Chris C.

I have been a goalkeeper coach and skills trainer with Westside Soccer in New York City for the past two years, where I have worked with several current and former New York area college coaches. I am currently the director of the goalkeeper core skills training program.

I attended Columbia University, and I coached soccer at The School at Columbia University.

Prior to moving to New York, I was a goalkeeper coach for Premier Panthers/FC Dallas Academy El Paso for two years.

I typically work with goalkeepers in the U10-U18 range, but I am comfortable training players as young as U8 all the way up to adults.

In high school, I was a four year varsity soccer player and captained the team my senior year, while I was also selected as a city-wide all-star. I later played at Premier Development League (PDL) level with the El Paso Patriots. After a prolonged illness, I was forced to end my competitive playing career and I turned my focus to coaching and developing young goalkeeping talent.

Goalkeeper coaches often rush younger players into repeated big dives (which can easily lead to injury if done improperly) because many parents mistakenly value flashy saves over intelligent goalkeeping (what I like to call GK IQ).

I was trained for most of my youth by former Mexican National Team goalkeeper Eduardo Fernandez, and I have retained a large part of his coaching style and focus on 'intelligent goalkeeping' that prioritizes excellent technique, positioning, footwork, and anticipation of play (you often don’t have to make a spectacular save if you’re in the perfect position!).

I am a firm believer that for reasons of both health/safety and on-field performance, younger goalkeepers should work on perfecting diving form, body balance, and total understanding of the goalkeeper position before learning more advanced ‘big’ diving and shot-stopping techniques, and that keepers of all levels should constantly work to maintain proper form and improve positioning (both of which greatly reduce the chance of injury). This doesn't mean my sessions are easy, though; come ready to work hard and finish tired!

In addition to the skills and qualities listed above, my sessions also focus on reflex development, hand-eye-body coordination, agility/explosiveness training, and shot-stopping techniques, increasing in difficulty with age and experience. I tailor sessions to the needs of each player and I offer detailed evaluation in writing at regular intervals.

I also like to assign ‘homework’ consisting of quick, fun activities and challenges to master outside of our sessions that improve coordination or reflexes and reinforce key concepts (these tend to be fun and very popular among both players and their parents!).