Two of the Fire’s young goal keepers had a chance to work with some of the best in football at the Roar Academy in Brisbane.
Goal keepers Nathan Foster, Under 12 Boys; and Savanna Bowtell-Harris, Under 18 Girls, attended the camp during the school holidays, on encouragement from Fire goal keeping coach Antony Hall.
Bowtell-Harris only became involved in goal keeping this season after playing as a mid-fielder in the past.
“The reason I have stuck with it is probably because of the adrenaline rush it provides,” she said.
“It is an intense and scary position at times, but in the end the team has to know they can trust you to be there as the last line of defence.”
This season is also Foster’s first as a goal keeper, after his Under 11s Coach Michael Williams encouraged him to trail in the position.
“Although I hadn’t been a goal keeper before, I liked helping to direct the play and the enjoyment of stopping a goal.” Foster said.
During the three-day Roar Academy, experienced coaches took Bowtell-Harris and Foster through a series of drills focusing on the importance of relative handling, reflexes, positioning and game situations.
The young footballers met EPL goal keeper and Roar keeper Coach Jason Kearton, Brisbane Roar’s Michael Theo and Matt Acton and Brisbane Roar W-League keeper Kate Stewart.
“I was excited to meet Michael Theo; he ran a session on the first day that focused on handling and footwork,” Bowtell-Harris said.
“Michael really emphasised how important footwork was and how it could lead to good handling which is important for games.”
Both goal keepers learned new elements to focus on in their NPL games.
“I need to dominate the box, attack the ball and speed up my reaction time,” Foster said.
Bowtell-Harris said when she returned from injury she would be looking to bring in a lot of communication with her team mates as an extra player they could pass back to.
Both Bowtell-Harris and Foster hope to one day play professionally as goal keepers.
