US Soccer Hall of Famer Tony DiCicco to lead session at 2013 NSCAA Convention
Field session to focus on "Coaching the Goalkeeper with Team Games"
By Dean Linke, @VoiceOfNSCAA
Tony DiCicco is the only U.S. coach to win a Women’s World Cup, an Olympic gold medal and an Under-20 Women’s World Cup.
And, he might be the world’s only coach to win a World Cup – men or women – while serving as both the head coach and the goalkeeper coach. That’s what he did when the U.S. women captured the country’s fancy and the world championship in 1999.
“When I took over the head coaching position of the U.S. women, I didn’t bring in a goalkeeper coach,” said DiCicco from his Wethersfield, Conn. home. From there, he, among his many soccer-related activities, runs the ultra-successful SoccerPlus camp program, serves as an ESPN analyst, and continues to be one of the premier women’s coaches this country has ever produced.
“I was already the goalkeeper coach and I didn’t want to disrupt what we had built,” DiCicco reflected. “That’s how important I thought it was. And, for sure, having the goalkeeper fully integrated into the team at all times was paramount to our success.”
DiCicco, the NSCAA Director of Goalkeeping and longtime staff coach, said that any head coach, with or without the aid of a goalkeeper coach, should always incorporate the goalkeeper into their team training.
DiCicco will demonstrate how to do that at the 2013 NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis as part of his Sunday, Jan. 20 field session, “Coaching the Goalkeeper with Team Games.”
[+] Full 2013 Convention schedule
“The goalkeeper position at any level is a very demanding psychological position,” DiCicco said. “When a midfielder makes a mistake, they have several opportunities to make up for it, get the ball back and get their confidence back. When a goalkeeper comes out for a cross and it goes over (her) head, there might not be an immediate way for (her) to correct it. So, as coaches, we need to always build their confidence.
“I have found that including the goalkeeper in practices through team games is an integral part in building their confidence and the confidence of their teammates.”
DiCicco, a member of the 2012 US Soccer Hall of Fame class, makes no qualms about the fact that a prepared and mentally-strong goalkeeper can make or break a coach’s season.
“If you have a good goalkeeper that comes up with big plays, that is a leader and confident, you can turn losses into draws and draws into wins,” DiCicco advises. “If your goalkeeper is substandard, it’s obviously the opposite and you can take a dominating performance on the field and turn it into a disheartening defeat.”
DiCicco said that as part of his field session at the 2013 Convention, he will repeat one message: “The head coach, with or without a goalkeeper coach, has to give (his/her) goalkeeper(s) time and attention.”
“When you incorporate your goalkeeper into training with team games, the head coach can use the exercise to coach the goalkeeper at the same time he is coaching his field players.” DiCicco said. “The head coach just positions themselves by the goal and gives the keeper some concepts to concentrate on. It then becomes a keeper session and helps make sure that everyone is on the same page.”
Before DiCicco gets into about five or six exercises (which you can download below and in the Online Resource Library) at the Convention, he will also break down the three core ways to coach goalkeepers.
“This is my goalkeeper coaching methodology: Goalkeeper-Coach, Goalkeeper-Coach-Players, and Goalkeeper-Coach-Team.”
“First, there is the one-on-one standard goalkeeper training (Goalkeeper-Coach) where you can push your goalkeeper and build their confidence. Second, you have goalkeepers train with a handful of players, even before practice starts, or at a totally different time (Goalkeper-Coach-Players). Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Tiffeny Millbrett and others used to volunteer to come out and help train the goalkeepers, serve balls, work on crosses, work on the goalkeepers coming off their line, free kicks…all kinds of activities.
“And, of course, the last step (Goalkeeper-Coach-Team) is what I will demonstrate in Indianapolis using the entire team to train your goalkeepers.”
DiCicco said the first step in doing that is to use restricted space and play 4 v. 4, 6 v. 6 or 8 v. 8. Some of the best dimensions for the exercises are about 36 yards long and 60 yards wide.
“Every single exercise incorporates nearly every element of goalkeeping,” said DiCicco. “This includes shot stopping, crosses, concentration, communication, getting your defense organized, handling breakaways, even distribution. And, there is also a game that incorporates using your goalkeeper as an option with back passes.”
Every coach needs to be a student of the game, DiCicco said, and “that’s usually where you find the best goalkeepers…the ones that are students of the game.”
DiCicco has always been a student of the game. And, he has never backed away from further education.
“I think I am a better coach today than I have ever been,” DiCicco states. “I still have the passion for it. I have proven that I know how to take motivated, talented and elite players, unite them to join forces with the same vision, and to navigate a journey where we can achieve the ultimate prize of a world championship.
“I felt that again in 2008 leading the US women to the Under-20 World Cup,” said DiCicco. “Rising to the occasion and testing yourself against the rest of the world, there is no better feeling.”
Part of that passion is also finding the next generation of superstars.
“I found Christie Rampone, and I brought Alex Morgan onto the US Under-20 Team when she wasn’t even in the pool,” said DiCicco. “You can never stop looking for players and you need to be able to find the players that will have a lasting impact.”
DiCicco has committed to sharing that passion and that vision as a featured clinician at the 2013 NSCAA Convention.
“As members of the NSCAA, we have this unbridled literary license to share information,” said DiCicco. “The game is infinite; there is always more to learn and it is not always Xs and Os.
“The NSCAA is an unbelievable laboratory for not only picking the brains of the top coaches at the highest level, but watching how players respond to different coaches.
“There are a million ways to climb the mountain and you should never stop learning a new path to climb.”
Attendees to the NSCAA Convention will be able to tap into this goalkeeper coach's brain in January. Register today for the Convention and housing at NSCAA.com/convention.