Coaching the GK....

With the fall soccer season coming up, I would like to share a little story.  When I was 13 years old, I came to soccer practice ready for the same old drills and routines.  We warm up, jog around, I put my gloves on and the team starts going to goal.  

However, this day was different.  A parent who was helping our team out, Nick DaCunha was there with his son, my teammate Justin.  Nick was a successful coach at South San Jose Soccer Club and brought over his talented son to join our team.  Before we started playing, Nick took me aside and started kicking balls at me.  

It was the first time, anyone had ever taken the time to warm me up and give me a few pointers.  I felt so excited and so grateful someone would take their time to teach me.  It inspired me for the rest of my life to learn more about the position I now call a job.  As I look back, I want to offer some suggestions for youth coaches out there.

If you can, at least once a week.  Try to get out and kick some volleys at the goalkeeper.  Watch his or her hands and make sure he/she is catching with the index fingers and thumb behind the ball.  If you put your thumbs together, rotate your hands so that index fingers touch one another, this will push the elbows out.  Pull the elbows back in form a straight line down from your hands.  Now, pull the index fingers and thumbs away from one another along the same plane about an inch or two.  Don't forget to bend the wrists a tad inward (see photos).  With younger GK's, try to get more of the index finger & middle finger behind the ball.

This is how you should catch a ball.  The shape is almost an upside down heart.  I just bought a video camera and I will demonstrate this clearly in the future.  However, if you have time to kick balls at a gk, you can demonstrate this technique.  Even if you are unsure of the exact technique, a little attention to the GK will go a long way.

For all coaches, make sure to give the GK just a few minutes (5-10) of specialized training.  This personal attention will go a long way in making them feel responsible for their position and important to the team.  Remember it doesn't even have to be the head coach or a verified assistant.  Just delegate someone to go out and make the GK feel special.  

Having your team just kick at them is not going to teach them anything.  Engagement and involvement are always keys to motivating young players.  Hope this helps.  

and 

Thanks Nick........

may the posts be with you......

disappointed...

Just read some article on MLSsoccer.com which talks about my "curious" absence.  I think this type of article is the problem with the league's website.  One person decides that there is a curious absence, takes something I wrote on twitter, and tries to make a story.   

All parties involved that matter:  The Whitecaps, my family and myself knew about my trip.  Martin Rennie was correct on saying that I was in the US to take care of a previous appointment.  That's it.  No story, no ulterior motives, and I'll be back at training on Friday.  

There is no reason to try to "clear" anything up because this is a non issue.  Everything is clear with the people who matter.  If fans think they should follow the lead of a journalist that is just trying to create drama, then that is what they choose.  

Giving back....

Wow, where did the last 15 years go?  Well it seems as if time has flown by and here I am, at the twilight of my career.  I feel so blessed and grateful i've been able to last this long.  However, after so many years in the professional game, you lose touch with what the sport means to the boys and girls out there playing for the love of the game.

I would like to try to start the conversation by saying that after my career, I'll be interested in helping build a successful youth soccer club.  However, after almost two decades away from club soccer, I think I need a little feedback.  I want to know what kind of things parents like or don't like about their own club soccer experiences.  Costs, jerseys, coaches, anything really.  I know there are lots of stories, so feel free to leave them below or just email me at mvlagk@gmail.com.  I will use this blog to try and understand the youth game.

In essence, if i were to build a soccer club from the beginning, what types of things should I try to do?  Like I said, all feedback is welcome.  Thank you for your time, and looking forward to reading your responses and starting the conversation.

Best,

Joe Cannon

Yallop & Rochat....

Well it's been a crazy month here in MLS, especially on the West Coast.  Here in Vancouver, things are getting very interesting as well.  I just want to give a shout out to two men who are incredible professionals.  The first is someone I have to call one of the biggest influences on my career.  In 2001, Frank Yallop saw something in me.  The first time we sat down to discuss my future he told me that I had a lot of qualities great goalkeepers carried with them.  He then told me the thing I lacked to my game was consistency.  Over the course of my career, I've tried to take his advice to heart.  Although at times, I have made some mistakes, consistency was always a quality I strived for.

Later that year, Frank took our last place team and we became MLS Champs.  As I look back now, I was so lucky to have someone like Frank come into my life.  All in all, we spent six years together, or 40% of my career at this point.  I can honestly say Frank was the best coach I've ever played for.  His teams all play for him and I am sure that after leading a low budget San Jose team to the Supporter's Shield, he won't be out of a job for long.  I really wish Frank and his family the best for their future and can't wait for the day to see him back on top.

Here in Vancouver, we also lost another top pro.  Alain Rochat was a quality player and a great family man.  He had lots of friends in the locker room and ironically on the day he was traded, he was writing down driving directions to a team bar-b-q he was about to host.  Alain was not happy when he got to DC, and being from Europe, I can understand how a mid-season move without his approval might have felt.  Right or wrong, this is what we all sign up for in MLS.  I can't tell you how many friends I have been hanging out with one day, only to see them pack their things the next.  

