Football in the Community celebrate 6 years of goalkeeping courses

Norwich City Football Club/Norfolk FA's Football in the Community Scheme will be celebrating 6 years of delivering their goalkeeping program to boys and girls of all abilities at the end of 2007.

After recognising early on there was a need to provide specialised goalkeeping coaching at grass roots level the Scheme has progressively set up goalkeeping specific courses all over Norfolk and North Suffolk where they now see over 120 goalkeepers a week

Over 6 years FITC has delivered evening sessions in Norwich, Dereham, Fakenham, Gorleston and Lowestoft giving young goalkeepers between the ages of 6 and 15yrs old the opportunity to enjoy their training and improve as goalkeepers.

With this in place it was able to entice former Canary legend Bryan Gunn to team up with Football in the Community and set up The Bryan Gunn Goalkeeping School which provides 1 and 2 day courses that regularly attracts 160 young goalkeepers.

Bryan said ‘ I have first hand experience in seeing what a very professional goalkeeping program FITC are running. The way the coaches interact with the players, the sessions that are delivered and the information the goalkeepers receive meant I was more then happy to put my name to one of their courses and following our 10^th Bryan Gunn Goalkeeping School I am already looking forward to working with them in the future and would recommend anyone to enrol on their courses'.

Football in the Community and Norwich City Academy Goalkeeping Coach Darran Lovell said ‘ What we are trying to do as a Scheme is to improve the standard of goalkeeping all over the County. Not only for ones who filter through into the academy but also for the local clubs who do not have the time or knowledge to improve their goalkeepers due to their commitment to outfield players'.

Lovell who holds the U.E.F.A ‘B' Goalkeeping License and is also a tutor for the FA Level 1 Goalkeeping Award added ‘ Teaching young goalkeepers the basic techniques in a fun environment is paramount to their development.'

‘The 3-tier structure that we work by, the GK Soccer Centres, Player Development Centre and the Academy allows the children to receive the correct coaching at the right level as well as providing them with a path way to progress and an exit route to fall in to.'

‘In the past 6 years there have been 12 goalkeepers who have signed Academy Schoolboy Forms that have come from the FITC Goalkeeping Program, but perhaps more importantly, from a Community point of view, there is a program in place that caters for everyone'.

FITC will be running specific Goalkeeping Centres in Norwich, Dereham and Gorleston from September. For more information regarding the FITC Goalkeeping Program or an application form for the Goalkeeping courses please call the Community Office on 01603 761122 or email fitc@ncfc-canaries.co.uk