A goalkeeper, a center forward and a corner unit

By Tjerk van Herwaarden | Sep 10, 2009 in Blogs

Tjerk (pronounced Cherick) is a native of the Netherlands, and is Technical Director at the University of Maryland. In his four years coaching in the USA he has won an unprecedented three National College Championships with the Univ. of Maryland in just four years there. - 3 time NCAA Champion (2008, 2006 & 2005) ::: 2 time ACC Champion (‘08 & ‘05) - Head Coach Maryland Women's High Performance ::: 2006 National Champions - Head Coach Mid Atlantic Men's High Performance ::: 2008 National Champions - USFHA Level 3+ Accreditation ::: USFHA Level 2 Coaching Course Assessor - USA National Men's Team Assistant Coach - Co-Owner/Director of World Camp USA

Well, here we are, 2 weeks into the 2009 season! And 5-0 is a good start! Everybody kind of expects it from Maryland to do well and be 5-0 but you still need to do it!

I guess the decisions we made as a coaching staff during pre season are working out very well… We have played very different games vs very different opponents and very different playing styles! The way we dealt with each team was different as well! But there is some consistency..

In nowadays hockey you need just 3 vital pieces to be successful!
1) A good Goalkeeper
2) A good Center Forward
3) A good Attack penalty Unit

A good goalkeeper will keep your team in the race when you are going to some tough times or even when your opponent is much better, a goalkeeper playing a good game can be your life saver! Her saves will give your defense confidence and as long as you don’t get scored upon, just 1 goal on the other side will give you a win!

A good center forward has a drive to goal, every reception and opportunity she has is goal orientated to create a goal scoring opportunity out of nothing is a gift and talent, cherish these people as they will decide the game for you… or against you! A very skillful center forward will get you that goal you need or will get the corner that will lead into the goal.

A good attack penalty corner unit is able to score goals even if your team doesn’t play well! The corner conversation rate is about 30% and you have different options from your corner against different corner defense set ups.

Just 3 vital parts any successful team has… When you have players that qualify for being special in their area, gk, forward, hitter on corner, cherish these athletes and help them even making better at their talent! Don’t waste to much time with working on their weaknesses but help them excel with their talent, bring the best of their talent to your team.

At least 3 of our last 5 games have been decided by one of the 3! We had a great GK to keep us in the race with some key saves vs Michigan, we had a Center Forward that got the goals vs Old Dominion and a corner unit that executed well vs NorthWestern.

You need a whole team to be successful, don’t get me wrong but a GK, center forward or corner unit will be game decisive for you when you need it!

Wish you all good luck with your games! Till next week!

Tjerk

Tjerk Van Herwaarden
Technical Director, University of Maryland ::: UMD
Co-Owner, World Camp USA ::: World Camp USA
US Distributor of Princess T14 Hockey Sticks ::: Link