Goalkeeping

Chris Maravalli - Director of Goalkeeping  EMAIL

Goalkeeping Staff Career Highlights:

  • US Club Soccer id2 National Goalkeeping Staff

  • NCAA Division 1 (Top 25) Coaching Experience

  • NCAA Division 2 (National Champions) Coaching Experience

  • NCAA Division 3 (Top 10) Coaching Experience

  • NJCAA Head Coaching Experience

  • Professional Playing Experience (WPS, WPSL, USL, Iceland, Costa Rica)

  • Region 2 ODP Goalkeeping Staff

  • Wisconsin State ODP Goalkeeping Director

  • South Texas ODP Goalkeeping Staff

  • US Soccer Development Academy Goalkeeping Director

  • NCAA Division 1 Playing Experience (Univ. of Nebraska, Univ. of Oklahoma, Western Michigan University, Cal-State Bakersfield)

  • NCAA Division 3 Playing Experience (Hobart College)

  • Directors of Tony DiCicco’s SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School

  • Coached 2 Collegiate All-Americans

  • Coached 2 Current US National Pool Goalkeepers

  • 4 Players have played in WPS and NWSL (Houston Dash, St Louis Athletica, Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars)

Challenge, with our long and proud history of developing the best goalkeepers in Houston and South Texas, has established itself as the place to be for any serious minded goalkeeper. For many years we have placed great emphasis on the goalkeeper position and have dedicated valuable resources to their training environment. We are the only club in Houston to have FOUR goalkeeper coaches, three of whom are full-time staff members. Each primary area of Challenge (Klein, East, South, Aggieland) has their own goalkeeper coach who follows and implements our specific Goalkeeper Training Curriculum, helping create consistency and continuity amongst our players and locations. Our unmatched goalkeeping program develops players in all four pillars of soccer (technique, tactics, physical development, psychological development) while instilling in them a love of the position as well as new found confidence and leadership skills they can take back to their team.

Topics Covered and Refined Throughout the Goalkeeper Developmental Process:
 

  • Basic Catching and Shot Handling
  • Basic Diving (Collapse and Smothers)
  • Breakaways
  • Advanced Shot Handling
  • Advanced Diving and Shot Stopping (Extension, Back to the Bar, Parrying)
  • Cross Assessment and Handling
  • 3-Goal Scenario
  • Distribution
  • Angle Arc and Vertical Positioning
  • Dealing with Space Behind the Back Line
  • Footwork
  • Communication and Organization
  • Set Piece Organization
  • Back Passes
  • The Goalkeeper as the First Attacker

By providing an open forum at the U8-U11 ages, we allow players to experience the position, gain an enthusiasm for it, and then decide if it is something they would like to pursue. Players who show great promise, or a desire to pursue the position further, then move on to advanced training at the U12-U18 ages where they will hone their technical, tactical, physical, and psychological skills necessary for the position. Our goalkeepers attend either one or two sessions each week, in a SMALL GROUP setting, and are pushed out of their comfort zones while competing with their teammates in a competitive, energetic, and fun environment.

  1. staff trained goalkeepers have gone on to play at some of the most prestigious collegiate programs in the country. Those schools include:

  • Texas Tech University
  • Texas A&M University
  • Texas Christian University
  • Duke University
  • Stanford University
  • Purdue University
  • Clemson University
  • Oklahoma State University
  • North Carolina State University
  • Loyola University (IL)
  • Stephen F Austin University
  • McNeese State University
  • University of Tennessee
  • University of Mississippi
  • University of Hawaii
  • University of Missouri
  • University of Houston
  • University of Wisconsin
  • University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  • University of North Carolina-Greensboro
  • University of San Francisco