Dowse switches to helmet/cage combo: a reverse of trends

Equipment wise, it's also interesting to note that Dowse has switched from a mask to an old school helmet/cage combo style of head protection.

Cheaper as well as with a wider view for the goalkeeper with that extra advantage of greater peripheral vision being a difference maker (however slight) at the higher levels, this setup can provide a different approach to the game for various reasons. Still very popular in Holland, Germany and India, they are being used less and less in the English game at the top levels as trends change and styles evolve (at least definitely from the time they were introduced and the days of Ian Taylor!).

Whereas masks being based off ice hockey masks which have a more closed shape to aid in protecting the face, with the cage fixed on and screwed into the mask, the older approach has a wider vision, which can help compensate when dealing with broken plays and ones that need a more horizontal viewpoint, like pushing off the post to deal with a pass and shot towards the corner post.

With Canterbury's Stubbings having switched to a mask a few seasons back, and Allan Dick as well making the change in his headgear, there are notably fewer goalkeepers at the national league stage wearing this set-up. Jimi Lewis stuck with the setup to the end of his playing days, but Mason has actually stuck with his new ProMask mask since trying it out last season.

Tommy Alexander actually used to wear a mask in his early days at Reading before switching over at Surbiton and the Gym, whilst Bailey has always stuck with the helmet style as far as I know. With masks more readily available and popular it sticks out that young goalkeepers coming through the ranks are actively chooisng this style of headgear, with its greater peripheral vision at the small cost of protection around the face/ears. I'd like to think that this is down to a higher level knowledge base and a push towards wearing and using bespoke kit perfected to the user's needs and style (something Tommy talks a lot about, and is the genesis basis of his goalkeeping store's customer approach).

As far as I know, this sees the following list of goalkeepers in the national league with this set-up, notably young goalkeepers and those new to the league as well:

• Tommy Alexander (Prem)
• James Bailey (Prem)
• Chris Rhea (Prem) - interesting in that both Rea and Bailey wear the same without having influenced each other (Rea already using the setup!)
• Dowse
• Harleston's Livings (East conference)
• Loughborough's starter (North conference)

Whether we'll see companies look to modernise this design like Mage did with Tim Thomas and ice hockey remains to be seen, but fingers crossed we'll continue to see more goalkeepers going with their personal preferences, and more importantly, knowing the why behind their reasons.

Bailey makes World Cup squad

With the World Cup just around the corner, James Bailey has made the cut for the England squad. With George Pinner looking to take hold of the mantle after waiting in line for the chance, he will be eager to prove himself in the tournament. Patrick Smith, who has been his reserve (presumably more so when Bailey is unavailable) at other times, has been left out, with Bailey having picked up his first cap, getting the nod. If anything should happen, they have a young, emerging goalkeeper, ready to call on. Though, as mentioned before by myself, I still hold to believing in greater competition. James Fair for instance, has a good track record. Belgium kept a good rotation going between Leroy, Vanasch and Gucasoff with Van Rhysselberghe.

If looking at the bigger picture of GB selection, David Kettle would be in for a good shout. Taking Surbiton back to Europe and having a strong debut campaign in the Euro Hockey League are just an indication of how much further he can go with his playing career. Competition and camaraderie will only push the team forward, not just via individual success of the goalkeeper.

http://englandhockey.co.uk/news.asp?itemid=28811&itemTitle=Bobby+Crutchley+names+World+Cup+squad&section=22

Bailey sticking with P1's

With international games and friendlies on the way and going on at the moment, there's a chance to see what kit goalkeepers are using in the run up to serious competition. Reading's James Bailey, who has been benching for the England international squad in place of Patrick Smith, is noticeably sticking with his TK P1 foam kit. An upgrade on the TK Soft range, it will be interesting how they match up to the standard of elite level and the regular beating they'll receive in training sessions. I still think it would be good to have more competition for the first team spot, for the sake of work ethic etc. but kit wise, Gucassof was also seen wearing them having switched for the Euro Hockey League KO16.

