Jeff Oleck began coaching right after his playing days at Valparaiso University came to an end. He started his coaching journey assisting at Wabash for 3 years, before returning to his alma mater for another 4 years with the Crusaders. He then accepted a position at Northwestern University, where he spent another 3 years before leaving the college game for his current role.

Jeff moved out to Colorado in 2017 to take a position with the Colorado Storm, who then merged with the Colorado Rapids in 2018 where he assumed his current role of Associate Director of GK.

​Coach

Jeff Oleck: Associate Director of Goalkeeping at Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club (CRYSC).

Topic 1: Field of Dreams Uganda

Jeff learned about the Field of Dreams organization in 2009 while assisting at Valparaiso University through a charity game hosted each year. After being a part of the game and seeing the impact it had on the organization, he wanted to become more involved. Since then, Jeff then served on their board of directors for 5 years, and has made 2 mission trips to Uganda.

Topic 2: Journey into Coaching 

Jeff was influenced to start coaching by his assistant coach at Valparaiso his senior year of college. He joined as an assistant at Wabash College in Indiana and really dove fully into coaching from there, taking on multiple positions at the club level in addition to the college team. Jeff then re-joined his college alma mater at Valpo, where he spent 4 years with his old head coach and started taking on higher level club responsibilities. Through some Chicago connections (s/o EXACT Sports), Jeff took an assistant position at Northwestern where he spent 3 years.

Jeff transitioned to the club side full time late 2017, where he was influenced to work more on the development side. He took a GK director position with the Colorado Storm, who then merged with the current pro team Colorado Rapids in 2018 -- Jeff as the role of Associate Director of Goalkeeping, a position he still holds today.

Topic 3: DA Termination

Jeff talks about his connection to the DA and how he has been involved with it since its inauguration in 2007. He expressed his disappointment in seeing the league go and concern for some clubs that do not have MLS parent clubs. The challenge now falls into the hands of individual clubs to provide a route to achieve their goals, whether that be at the collegiate level or professionally. We also discuss the potential outlook for high level soccer and how it may impact the recruiting process, targeted events for college coaches.

Topic 4: Advice for Goalkeepers within a Large Club

Jeff talks about how his club manages the large numbers of goalkeepers within their system and how it is important to keep a personal setting. We also discuss how the development for goalkeepers is longer than a normal player, and how it is important to trust the process.

Topic 5: Mentality for Goalkeepers

We discuss the importance and pressure of the goalkeeper position. Jeff’s philosophy on coaching his players to persevere through the toughest times. He gives some examples of how his club creates clarity through chaos during training sessions so they experience game-like stress. Jeff also mentions how it is important to coach to the positive, and not always focus on things that go wrong so players can build off their little victories.

Topic 6: Staying in Shape

Jeff discussed how he has kept in touch with his goalkeepers while they are away from the field. We discuss how every challenge we are currently facing can be looked at as an opportunity. He stresses the importance of using the time to our benefit and absorbing as much information as possible so we can become better at our craft.

Topic 7: Mount Rushmore of Goalkeepers

Jeff shares his Mt. Rushmore of Goalkeepers including: Tim Howard, Oliver Kahn, Gigi Buffon, and Alisson Becker. 

It is every coaches dream to make an impact in the sports world, no matter which sport. Jeff Oleck's story is a bright one, along with his tips and coaching methods for athletes - he is just getting started.

Full Transcript:

CHRIS GORDON  

Thanks for joining us for another edition of exact club experts. We are joined by an old friend of the program today. He comes to us from Aurora, Colorado. Let's welcome on coach Jeff oleic, the associate goalkeeping director at the Colorado Rapids youth soccer club. We had a great time catching up with Jeff, we learned a little bit more about his coaching background, talked about his involvement with future dreams Uganda and how it's impacted his coaching got his perspective on the development Academy news and what the future could look like for these teams. And he shared some advice for goalkeepers that are playing in a large system and how to keep motivated you can check out our entire conversation at our blog exact sports comm slash blog or on our social platforms, Instagram and Twitter at the tag exact sports in our Facebook page exact soccer. I'm excited to share it with you guys and I hope you enjoy.

