A stuttering start

When I first started this blog back in September, I probably expected to be further along the road than I am right now. Lockdown was over and, although I was fairly a certain the dreaded “second wave” was on the horizon, I was hopeful that by mid-January 2021 we’d be back training regularly with some semblance of normality beginning to dawn from the darkness that has swallowed up so much of our lives this last 10 months.

Alas, perhaps unsurprisingly given the trajectory this pandemic has taken thus far, that has not been the case, and I found myself having taken just one session since the start of November, leaving my journey into coaching stuttering before it’s even really had a chance to being.

The world of goalkeeper coaching is a generous one and I’ve kept myself busy by taking advantage of some of the fantastic resources put out there online by some of the industries top contributors. Just this week, Birmingham City women’s coach Tony Elliott shared some incredibly in-depth and useful resources surrounding goalkeeper development in lockdown, whilst just last night I tuned in to watch Dagenham & Redbridge goalkeeper coach (and glove maestro) Glen Johnson discuss his career to date as well as his views and opinions on coaching and the game in general.

There are certainly amply resources out there to continue learning and development, but nothing, particularly at this stage of my journey, is as useful as getting out on the grass (or 3G) and getting hands-on (pardon the pun) with the real thing. Just before lockdown #2 took hold, I was lucky enough to be able to observe a semi-pro session at AFC Sudbury, picking up skills and knowledge of things that I would have loved to have been able to try myself, but I guess that will just have to wait.

Perhaps the end is in sight, or perhaps it isn’t – personally I’ve given up trying to predict where this pandemic will go next or what winding path it will take to get there, but let’s hope that it isn’t too long before we can get back to what we love doing. I had hoped to have at least booked myself on to some coaching courses by this point to, but as with everything else, that’s had to hit the backburner for a while too. Fingers crossed it’s not for too long…

See you on the other side!