Loughborough are another team where the talent base is strong but not as such perhaps in goalie terms, only in the sense that during one season alone they had the GB starter (McGregor, who was, at the time) and two prospects that are now premier league starters in their own right (Potton and Millington), like the depth that was there for Exeter University last season, with three possible starters and only two spots available, meaning competition was incredibly tough. But for now, it's a case in point of a young talent , like Jimi Lewis in the hockey scene, or Buffon/Casillas/Afinegenov (Russia's recent elite goalie) et al. Harry burst onto the season last season, having been given the chance to shine after the retirement of Scottish and GB international Ali McGregor who with his memorable performanace at the Beijing Olympics, was seen as heir apparent after Steve Bayer's retirement. McGregor had purposefully taken up such an opporunity to recreate his game and pushed himself to compete at this level of the game, rising from sixth to first choice from an ironwill of determination and refined game play.
And now, having mentored him for a season, McGregor chose to leave hockey for the time being (focusing more on his teaching career), much like Mason moving away from Reading to pave the way for Nick Brothers way back when. Rather than the curse of the sophomore season for the young goalie, wherein a youngster fails to do as well as their did in their debut season, I think Gibson should be able to build on the experiences he has; game experience being worth so much more than any training session can provide, for any goalie and really go for it this season. He has the desire, the competitiveness, learning mindset and the coaching (with goalie input too) in the mix, so it's a case of pushing himself and setting his own targets for personal achievements.
Whilst he did have a few bad games last season (not in the same regard as Stubbings possibly), that's going to be expected of any young goalie; sometimes the nerves can get to you and have a knock-on effect in a negative way on performance. In this case and instance, the coach needs to show their commitment and trust in the goalie and allow them to battle it out and ride out the storm in order for the goalie to return to their best, as Arsene Wenger should be doing, say. And with regards to Harry's form, there is a lot of great raw qualities to build from and refine. He helped Loughborough battle through some tough games, and whilst some of the performances weren't representative of his true ability, he was only 19 at the time in his first ever national premier league season! Being the youngsest starting goalie in the league is no mean feat and something to be lauded, applauded and encouraged. He was able to show that age is just a number and goalies can still be awesome from a younger age now given the quality of coaching and analysis not available in years gone by.
Loughborough is a great hockey powerhouse (starting to be challenged in form by Exeter, Cardiff and others) and has been the catalyst for producing quite some quality goalies. Tom Millington studied there, as did Potton, Phil Carr did and so on. So the uni set-up is actually one of the best goalie producers in the British Isles. With Harry away on international duty for the U21's in India not that far off, they will probably need cover in the shape of their second choice, who played in the indoor leagues and didn't do too badly either, which is bonus as they don't want to lose costly points in their national league campaign this season. His form has gained interest from all the right people to the point of being selected to play for England A in friendlies over the summer, another step up the ladder for the future.
For this season, I think Harry will do well and can go above and beyond last season's successes if everything clicks. I'd like to see him push Lufbra back up the table, back to where they were in 2009 say when they were competing in the Euro Hockey League and were doing incredibly well in the competition format, but it will be up to him and the squad to work together to make that a realistic achievement.
And now, having mentored him for a season, McGregor chose to leave hockey for the time being (focusing more on his teaching career), much like Mason moving away from Reading to pave the way for Nick Brothers way back when. Rather than the curse of the sophomore season for the young goalie, wherein a youngster fails to do as well as their did in their debut season, I think Gibson should be able to build on the experiences he has; game experience being worth so much more than any training session can provide, for any goalie and really go for it this season. He has the desire, the competitiveness, learning mindset and the coaching (with goalie input too) in the mix, so it's a case of pushing himself and setting his own targets for personal achievements.
Whilst he did have a few bad games last season (not in the same regard as Stubbings possibly), that's going to be expected of any young goalie; sometimes the nerves can get to you and have a knock-on effect in a negative way on performance. In this case and instance, the coach needs to show their commitment and trust in the goalie and allow them to battle it out and ride out the storm in order for the goalie to return to their best, as Arsene Wenger should be doing, say. And with regards to Harry's form, there is a lot of great raw qualities to build from and refine. He helped Loughborough battle through some tough games, and whilst some of the performances weren't representative of his true ability, he was only 19 at the time in his first ever national premier league season! Being the youngsest starting goalie in the league is no mean feat and something to be lauded, applauded and encouraged. He was able to show that age is just a number and goalies can still be awesome from a younger age now given the quality of coaching and analysis not available in years gone by.
Loughborough is a great hockey powerhouse (starting to be challenged in form by Exeter, Cardiff and others) and has been the catalyst for producing quite some quality goalies. Tom Millington studied there, as did Potton, Phil Carr did and so on. So the uni set-up is actually one of the best goalie producers in the British Isles. With Harry away on international duty for the U21's in India not that far off, they will probably need cover in the shape of their second choice, who played in the indoor leagues and didn't do too badly either, which is bonus as they don't want to lose costly points in their national league campaign this season. His form has gained interest from all the right people to the point of being selected to play for England A in friendlies over the summer, another step up the ladder for the future.
McGregor in his playing days in a game post-Beijing.
For this season, I think Harry will do well and can go above and beyond last season's successes if everything clicks. I'd like to see him push Lufbra back up the table, back to where they were in 2009 say when they were competing in the Euro Hockey League and were doing incredibly well in the competition format, but it will be up to him and the squad to work together to make that a realistic achievement.
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