CHRIS GORDON  

alright Jeff, thanks for joining us. Good to have you back in the exact scene? So for our, for our listeners here that don't know who you are, tell us a little bit more about your coaching journey and kind of what led you into your current role?

JEFF OLECK  

Yeah. Thanks, Chris. Thanks to you and everybody had exact long relationship with you guys and great to see your face again and and get involved with what you guys are doing. I think the initiative you're putting on to keep kids engaged and get information out there is fantastic. My name is Jeff olek. I am currently the Associate Director of goalkeeping at the Colorado Rapids youth soccer club. We're based out of Aurora, Colorado, and we have a

club that spans across the front range in Denver and up to Fort Collins and down to Castle Rock for anybody familiar with the Front Range geography. We have about 10,000 members in the club, and I specifically oversee our south region which is our largest region. As a critical mass of players and also our elite programs which contains our boys and girls ecml and currently our our youth da my coaching background born and raised in the Midwest, that's how I kind of got connected with you guys. from Indianapolis, Indiana, went to Cathedral High School, go Irish for anybody out there listening. That's a usual Brad then had the opportunity to go play at Valparaiso University up in Northwest Indiana. You may know Valpo from 1998. BRYCE DREW hitting that buzzer beater. And the I think it was the sweet 16 the NCAA tournament and so largely a basketball school, but a great opportunity for me to go play in Division One soccer and get a great education, played there for four years and really had no idea what I wanted to do after school, which I don't think is that unique. These days I graduated with a degree in biology. My planned course of action was to go into veterinary school. Actually deviated from that a little bit in my junior year and started kind of doing some business classes. And then, in kind of a fateful conversation with my assistant coach on a long road trip, my senior year, sat down with a guy named Roberto Giannini, for anybody that's been in around Indiana soccer might know that name. But we had a conversation. He said, Jeff, what do you what do you want to do? What do you want to do with your life? And at that point, I said, coach, I have no idea what I'm doing. I think I'll probably go into medical sales. He's like, well, is that what you want to do? And I said, Well, no, but I have a biology degree and a business minor. So it kind of makes sense. And he said, Well, keep thinking about that. And let me see if there's something we can work on together. And lo and behold, he knew in the background that he was going to be hired for a head coaching job at Wabash college, which is a small Division Three school in West Central Indiana. town called Crawford's Ville, really unique institution. It's an all male school and they play in the CAC conference that's kind of largely based in and around the Midwest and Ohio, and Indiana. And so when he got that job, he said, Jeff, why don't you come and be my assistant, figure out what you want to do if you want to take classes if you want to explore other things, just come and be my assistant, I need some help. And then you can kind of figure it out. So I signed a whopping nine month contract for $900. And was an athletic intern with Wabash, which meant that I was the assistant coach, as well as did some duties in and around the athletic department setting up for basketball games and random odd jobs here and there, but really dug in at that point, and I was a single guy living in a small town in Indiana and I just worked, I just worked, worked, worked. I found all the coaching I possibly could. I was the assistant coach at Wabash. I was the goalkeeper coach there, the recruiting coordinator. I got involved with Indiana ODP, which led to an opportunity To deal with region to ODP, I worked with Dynamo FC, which is based out of Indianapolis coach the 92 boys team there, was doing private training was doing all these other things involved with an organization called IGA, which doesn't exist anymore, but it was Indiana goalkeeper Academy and I just dug into coaching and fell in love with it. And really the turning point for me was with that 92 boys, Dynamo team and seeing the growth of that team. Zero credit to myself, the guys were really great. And they welcomed me in as a young coach that was just figuring things out. I was 22 years old at the time, trial and error process but saw their growth over the course of two years and just really fell in love with the education part of it, the teaching the mentoring, and being on the field. I grew up on a soccer field since I was four years old. I've been on a soccer field or on a basketball court. So athletics was a big part of my childhood and it was able to continue that so very