Bailey and Smith make squad for French friendlies

With England looking to make the most of the international opportunities in the midway build up to Rio, the coaching management are giving a few of the A side starts against France in upcoming fixtures in March. Bailey will theoretically get the nod as first choice, building on his first cap achieved earlier in the season, with Pinner sitting out for the youngster to get the chance to gain more international match experience in his bid to step up to this level more permanently. Smith, highly ranked by the coaching staff, and now benching again as Fair steps back into the first eleven for Cannock, will be the reserve. But with the number of games, could see himself get his own first team experience aside from the Super Sixes and England A games he has had so far.

http://englandhockey.co.uk/news.asp?itemid=26956&itemTitle=GB+men+training+in+France&section=22

TK producing indoor pad covers??

With quite a few goalkeepers wearing TK embroided pad covers for indoor hockey in England, one wonders whether they will actually be producing them in the near future. Although they look more like a design in the vein of adapted pillow cases, taped on at the sides of the pads, versus the strapping system Verbunt use, someone has still made the effort to get the TK logo embroided on them! Canterbury's Diccon Stubbings (as illustrates below) could be seen wearing them, with a few others spotted in them. James Bailey has also been spotted in them in indoor action for club side Reading and internationally with England indoor of late. Allan Dick playing for Holcombe was also wearing them at the Maxifuels Finals in Wembley yesterday. Seem to be quite a few of the England sponsored TK goalies in them, so are they going to be on the market any time soon?!

International commitments seeing goalkeepers getting the shake around

With the World League competition and the Euro indoor competition underway at the same time the weekend gone and previous, a few nation's elite goalkeepers were required to fill in the gaps. Germany's Reuss for instance, who is impressing for club and country, got the call up to present Germany in the highest tiers of indoor hockey (well, aside from the indoor world cup that is!), with Tim Jessulat getting some playing time for Germany in the World League. 

England also saw goalkeepers split across the divide to ensure the team had experience between the posts, although this didn't stop England from getting relegated in the indoor arena (which could be a useful learning curve instead of calling up England A players to fill in, and perhaps learn from the Dutch method of indoor specific talent central players playing in indoor competition!!). Personally I think if Hendy was still involved in competitive hockey he would have been a better option given his playing style suited the indoor game. 

Bailey was sent to Austria to play for the indoor squad, whilst Patrick Smith went to warm the bench for George Pinner in the World League, although did get some game time, when England were thrashing New Zealand.

Skinner leading the charge at Bath

Not knowing enough about some of the other team's goalkeeping talent on offer (along with lacking knowledge of the North conference!), I thought I'd finish off coverage of the Western conference with Bath. In Tom Skinner, Bath have an experienced Premier league back-up, who offered Beeston cover when George Pinner was involved in the build up to the Bejing Olympics with the GB training squad, that is capable of playing to a consistent level at national league standard. Whilst Bath had youngster James Bailey for the seasons, who is now at Reading, as he studied at Bath, the team were going to need a solid replacement, consequently wisely drafting in the experienced Skinner. Bath have rebuilt and are looking to dominate the hotly contested West conference of the national league, with barely points separating four challengers, so with a consistent and capable goalkeeper behind them, should be able to go the distance. And this season could be the one, with them currently sitting top of the table coming up to the Christmas break.

Bath also have greater depth than a lot of the other squads in the league, with Dan Cattermole waiting in the wings should anything happen to their prized starter. Dan got national league experience whilst playing at Sevenoaks in their demotion season, having earned his colours in the East Regional Premier leagues. And having got international experience (it still counts!) playing with England mixed, as well as Army representation, is an able goalkeeper should he ever need calling upon! 

Bailey struggling with the basics

Another standout point goalkeeping wise from the recent early round action of the Euro Hockey League, was James Bailey's struggles in Reading's game against Rotterdam. Not up to the ability of his previous experience of the Euro Hockey competitive format, the youngster seems to be struggling to "up his game" against higher level opposition. With Reading playing strongly in front of him, when he is exposed to strong chances, it is possible to diagnose points in his game that become undone by smart shooters. While you will see him making those audience thrilling saves, he often seems to struggle with the basics, which, at this level, are simply giveaway goals.

