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! 

Pinnegar giving Birmingham a fighting chance

Being a university side (as the name suggests!) the first eleven University of Birmingham team will have to go through changes as they see in and out new and old faces, so having a regular and consistent goalkeeper to turn to is going to be of great use for a squad in transition each year, as they push on from being able to establish a strong foothold in the league, into being table toppers. And Birmingham are lucky to have GBU21's reserve goalkeeper Pinnegar as their starting goalkeeper for the past few seasons, offering a level of consistency in spite of his age.

Having blogged previously about his playing opportunities, Pinnegar was at Cannock for a short while, but with Patrick Smith now establishing himself for the Staffordshire side after deputisying for London's GB starter Fair, Pinnegar would have struggled to break into the squad, simply because of Smith's own level of experience and Fair's, so signing with Birmingham was a good move considering the need for game time and experience for young goalies to develop and achieve their best as they look to bloom. Birmingham have been doing well the past few seasons and are currently challenging beyond mid-table as they battle it out with other university side Exeter for points, these tough games helping Pinnegar establish himself as a national league starter and for participating in GBU21 action this season.

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Cowling backstopping Havant

Havant have the most goalkeepers registered in any national league squad for this season upcoming, along with East Grinstead, at the maximum of four. But they arguably have the most depth in the league, although Beeston are in for a good shout as they have enough depth to help them through George Pinner's international training schedule and involvement. Caelen Dillon joins from Winchester, with experience at junior international level, whilst Ben Cowling, Canterbury's first choice for the latter end of last season, with his own junior experience at U21's a while ago, joins via change of work and life circumstances (or however you phrase it!).

Personally from what I have seen, Cowling is not up to scratch, like some of the goalkeepers in the national league, which can be argued with quantified results, analysis and stats. Cowling's main facet is his unbreakable confidence, which all (something you can learn from the career of Ray Clemence, who would dust himself down and get back at it, every game, as they say). Havant looked like they were going to be back in the Premier league by this season, and were doing really well, with great consistency, but then started to falter, losing their confidence in an unexpected loss away to Guildford.

Yes, Cowling has experience, and some natural talent is there, but just because a goalkeeper plays behind a strong team it doesn't make him a good goalkeeper. When judging it should be on current standard of play, it shouldn't be "oh, so and so plays for Man Utd ergo he must be awesome". Cesar at QPR played outstandingly at QPR last season because he had a porous defence in front of him, not the other way round!! I know it sounds harsh, but if we want hockey to be of the same standard as the "professionals", then we have to be critical and push for more analysis and better able athletes in goal, rather than putting whoever wants to go in goal there.

He showed promise to start the season, but then things have seemed to go a little awry. And without that confidence level his game will probably fall to pieces, so he needs to reset and refind his game before the team implode in front of him. A lot like Gomes, sports psychology is incredibly important for goalkeepers; without it athletes struggle, the game is always 90% mental and 10% talent as they say. But it is not just that. I have seen him get beaten by simple shots, such as when making the choice to log against drag flicks, when playing for Canterbury, which are unjustifiable at the elite level, showing poor decision making, and will go punished if this type of thing continues. If he were to attack the ball more rather than be so passive with his size, he would also see different results.

Working with a goalkeeper coach, as they have at Havant, which is quite a rarity in English hockey to be honest, regularly should help him ground his technique for the game. This with working on the fundamentals that are the basis for any elite goalkeeper. But whilst he started strong, things have started to hit a bumpy road.

Here you can see Cowling's newly changed hand positioning

 at short corners as he leads his defence on this PC.

The goalkeepers around the club also demonstrate different approaches in technique and kit, which is better for the game. Although, if the team are used to playing with a certain style of goalkeeper and need perhaps to change it up, they need a reserve goalkeeper that can play in this way too. For instance a like for like match; take Freidel playing differently to Lloris for Tottenham and the results, for an analogy! Matt Weeks featured when Isaacs went down injured last season and Aaron Hoare has featured in the indoor seasons with Isaacs (now at Bromley) not making an appearance, although it would have been interesting to see him have adapted his sweeper keeper to indoor with a radical style, if improving on that of Andrew Charter's throwback development in recent years.

Other than that, Caelen has got all the skills to be an elite starter down the line, and the make-up of a long term champion, if he sticks with it and works hard to get there. With goalkeepers difficult to scout because they mature later, if he sticks to finetuning the technique he has so far, he should definitely be in contention for senior international selection. In my opinion he could have a similar "career" (for some reason ) path like Jimi Lewis, like when he himself was at Havant. He's grounded and shows maturity and the desire to improve, which reflects in his play. He took over as first chance for England U18's over the summer by battling for the shirt at the recent Junior tournament in Spain. He is confident with his feet on short corners, a facet of the contemporary game which allows better rebound control and reactive saves, and shows a strong, grounded base of technique, plus the confidence and game psychology to go with it. And these are sure signs of true potential.

Mason: Guildford's "grey beard"

Leading the pack of the veterans of the English national league is stalwart "old timer" (meant positively using the American slang of the NHL and beyond!) who offers a different approach to the game and an intense level of consistency for the team he plays for. With a style of hybridised technique and broad depth. With his wealth of experience and level of consistency, he is an example of elite level goalkeeping for others to learn from, and has great insight into the game, on a higher level of thinking.