fun. Fortunately, Roberto kept me on for three years. So I stayed three seasons. Got got one raise one up to $1,000 for nine months. So, you know, for any young coaches out there, there is a grind element to it, you got to scrap you got to work your way. But after three seasons at Wabash, I was ready for a change. I was ready to elevate where I was I was ready to challenge myself and I reached out to Mike Avery, who was the new head coach at Valparaiso University, my alma mater and said, you know, Hey, Mike, you know, we'd love to build a relationship with you. I'm looking for a new opportunity if you hear of anything coming around. And he said, Well, why don't you come up and chat with me my assistant potentially is leaving in the near future and just want to get a feel for what you're looking for. He and I developed a great relationship and lo and behold, had an opportunity to go on as assistant coach and his goalkeeper coach, back to Valpo to my alma mater, awesome fit great for me and And was there for four seasons left there as the associate head coach, I was able to obtain my master's degree, which is another perk of kind of working in the higher education system. And was there four seasons and and what an influence he had on me and my career. And you know, maybe talk about that further on. So I don't I don't bore you with the details, but being in kind of the Northwest Indiana scene, started rubbing shoulders with a lot of Chicago people, including you, Chris and Sam and Simon and Barry and all the great guys that exact So, was in and around the Chicago scene and happened to get to know Tim Lenihan at Northwestern University. legendary coach. Many of you guys probably know his name or know his history and his background. And so he was in the middle of a transition as well for an assistant coach. And so in 2013, When interviewed with him and with his assistant coach, you Heard at the time, and then hopped over the border and went to Northwestern had an opportunity there to go into a power five conference in the big 10 from Valpo, which, you know, I love Valpo and what a great experience that was. But again, one more step in my career to challenge myself and push, you know, my career forward and in terms of college coaching, and, and work there for three years. So I was there from 2013 to 2016. I decided at that point to kind of undergo a bigger change. So leaving the college side of the game and getting into the youth side. multiple reasons for that, some of them personal and that we have family out here in Colorado. And so there was an opportunity to be closer to family, but also just more time on the field and seeing that development. And I was always involved with the youth side of the game, even while working full time at the college level, whether that was a club or private training type stuff. And so wanted really that grassroots involvement with the youth players and seeing their development You know, eight years old all the way up to 18. And that's the current, you know, age range that I'm working with these days. So came over, I interviewed with the Colorado storm, which no longer exists, but was brought in by by Mike Haas, who is a legendary coach and coaching. school director with US Soccer might be some people out there that know his name. He was the technical director at storm interviewed with him, brought me in as the director of goalkeeping with Colorado storm and just dug in and started to build a program and a foundation for the goalkeepers at the storm. And then after a couple of years, as is common these days in youth soccer, we underwent a merger with the Colorado Rapids, which turned out to be a fantastic opportunity for me and for my development and overseeing a larger group of players and goalkeepers and then also having that connection with the first team. I think that's a big benefit. And I work under Chris Sharpe, who's a great guy and the current First Team goalkeeper coach and also the academy goalkeeping director. And so he and I work together with the youth club and overseeing all the operations when it comes to the goalkeepers. There's a lot of other fantastic guys that work kind of with and around the Brandon bumpers in our central region, Gary Seville up in our North region, Brian Bernau ski down in Castle Rock, and Brett Finkelstein, who's in our North region. So we've we've been able to create a an awesome goalkeeping staff to really take care of other goalkeepers, you know, first and foremost, and I think we provide a unique niche for those players to get that specialized training. And it's been great. And so I've been here since 2016. And, you know, currently working from the home office and the situation that we're in but, but we are pushing through this. This hiatus as I'm calling it, this downtime, and we are just itching to get back on the field. So, in short, I guess that's my career. But happy to elaborate on that further. If you have other questions.