As fans, I think we should try to understand that these are guys making thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars.  In some cases, it's a lot of money, but it's definitely not enough for most of us to retire on after our careers.  Moving across country is a huge deal because you have to deal with a new city, trying to make new friends away from soccer, trying to find a new place to shop, eat, hang out with your kids, get your hair cut and all the little things we do every day when we are "home".  

I want to wish Alain and his family all the best in their move to DC.  It's never easy seeing good people move on, but like I said, it's what we've all signed on for.

I know it's a tad long winded, but i just wanted to give a shout out to a couple of guys who are going through life changing events as I write.  Wish you both the best.

may the posts be with you....

Joe Cannon
mvlagk@gmail.com

CL final....

I'm gutted.  I really feel terrible right now.  Its not the terrible that will ruin my whole day, but rather I feel gutted for fellow goalkeeper Weidenfeller.  Today, he did everything he possibly could to keep his team in the game.  Sure his counterpart was also good, but my childhood hopes and beliefs still have me hanging on to what is right and what should happen.

I have played in several finals where I did my part, and things just did not work out.  It's an empty feeling as a goalkeeper.  It hurts because there are really only so many games you can have a big influence on.  When the time comes, and you make the big saves, it is heart wrenching when your team does not take home the title.  

Thus, even though we are alone as goalkeepers, we are together as a team.  It must be noted to all Gk's that you are really only as good as the guys in front of you.  Time and time again you can make saves, but there are shots and situations you are helpless and what are we to do?

I just want to give a huge shout out to Roman Weidenfeller.   There is a difference between winning and being a winner.  Today Roman, you are a winner.

may the posts be with you....

MLS expansion....

Yesterday was a huge day for Major League Soccer.  Not only did the league get to the elusive 20 team standard that was set by Garber himself, but they found themselves some very influential and deep pocketed partners.  The supposed investment is supposedly just under half a billion dollars with 100 million going to expansion and supposedly 340 million into the Stadium project.  I don't know about you guys, but that should be a pretty good looking stadium.

As expected, the opinions of fans have been very diverse.  Some fans wrote to me that they were afraid the team would become another one of MLS' favorites in which case, their team (OK, it was a Whitecap fan, so our team) would fall further down this imaginary MLS "pecking order".  

Others suggested that there were more "deserving" markets.  I really don't understand what criteria they used when they said more deserving, but it really doesn't matter.  They obviously don't understand a few things about business.  Or maybe they do, and I just don't understand their arguments.

In my life, I have come to realize some important things.  We all have set ideas of what should be.  Over 99% of your life, things that should be tend to just be things that are.  We struggle with the gap reality and idealism present and it is this struggle which seems to be a huge indicator or our character. Looking at the big picture helps and this is how I view NYFC.

As a player who played in this league with 12 teams, then down to ten, it is absolutely amazing to me that we will have a 20 team league.  In my earlier years, my fellow teammates and I would routinely joke about whether or not we are coming back after the offseason.  It wasn't because of how we did individually, but rather, if there was going to be the league.

In all honesty, looking back, the conclusion of Fraser vs MLS and the hiring of Don Garber have to be the two big catalysts in the emergence of our league.  I could also point to the origin of the MLS players union but the gains have been so limited that I'm not sure it has been the catalyst us players hoped it would be. 

In the big picture, more exposure is a great thing.  Are there markets more deserving?  YES.  Are there markets that need help?  YES!  But can you really say that for MLS this is a bad business decision??  NO CHANCE.  

The teams may have more competition for MLS attention but in the big picture, this will improve the league and in turn, each franchise.  The values of all teams have just been raised by yesterdays sale and regardless of where you stand, that has to be looked as a great thing.

We easily forget that there were owners parting with tons of money before this all happened and MLS is like any other business, it must make money or show potential to make money or it will otherwise die.  As a fan of the league and a player, I really think this will be one of the biggest moments in our brief history.

I know this is off the topic of goalkeeping....but I wanted to put in my two cents.  

On the topic of GK's.  Who will be NYFC's 1st goalkeeper?????

thanks for reading......

may the posts be with you...

MLS Result contest....

So I've been playing MLS for about 15 years now.  I feel so blessed that i've been able to do what I do.  So here's a little attempt at making tonight more interesting in some ways and giving back to one lucky fan!

Ok, so I'll be watching the MLS tonight, and I wanted to have a little fun.  For any of my followers who correctly pick all 6 results tonight, I will choose one of them to receive a free pair of soccer shoes or goalkeeper gloves.   I also ask that you choose the total number of goals scored throughout the night as a tie breaker in case we have many successful entries.  If there is still more than one winner, I will personally determine who win's the contest based on a coin toss or another random factor.  *

I wish everyone the best of luck.  Only 1 entry per person.  

Contest directions:  Via Twitter:  @JoeCannonGK1  

#1 Pick the result (Winner or tie )  per each Major League Soccer game.  

#2:  decide how many goals total will be scored in all games tonight 

Winner will be person who gets #1 correct and closest to #2  

If the total number of goals scored is 20, and one person chooses 19 and another one 21, I will go with the higher number.

*I have the sole discretion over every aspect of this contest, and can change rules at any time as I see fit.

If  no one correctly gets each game then there is a possibility of no winner or I may choose someone if they are closest.

Good Luck!

Entries must be tweeted out to me by 7pm East Coast time.