USL PRO News Release
Thursday, January 23, 2014
TAMPA, Fla. – The 2014 USL PRO Combine presented by Nike opened on Thursday afternoon at the world-class facilities of IMG Academy, with 12 top goalkeepers put through a rigorous technical training session by the assembled coaches. As USL PRO coaches looked on, the goalkeepers were put through a series of challenging exercises as the goalkeeping staff worked on player technique.
“We’re very pleased with the quality of the goalkeepers,” USL National Technical Director Peter Mellor said. “Without a doubt, everybody deserves to be here, and already we feel there are certainly two or three that in the consensus of the coaching staff are certainly more than capable of playing USL PRO.”
Among the coaches that worked with each group of four goalkeepers was U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeping coach Paul Rodgers, Portland Timbers Academy and Goalkeeping Director Adam Smith, and IMG Academy Goalkeeping Director Scott Bowers. With the decades of experience among the Combine coaching staff, the goalkeepers were looking to get the most out of the time they got to works individually before the outfield players arrive on Friday.
“We got to focus on some details, which was nice,” former Panama City Beach Pirates goalkeeper Sean Lewis said. “You get whatever you put into it, if you really want to learn from the coaches, you ask them questions, you’re going to learn a lot.”
The USL PRO Combine continues with a pair of training sessions on Friday, the morning a second session dedicated to goalkeepers and a full-squad session in the afternoon that will bring all 102 players together for the first time.
Saturday will then bring the start of three rounds of scrimmages between the six teams. Eight of the nine scrimmages will be streamed live on the USL PRO YouTube channel by Tourbeau Sports, with live updates also available on Twitter (@USLPRO) and daily updates on Facebook, Google+ and Instagram (@USLPRO).