CHRIS GORDON  

No, that sounds good. I it was cool to hear your journey up the ladder. I knew a little bit of it, but I didn't know the full backstory. So yeah, it's cool to hear how high you landed and in Colorado, and it seems like things are working out well there now. So that's awesome. You've given a lot back to the soccer community over the years, and I know exactly been involved with Field of Dreams, Uganda, which you became involved with a few years back. Can you give us a little bit more background on how you got involved with that and what that's meant to you over the last few years?

JEFF OLECK  

Sure. And thanks for bringing that up. It's an organization that's near and dear to my heart and has grown kind of deeper into who I am and what my philosophy is in terms of coaching over the years. But rewinding a little bit. So in 2009, is when I began at Valparaiso University and working under Mike Avery. And he's a guy and as I said earlier, he's been a huge influence on my career. Career and kind of how I approach coaching and in not even just coaching but, but, but life skills and teaching kids not only just about the game, but also how to be good people and how to be kind of stand up members of the community and, and all those things that we all know are important in this athletic development. But he was the guy that he had a great quote and I think about it all the time. He said, you know, the fastest way to achieve your goals is to help others achieve theirs. Right. So, for me, that meant using the platform that I had is a division one assistant coach, as a person that's involved with a lot of different people across the game. You know, soccer is universal and soccer is global. And so there's so many connections you can make just because of a round ball and and a goal and I think there's a unique opportunity there to incorporate a lot of different people and cultures into that. So getting into fields of dreams Uganda was really coincidental. We were sitting in our office of alpo, one day and the young lady walked into the office and said, Hey, I work with this organization called Field of Dreams, Uganda, would you guys be interested in hosting a charity game? And without hesitation, Mike was like, yep, let's do it. What can we do? How can we help, and that really snowballed and grew into an affiliation into a consistent involvement with fields of dreams, Uganda, which is a organization run by a guy named Mike warnky. He's the executive director. And so he would visit Valpo at least once every, every fall, we would host a charity game, collect donations, whether it's cleats or balls or sports bras for the for the female players, or coaching equipment, whatever it might be, or obviously monetary donations as well. And I was able to see the movement of that gear into the hands of the kids in Uganda, which was really powerful for me. You know, you There's so many people out there doing so many good things, and you donate cleats. So you donate a ball. And you might not even know really where it's going or who it's impacting. And so I've had the opportunity to go to Uganda twice, with with my wife and see firsthand and literally hand goalkeeper gloves to players who have never had goalkeeper gloves on their hands before hand them a ball and they've never had a soccer ball before. And so the connection of the groundwork being done in the US to the impact that it's having on the kids in Uganda has been fantastic to see and to witness. I was brought in as a voluntary member of their board of directors and served in that role for about five years. And since coming to Colorado kind of changed my role a little bit with the organization just due to time constraints and scheduling. But remain very involved to this day and certainly plan on going back in the very near future. For anybody that's interested in more information about Field of Dreams, I got a I got to do a shameless plug here, but go to fields of dreams. uganda.org. That's all one world. One word fields of dreams uganda.org check out the work they're doing. message me if you have any questions, I'm happy to help with that. Ultimately, the goal for photo is to empower the youth and the orphaned and vulnerable kids of Uganda, through the vehicles of soccer and education. And so we believe that those facets go hand in hand. Kids will attend school because they know at the end of the day, they get a soccer match with their friends. You know, there is so much kind of consistency that we can provide or structure that we can provide and help with for those kids that are on kind of the most vulnerable ends of the population there. And it's been a real honor for me to be involved with that and I continue to support their work today.

CHRIS GORDON  

Yeah, absolutely. And there's some information on our website. We've done a couple past vlogs on on feel the dreams and it's a really inspirational story. I think. It really makes you appreciate the game because Some some of us aren't as fortunate to have all the equipment and and to attend camps so it's it's pretty awesome that you've been involved with that so long as switching gears here a little bit. Obviously there's some big news that was broken yesterday and everyone's really buzzing about the development Academy termination and the new MLS league that's being formed. Can you give us a little bit more of your thoughts on it? I know it's everything's pretty fresh, but it'd be interesting to get your take on it.