What Reading need and have needed is and was a stronger, perhaps older but more experienced goalkeeper, ready to move away, or out of the way, when the next generation of talent is ready to take over. Much like when Mason stepped aside for Nick Brothers to take over the mantle at Reading, one wonders if Reading have pushed things forward too early in terms of his development. Clubs need to be wary of destroying the confidence of a goalkeeper by pushing them on too quickly: confidence being so key to a goalkeeper performing at their best. Whilst a young starlet goalkeeper might display great positives early on, if they don't have that life maturity or unbreakable spirit when faced with adversity, things can get a bit bumpy and difficult in the journey to developing into an elite, world challenging, goalkeeper. England need to be careful of how their treat the current crop of future goalie talent, wary of burning out possible stars, as has been happening in the football sphere.

On a technical level, it is simple fundamentals and basics that Bailey has been struggling. While a goalkeeper is going to be called upon to make spectacular saves at some point during a game at this level, the basics are just as important, as is the consistency to perform at the same level game in game out over the course of the season and beyond.

On the shot between his legs, he could have turned in with the leg, rather than trying to bring his legs together, making a snapping action in the save attempt, which does little to help him. Against a high glove shot, he is unable to raise his glove up in the miliseconds he has to respond to it, remedied by a higher glove positioning and aggressive push into the save. Bailey mainly seems to fall foul of being overly passive and not attacking the shot. Whilst it is important, Bailey seems to be wary of stepping off that depth to try and challenge the shot, sitting deep and expecting to be able to block. Goalkeepers are more than save makers and he needs to attack shots. Time and again does he hinder himself and hamper his chances by not stepping out to challenge. By staying that deep he exposes too much of the goal, leaving a wide space to exploit by shooters with international level, world class accuracy.

As you can see here, even though he opts to push out in the splits, it does little to help him, given he cannot reach the ball at that distance from him (with too narrow an angle) and ball speed of about potentially 90mph:

Playing on a high scoring team like Reading means that they can normally get away with goalie mistakes. But if they want to go far in the Euro Hockey League or in the NOW Pensions National Premier League, they need strength behind their back four. Young goalkeepers are going to make mistakes, it's part of sport (and life for that matter!), but the maturity to take on board (constructive) criticism and develop a strength of character like Marc-Andre ter Stegen in football, is what is required if Bailey and others like him (Smith, Stubbings et al) if they want to succeed in the direct immediate, rather than long term potential for their playing careers as goalkeepers.

Bailey clearly Reading's immediate future

With Jamie Legg leaving the Berkshire side for conference side Richmond, Reading have sent a message essentially showing their intent going forward and support for England's current second choice (having been drafted in recently for the WHL and other games, getting his debut kept coming on at half time against Germany, replacing Pinner for the half split), entrusting the youngster and potential future star James Bailey with the command of their backguard. Building off the back of his performances in his debut in the Euro Hockey League, beating Dutch stalwarts and powerhouse  Rotterdam in the penalty shuttles in over time, before going down against KHC Dragons, the former Old Loughtonians product is well on his way to being part of the world's elite, if only he makes the most of the opportunities coming to him.

Having signed with Reading whilst doing his Master's, James was still playing with Bath in BUCS games mid-week games, having got three seasons in with the Buccaneers team after joining them at the spritely age of 18 and being the clear cut chosen one (not like the Matrix though!). With the level of quality being so differing, he may have struggled psychologically and with the differences in speed and quality. And this is important for the Berkshire team considering they don't have a 1B goalie to turn to; the role that Legg filled. What the ice hockey analysts call in terms of having a 50/50 split between goalies starting and a solid second option that can 'step between the pipes' and still get the points if necessary.

