalkeeping jerseys: Protects against scrapes and bruises.

This is a typical long sleeve jersey with forearm padding: Adidas Condivo. I have seen other jerseys with padding on the shoulders, although I don’t personally see the advantage in that.

GK fingersave gloves: Provide a “finger spine” for each finger that gives the fingers extra support and help brace against sprains and jams and breaks.

There are the gloves worn in games by the college goalkeepers I trained: adidas FS Ultimate Goalie Glove

These are only suggestions and examples. Full disclosure that I receive a small commission from Amazon for any products purchased through the Amazon links on this page.

Do you have an story about how protective equipment helped you to become a better keeper? Or how about a disagreement with your parents over what gear you should be wearing? Leave it in the comments! And as always, email me with any questions about the gear listed here or if you need advice on what gear is right for you!

Keepers Save the Game!

-Mikell

Thanks for visiting Big Save Day! This site is dedicated to connecting and inspiring goalkeepers of all ages. I’m excited that you’ve stopped by! Please check out the About page for more information and stay tuned for future posts!

Keepers Save the Game!

-Mikell