JEFF OLECK  

Yeah, yeah, definitely fresh news. I got a text you know, there's been some rumblings and rumors as as many of you guys that follow the soccer scene. Know over the course of the last week and certainly, even before that, you know, the MLS teams have been in conversation. You know, kind of just feeling things out about creating a MLS only kind of professional Academy. Now, whether that involved other youth teams Or not was always up for debate and still is, I think and even what I read last night was that the MLS teams were planning on forming this league, and whether they would bring in other youth academies that are kind of on the higher end of the performance level is to be determined and how that structure is certainly to be determined. From my experience, look, I grew up in a soccer scene that didn't have the Academy. You know, I never had access to the developmental Academy when I was a player. Players came up through their local youth clubs, they were involved in the ODP system or the regional system, you know, and use that as kind of their tools to be recruited or to get identified for the national team. You know, with the the advent of the development Academy in about 2007. It was it was on shaky ground at first and I was actually involved with that, Roberto, the gentleman that I mentioned earlier, was one of the first coaches of the team out of Carmel, Indiana, one of the development Academy teams there and so I think Kind of was able to see behind the scenes how the league was being structured and how it was coming along. And obviously in my decade of college coaching the DA was very important from a recruiting standpoint, attending those events and and seeing the players in a high level environment was really important when recruiting players that we thought would be a fit for our respective programs. I will say I'm disappointed to see the DA leave I think it provided good structure of course nothing's perfect. They're there you know, everybody has their their gripes with the league and and certainly, probably also has things that they've benefited from because of the league. But I think we're in a really unique situation and, you know, era right now, obviously, with this Coronavirus and the COVID-19 situation going on, you know financially a lot of youth organizations are having to look at what their future looks like and and what they can manage long term. So for me personally, I Again, I'm disappointed to see the league go. But in our current structure here with the rapids, obviously, we have the MLS team. And so I don't know for a fact whether they're going to be part of that MLS Academy. If I were a betting man, I would bet that we would. But obviously, that's still in flux. But also, I think, as we were kind of discussing before the show, I think the challenge now becomes if there is, you know, for all the players that are currently in the DA, where do they now fall into because you're we're in a time and age right now, this summer where a lot of youth clubs are having to reevaluate as I said, their long term financial stability and some clubs might might not be able to make it through this and some might. So I think the biggest thing and the biggest priority for for us as youth soccer coaches needs to be making sure we can find a place for these players to fall into and provide them that opportunity for continued development for college exposure. You know, professional exposure National Team exposure all the things that the DA used to provide. So I think the challenge now comes to us you know, it's not saying well the DA is gone and you know, now we can just kind of horde players No, it's it's about can we find the right development path for every player, whether that's at our club or another club down the road. But we need to step up now as kind of these youth clubs to provide that catch net for these players that are going to be looking for a place to go into and that's both boys and girls, you know, with with the girls da, existing as well. I think it's important for us to work hard to help these players continue to achieve their goals. And certainly that's going to be my objective as I'm being contacted by by goalkeepers who are affected by by this changes is providing an appropriate platform for them and while also taking care of the players that we currently have within our club.

CHRIS GORDON  

Yeah, definitely. I feel like it's kind of shocked, shocked a lot of people and I think our athletes are probably wondering, you touched on Uh, you know, how is this gonna impact the whole recruiting process? Do you think? You know, it will change with the types of events that coaches are going to kind of really be more focused on the Analyze league or whatever the highest league is?