Mason provides an incredibly stable presence "between the sticks" for the Surrey outfit, a high level of goalkeeper and player that Guildford can rely on to bail them out of trouble and keep them in games or keep them "leveled up" (i.e. ahead of the opposition on that front!), as he practically steals wins for them with his play. For instance, in their win at home over a strong side in Havant (which I was lucky enough to get alone to, a great goalie performance to watch). But I think sometimes they can end up over relying on the ex-GB Olympian as they sometimes expect more of him than the required effort of playing as a team!

Whilst his playing style might hark back to a game from days gone by, he proffers an important signature on the coaching of goalkeepers. He plays a style that is totally unique to him and whilst now all sports seem to be obsessed with coaching a system for all, rather than coaching out the natural born (god given, however you want to phrase it!) talents, to the detriment of goalkeepers' development. I would go as far as saying coaches should coach goalkeepers appropriate to the goalkeeper, and place emphasis on the positives of playing as Mason does. With his extreme height, agility, athleticism, and ability to read the game like a chess board (like Hasek did in the NHL and the best natural shot stoppers purely do!).

Mason plays a style that is unique to his physiological nature and inherent talents, a sort of Pat Jennings of hockey, with his long limbed lackadasical approach, a lot like Triggs (who could probably also be playing if he wanted to, given his level of talent!). For goalie coaches and developing goalkeepers alike, he is a goalkeeper to inspire, encourage and learn from, if England hope to ever have another star goalkeeper in their midst. Rather than copy literally, it's important to focus on the goalkeeper as their own goalkeeper, rather than the "next Simon Mason" as England hockey seems to be obsessed with, though!

Harris bolstering Fareham

At Fareham, they are very fortunate to have a solid elite level goalkeeper in George Harris. Much like Simon Mason is the rock upon which the team is built at Guildford (currently struggle as a result of a loss of key players), Fareham are able to push further up the league for honours because of his abilities. Providing an aura of calm and consistency, as every coach wants from their goalkeeper, Harris is arguably one of the best goalkeepers around the league. 

Whilst this may be a step down from the level he is used to, as I firmly believe he is still capable of playing for a Premier league side, he is the back bone of this squad and is still capable of athletic double saves and such despite his age. This level of experience cannot be bought or gained through short cuts and having fought his way to the top via a stint at Old Loughtonians, he has that battling mindset against adversity that sets him apart from the competition. On Potton's return from Loughborough Students, Harris was phased out of his involvement with the team, in spite of providing them with the ability to up his game and push them further on in the Euro Hockey League, something Potton has really struggled with, from both sides of the argument.

Kit wise, gone are the days when Harris was wearing a helmet/cage "combo" at Old Louts, having moved to an Obo mask, but is still in ice hockey elbow pads. He has made the significant switch from Obo to Mercian for foam (kickers, pads and gloves), but also gone for the new style Mercian rhp. Interestingly, he was using the thinner profile rhp design (Obo hi control) for quite some time previous, only making the not-so-recent-now (!) switch to the larger blocking profile style rhp (Obo hi rebound) in the season that Potton joined.

But much like Rooke, Fareham will struggle without a goalkeeper of his quality, when he does finally have to make the decision of stepping away from the game at this level of competition.

Rooke still going strong at Cheltenham

With Cheltenham having avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth last season, as Whitchurch went down, and they scrapped it out for survival in the relegation playoffs, they are still sticking with their first choice in Rooke. At the age of post-30 and post twilight years of goalkeeping, Rooke joins a unique club in the national league, with only Mason (as the oldest!), Hibbert and Harris of a similar age. Whilst this is not always heard of, Clemence played for a 35 year career in football, Hasek played until post-40 in the NHL, as did Belfour, and so on, so Rooke can still provide Cheltenham "with the goods as they say"! The years of experience, knowledge of angles and positioning merges with natural reaction speeds, like Buffon shows in his goalkeeping displays. It is no bad thing and is easier for a coach to turn to a wily veteran than a youngster they are worried about placing their trust in.

At 35 he still has it and is still very athletic. But seems to struggle with some basics, like kicking (approach, run up, angle, distance of clearance/power etc. etc.). With no competition to push him, or regular goalkeeper coaching, bad habits can easily sneak in, as I have found myself. From seeing him play in person, it seems going back to basics (focusing on each shot shot-by-shot and simple things like kicking etc.) will help him dominate the league, when combined with his in-built qualities. When he does finally hang up the pads, they will potentially struggle to find a goalkeeper of the same ability and experience to provide them with elite goalkeeping.

Cardiff sticking with Dudley

Not knowing much about the North conference, I will problably skip through the other conferences for profiling the national league goalkeepers in action. I will try and wrap up the ambitious rundown of all the goalies, in spite of the season already been well under way!

And in the West conference of the English national league, Cardiff starter Ben Dudley is providing the Welsh team a chance at performing to the same level they did last season, as they won the league and played in the playoff format, in which they lost out to Wimbledon and Sheffield in the end. Like many teams, his status is pretty much undisputed, although Cardiff gave their young deputy a run out in the Euro Hockey League as Cardiff made their debut in that format of the tournament.

Dudley also has a pedrigee outside of goalkeeping, helping coach with England juniors and their goalkeepers. Dudley is very vocal and commanding at times, although like a lot of national league goalkeepers, this isn't an ever present or consistent feature. And he also struggles with some basics, as a lot of goalkeepers at this level do, but is at least constant with his game all season out. One of Monarch's main user, he was using them before Monarch signed up George Pinner.