If Bailey was to go down with injury say (as with any of the teams where the gap between incumbent and reserve choices is huge), then Reading would be a quite a tight spot and tricky situation. The other drawback is that there is no competition for the spot, meaning Bailey could drift in quality without being pushed from competition in the goalie ranks, as have been seen so many times with English national league goalies over so many seasons. With the World Cup taking place next year, the Euro Hockey League and the NOW Pension's league will be a great practise ground for the rising star seen as the next England number one. Reading have got quite a few new signings as they look to return to being one of England's hockey powerhouses after slipping in form in comparison to their glory days, and Bailey will be fortunate to play behind such a strong squad where the goal scoring talent will make the difference in the form of recently capped international Dan Shingles and the incredibly gifted, experienced and talented ex-East Grinstead Darren Cheesman.

Whilst he stumbled early on with cheap goals through the legs and so on, Bailey was able to turn the ship around and help Reading get up to third in the season finishing. What's interesting here is that Reading didn't put Legg back in when Bailey struggled and faltered, which would have got them points but caused trouble for Bailey's confidence. Confidence being such an important factor in a goalie's performance. Versus that of how Canterbury managed the similar situation with Stubbings, where he was benched and Cowling was brought back into the squad.

One of Bailey's Achilles heels is his ability to watch through drag flicks, which was really exposed when he was called up to England U21's in the Junior World Cup four years ago and exploited by other teams, especially India, as written about before. Rather than watching all the way through as say Stockmann does, he struggles to make the saves, possibly not having the elite skill of "silent eye" (explanation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPZCCpmRObw), going the other way against flicks. Turning and pushing the body weight in the other direction is going to make well executed world class drag flicks a real difficulty, as the goalkeeper is already commited to going one way and cannot switch to the appropriate side properly, moving the glove away from the ball if standing and putting themselves "out of the play". As you can see here against the Dragons, where he goes right against a high flick out to his left:

Barry Jukes is still around at the club and has been the reserve choice for quite some time, for the outdoor league, as well as for the indoor season, through Nick Brother's playing days and beyond. Not the funnest job (or sporting role) in the history of sport, but this humble position plays an incredibly important role in sports psychology and mentoring/relationship scenario, wherein the Goalies Union takes care of helping out the first choice for the betterment of the team and provides a strong presence in the dressing room. Chris Osgood in ice hockey for example was great at this and was able to consistently help out the goalie ahead of him on the team sheet. It's a team game and helping out your team like this is such a crucial and overlooked role! You may want competition, but the second choice doesn't always like the way the first choice treats them if snidy about it (re. Lehman and Almunia); but with a positive and encouraging outlook, it makes life better, rather than pointlessly difficult, for everyone involved.

They have also picked up new goalkeeping option from Richmond, in the form of Gary Noble, with Legg being a sort of trade in terms of Gary having been at Richmond previously. This is a good chance for him to make an impression and be a solid second chance, if the prefered option for the 2's and also to be involved in a higher level of hockey at training and for travelling and being part of the squad at the upcoming Euro Hockey League games. That and his experience and maturity will help Bailey out as he grows as a person and player.

For the upcoming season, Bailey is in a great position to really impress. He could outdo Pinner in the Euro Hockey League and get further and perhaps try and pull off a medal winning tournament as Brothers did when he was there. He just has to want it and to stop listening to overdone praise and look to self criticise to better his own game and work on it to be the best around. Should Bailey falter, I don't think Reading will turn to any of their other goalkeepers, but if he was to get injured, I could see Noble taking the opportunity by the hands and "stepping up to the plate" as it were to deliver the goods, but the lack of competition is still a fierce worry. 

Bailey makes full international debut

In the third and final match of the Belgium series, Reading's first choice goalkeeper was substituted for George Pinner and took over in the sticks for the second half. Bailey has obviously rocketed from junior international inclusion during his time at Old Loughtonians, before going on to Bath to start as their first choice and then across to Reading to become a premier league starter. With European experience this year and playing time in the premier league division after beating out Jamie Legg, he has cemented the next stage in his development as an elite goalkeeper. Opportunities with England should only further his development and progress his playing ability and chances. It sounds like both corner goals he allowed were to his left, so that sounds like a detail to work on.

http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/news.asp?itemid=24330&itemTitle=Belgium+earn+third+victory+over+England&section=22