JEFF OLECK  

Yeah, I think, you know, there's going to be both I think a lot of colleges right now will be looking at what events do we need to prioritize with with no national events this summer with the DA or the playoffs? It might provide an opportunity for other kind of tournaments to fill that void, depending on, you know, state and federal restrictions of gatherings and things that are that are happening right now. But look at players were recruited before the DA and players will be continued to, you know, continue to be recruited after the DA and so if there are players out there watching this that are part of a DA system, that they're losing their team and they don't have an MLS Academy potentially to go into, don't get frustrated. It doesn't change your process. You know, the goal. needs to continue to be for you to get exposure and whether right now that's through video, video video, Holy moly, you better have your video sorted out right now because that's how coaches are recruiting, they are recruiting online. And so we're, we're pounding that into the heads of our of our players here at the youth club, get your video sorted out, get it out to coaches so that when that green or yellow light, whatever happens in terms of getting back on the field comes up, you've got your communication out there and you know exactly where you need to be and who wants to see you. And then it's also about being proactive. And I know you guys that exact do a really good job of educating the players of the process and the steps they should be taking and then you even go one step further and bringing those coaches to contact with with the players. But you have to continue to be proactive with your college search and communicate with coaches get get, you know, straightforward answers to straightforward questions. Are you looking for somebody in my office? position in my class, you know, you might be met with an answer of no and but you have to be ready for that. And you have to have a list of, you know, 20 or 30 schools that now you can work through step by step and go through that process to make sure that you're finding schools where there is that mutual interest. But I would offer some encouragement, don't get discouraged, keep keep working. You know, there's, there's a lot of opportunity right now. I think for players to put video together to get some things out in front of college coaches so that when we do get back on the field, you feel like you're a step ahead of maybe where you were when we went into this

CHRIS GORDON  

right now that's good advice. And there's still a lot of unknown still a lot of details to be shared. So you know, hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll have a better idea of, of what that means. But um, so let's we'll get away from some of these regular questions and kind of focus on the goalkeeper side or your coach. Obviously you have a lot A lot of experience on that on that side of things. So, you know for goalkeepers, hopefully this, this segment will be beneficial for you. You know, you work with a lot of goalkeepers in your club, you said there's over 10,000 players. So I imagine that's hundreds of keepers that you're involved with. And if I'm a goalkeeper, maybe playing on a lower level team, and I'm trying to make the rise up the system, what advice would you give me to maybe make an impact in the upcoming season so I can down the road, hopefully get on a higher team?

