My time in the US – Lessons learned Introduction Having come through the American College system with a successful three seasons at East Tennessee State University, I headed back to Ireland wide eyed hoping for a chance at what I had been working for, a break in the professional game. That was December 2013, just over six years ago. The time since then is water under the bridge, with some amazing times along with some forgettable moments. But finding myself now in 2020, as part of the Houston Dynamo organization of the MLS, I can only smile knowing all the tough times were worth it. My duties ..read more

In the Fall of 2016, Paul Rogers are I were reviewing a long list of potential college goalkeepers that were due to enter the 2017 MLS draft. After hours of reviewing videos, we came to a realization we were unable to prepare at depth needed for such a task.  We were very much behind on the amount of time and due diligence needed in the recruitment process and, unfortunately, this resulted in an unsuccessful 2017 player recruitment. As a result of this, plans were immediately put in place to create a “Pro Camp”. Pro Camp helped us identify potential recruits sooner and provide better in ..read more

PGK: What was your path into the pro game and to your first team debut? Kevin: I grew up in Southwestern Virginia playing soccer with friends at a fairly low level competitively. I loved the game and spent endless hours playing with anyone I came across, including the Division I players at the local university. My family moved to Southern California in 1990 and the level of soccer that was exposed to increased dramatically. I played for a couple of years at Cal State Dominguez Hills, a Division II program in Carson, California. From there, I transferred into UCLA and played three years before ..read more

How to clean Goalkeeper Gloves and maintain themGoalkeeper gloves will inevitably deteriorate at a quicker rate when in use more often. This is why it is important to keep your gloves in the best condition possible. On average, a goalkeeper can quite easily need three or more pairs of goalie gloves per season, due to the continuous wear on the materials. However, not all goalkeepers are the same and the amount of wear will depend on average use, how well they are cared for, playing surface and technique. To make sure that you extend and maximize the lifespan of your goalkeeping gloves, you sh ..read more

From the College Game to the Pros Most people that know me know that I’m pretty direct and I’m not into  of lot of “fluff.” So in an effort to keep your attention I’m going to keep this blog to the biggest element I’ve noticed from making the jump from college soccer to professional soccer.  In December 2018 I left the women’s college game after 10 years to join the Houston Dash staff as the Goalkeeper Coach. I could write a whole book on the differences but these are a few thoughts I have had on the biggest difference in coaching at the two levels between the NCAA and the NWSL. Cri ..read more

In June of 2019, I was extremely fortunate to attend the International Goalkeeper Coaches Conference held at IMG Academy, Florida. Throughout the weekend, I was able to spend some time with Rene Sta, Head of Academy Goalkeeping of Dutch powerhouse, AFC Ajax. While conversing with Rene regarding the “AFC Ajax way”, I recognized that we needed to evolve at the Houston Dynamo to provide more methods of education to our coaches, scouts and parents. When you think back over the years, the U.S. have produced some top-class goalkeepers that have impacted the game on European soil. Household names su ..read more

Include your description here about the training session. You can link to other good examples that are similar if you want. This is just filler text to give you an idea of how this section will work. Blah blah blah blah. Use the included KwiktactiX session planner to host sport discussions, debates, presentations, seminars and demonstrations with up to 10 people. Invite your colleagues, friends, peers or family to draw, move, add, remove items you or anyone else have placed onto the planner live. Send meeting invites out directly to as many emails addresses you need too using your libr ..read more

You are the first team GK coach at Wolves now Pat, what was the path you took to get there? As a player in my early twenties, I started to do my coaching qualifications and combined this with regularly coaching young players – both outfield and goalkeepers – as it was something I enjoyed. At around the age of 22 I was playing semi- professionally and working most days coaching on various community schemes in schools and development programs. I had undergone two major knee operations by the time I was 23 and realized that I was going to progress further as a coach than a player providing I wor ..read more