About Us

"I started training goalkeepers in the Spring of 1993.  A mom asked me if I could train her son to become a goalkeeper.  At the time, I really did not know what that meant but every week we would train on diving and saving shots.  As I began to learn that being a GK was more than just one component, I began to train different topics each week for him.  I remember growing up and going to Joe Machnik's summer camps that we learned how to use our footwork to catch, dive, breakaway techniques, dealing with crosses, distribution, etc. 

So, each week I would work on a different topic.  As this GK became better at the position, word spread and they would ask the mom.  She would refer my name and I went from 1 GK to 4 GKs.  As these GKs got older and became my first college athletes, the numbers grew into dozens of GKs that wanted to train.  I developed a small group system in which they could still get the instruction needed to improve but know their peers would be able to give tips and kudos to what each of them were doing. 

This created a culture that was healthy, a union of like-minded people that had the same goals - to get better and go to college. 

​

In 1996, I wanted to create a full academy for goalkeepers.  Somewhere we could do weekly training at age appropriate levels.  I learned that having a 10 year old and a 16 year old just didn't work in the full picture and the process of learning.  They were at different developmental ages and needed to have the appropriate training for their age and skill levels.  Soccer is taught in 4 pillars: Technical, Tactical, Psychical, & Mental/Psychological.  I wanted the goalkeepers to understand this concept at each age level.  "You wouldn't have a 4th grader learning things that a sophomore in high school is learning and vice versa"  If I wanted to teach and coach like a school setting, it made sense that my name will be that of a school. 

Since we trained in Southern California, it made sense that my Academy name would be:  SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOOL of GOALKEEPING.   

As it grew, I wanted to stay true to my namesake.  I created clinics to go over specific topics, I wrote documents that I could email to parents about Tactical and Mental parts of goalkeeping, and I create live classroom teaching to go over items that were hard to accomplish on the fields.  We set up trips to Europe so the GKs could see the world and also see how other places train their goalkeepers.  I set up camps to mimic what I was taught when I went to summer camps from Joe Machnik, Frans Hoez, and Tony DiCicco.  One of my favorite things at GK camp was Keeper Wars at the #1 Goalkeeping camp by Dr. Joe Machnik.  This was the last piece of the school that I wanted to add.  An event that GKs could come play with other GKs and only for GKs.  In 2003, we had our 1st SCSG KEEPEER WARS TOURNAMENT. It was a blast and the GKs loved it.  We would hold them at camps and sometimes we would do a full tournament but it wasn't until 2008 that we started the true 1st ANNUAL SCSG KEEPER WARS TOURNAMENT and have been doing them ever since.  

​

Fast-forward to date:  We are now a fully-functional goalkeeper academy.  We are able to provide weekly training, specific topic clinics, camps, residential camps, classroom workshops, game assessments, video analysis, and college workshops.  We have seen over 200 GKs go into college,  a few handfuls have gone on to play professional, several have been on the national team or national pools, 2 have played in a World Cup and 1 has played in the olympics.  We continue to evolve and give the best teaching methods that we feel the GKs need.  We are an advocate, a teacher, an ally, and a union.  All because of a mom that wanted her son to become just a little better at a specialized position.  We owe everything to her and remind her each year on how thankful not only we are but what she has helped to create for 100's of GKs all across the nation.

~ Jeff Tackett  ~

Director