JEFF OLECK  

Yeah. Well, right now, again, we're in a unique situation. And so we right now are are encouraging our distance learning. We're providing our goalkeeping staff led by by coach sharp our goalkeeping director we were putting together distance learning packets for all of our goalkeepers weekly so they're getting content whether it's physical or technical, or even, you know, we're sending them tactical quizzes or video that they can analyze. Just keep engaged with the sport and I know that becomes difficult Even for myself, I'm restless, I'm ready to be on the field. I'm not used to sit in front of a desk and certainly in front of a computer for this many hours out of the day. And I know they're feeling the same thing because their academics are all online and things of that nature. So, you know, the message that we're sending right now to our goalkeepers is to be prepared for when we step back onto the field, what you don't want to do is step onto the field and say, oh, man, I really wasted the last, you know, month and a half, and I don't feel fit, and now you're trying to play catch up, while those around you are hitting the ground running, so to speak. You know, and I think you can look at the numbers in our club and say, Wow, what a big club, you must get lost in the shuffle. But we take a lot of pride in providing that personal environment. As I mentioned earlier, in our conversation, we have goalkeeping directors in every region. So it's not me overseeing you know 400 goalkeepers. I have about 130 which I know still sounds like a lot kind of underneath my umbrella but I I also have staff coaches underneath me. And so we create a terrain even though we have that number of goalkeepers, we create a training ratio of about one coach for every six to seven goalkeepers. And that's really important for us to continue providing that personal environment. So we want to know every goalkeeper I know every single name of every goalkeeper that that's underneath me. And we're, we've been having zoom calls, and it's been good. I haven't seen them in about a month and so I'm calling out their names and, and chatting with them. But, you know, we think it's really important to create that personal setting. In terms of standing out in our environment, a lot of it depends on your age, I talked to parents and goalkeepers a lot, especially at our younger ages and encourage them to trust the process and be patient with it. There are very few goalkeepers and maybe now more than even you know in previous years, but there are very few goalkeepers that peek at 19 or 20 years old, right? I mean, you look at some of the best goalkeepers in the world that are still performing. They're in their mid to late 20s, maybe even early 30s. And you got guys like Buffon or these guys that are continuing their careers, you know well into, to older for an athlete. But the game is so cerebral and you learn by trial and error as a goalkeeper so much that you find these goalkeepers that are peeking, you know, as I said in that and maybe their mid 20s. So our younger goalkeepers, we really encourage them to trust the process and be patient. I say a team placements or tryouts every year. This is a starting point. This is a starting point. I have dozens of stories of kids that have started on ar 15. And they've ended up in our da system three or four years later. Because look, sometimes there's a benefit of being on a lower level team. You're going to see more shots, you're going to have more action, rather than being on the top team at 12 years old and you're such a good group in front of you where Now all you're doing is maybe passing the ball out a couple of times on goal kicks, and the rest of the time you're sitting there, you know, Captain daffodils. So, for us, I think there's an experiential kind of growth process to it from a younger age. And then as you get probably into high school ages, those qualities start to level out and it is more difficult to kind of leapfrog the goalkeeper that's, that's ahead of you. Because I say this a lot. I say, Look, you're doing all the work you need to do, maybe you're on the second team, right? You're doing all the work that you need to do, but there's a goalkeeper in front of you, that's also doing that exact same work. So as you rise, and as you elevate your level, well that goalkeepers doing the same thing. And so it's a matter of, again, being patient, waiting for your opportunity. It could be an injury, it could be an absence, it could be that goalkeeper takes another opportunity at a different club. And now you're prepared to step on the field and hit the ground running again, getting back to what we said. Stay in your training environment. keep getting the repetitions in need. Maximize your time on the field. And then when that opportunity opportunity becomes make the most of it. So for us, again, it's honing it down into as personal of environment as we can create, which I think we do a very good job of, and then communicating accurately with those players. And I said it about the recruiting process too. But I encourage goalkeepers and families to ask me straightforward questions, but I also tell them in return, you're going to get straightforward answers. So that feedback is also very important for young goalkeepers so that they can take that they can build on it, they can apply it to their game, and next time they have a conversation with me. Okay, yeah, you've gotten better in your footwork and movement in and around the goal. Now I need you to get better at high balls because you're at a you 14 age and there's a lot of crosses and services coming in. So we're going to continue to raise the bar for you as you develop through the ages and through the levels of our teams.

CHRIS GORDON  

Yeah, definitely. I think you know, for goalkeepers it it becomes a mental game for them because they're know if they get discouraged. They're, you know, they're not gonna be performing at a high level one. As you're aware, you know exactly his stresses on the macro side of the game. You were always a big supporter at our events. I know on my phone I have several power post pictures with Jeff folic and you went into title at those camps. So can you tell us a little bit more about ways you incorporate the mental side of the game to your goalkeepers? It's such a big component, especially at the young level. I feel like

JEFF OLECK  

Yeah, yeah, it certainly is. and and you know, a lot of players shy away from the goalkeeping position because of that, because of first and foremost the pressure and the eyes that are that are on you. It takes a strong, persevering mentality to give up a goal in a crucial moment, dig the ball out of the net and keep going and that's not just that you 11 That's it, you know, premier Premier League or or national team level that there's no easy way To give up goals, right and so, you know, the mental side of the game and you guys that exact again, do a great job of bringing that aspect into your your camps and your training sessions. And that's, you know, one big reason why early on I was drawn to sort of the work you guys were doing because in my role and in my background as a goalkeeper, there's there's so much kind of psychology behind it and how we do those things. So, you know, I don't have a PhD in psychology, I can't speak to, you know, kind of that those those types of specifics, but in our training environment, I think what we're trying to do, as much as possible is to create situations that are realistic and that are that have elements of pressure. So maybe there's, you know, a rebounder line, right, so we're going through an activity, a little bit of footwork and handling and then you have to get into position for a shot. And that rebounder is bearing down on you. So if you give up Rebound, or you put a ball into a dangerous area, you're going to be punished for it right, you're gonna maybe have that player able to tap the ball in. So that's a mentality training that I've got to be game sharp, even in this training environment, because if I give up this rebound, it's gonna it's going to result in a goal against so creating those pressure environments. The other element is, look, our job as a goalkeeper is to find that composure in in chaos, to find clarity in chaotic moments. And so we do create that chaos in our training environments as well. If we're serving crosses in from the wide area, you're you better believe you're going to have two or three players running around you, distracting you and I say a lot, create that visual distraction for that goalkeeper. Now that's kind of a training environment piece. But from a coaching perspective, I think especially for younger goalkeepers is picking your battles in terms of what you're correcting at certain times. And figuring out your objectives for that session. If we're working High balls. I can't be harping on a goalkeeper over and over again about not making the breakaway save if he gives up a rebound or she gives up a rebound for example. So you know, we need to catch goalkeepers being good. And I stole that phrase from a guy. recipes Tony Chico great goalkeeping coach, you know, been around the US Soccer scene for a long time, was fortunate enough to be in his courses through the former nscaa diplomas. But he said a lot, catch your goalkeeper being good. Pick out those moments where you can accentuate the positives of what they're doing. Rather than saying don't do this, you should have done this. Don't do that. Right. Can we coach in the positive mindset, hey, I need you to do this or great save build on that one. My goalkeepers hear that all the time, build on that build on that they might have an absolutely shocker of a session and give up three goals through their legs. And then the next day they make if it's a simple scoop, save or something like that. I'm going to say build on that one. That is your new starting point. Right? So getting back to a mentality where we can be positive. And that doesn't mean sugarcoating and saying, Oh, good job, that was such a good effort, you know, you tried really hard. I'm not going to baby you. But I'm going to say, what's our next task? That to me is, is the positive thinking it's a forward thinking rather than, well, what did you do wrong? there? You're thinking about that? Well, no, let's think about the next task. Because when you're in a game, that's what you have to be doing. Right? You can reflect quickly on that goal that you just gave up. But there's something happening in front of you, that's going to be even more important. If you're reflecting backwards. Alright, in a negative way, you're not thinking positive into what might be coming next. So you know, again, I don't have a PhD in psychology. But I think that there's probably some common threads here among what a lot of goalkeeper coaches are doing. And look. It also depends on the level of that player. You know, you've got to pick and choose your battles if you're talking to an ACL or an elite player or a DA level player. there's opportunities maybe to be more specific and more critical at times. Whereas if you're working with a beginner or a lower level goalkeeper, it's important to keep that in perspective as well, and continue building on on the foundation that they have and not expecting this when right now this is what they're capable of.

Now, with that said, you want to coach to the highest level player in the group. And we say that a lot, right? We don't want to bring the sessions down, so that the lowest level level player feels comfortable all the time. We want that player to take incremental steps to raise their game. And I'm really proud of the work that our goalkeepers do and if any of them, watch this, they'll they'll hear a lot of familiar things. But for me, I think it's all about finding that positive environment that keeps them forward thinking and especially with younger goalkeepers catch them being good and find those opportunities to celebrate the little victories because that really raises their confidence level.

CHRIS GORDON  

Yeah, absolutely. And it's it's no surprise that the goalkeepers that our camps are the most vocal, the most common And I feel like and I usually win any mental competitions that we have. Because it's I mean, you're in the you're in the net for a reason. And, you know, you got a lot of trust Tanya, and with that comes a lot of responsibility. And, you know, a lot of times where you're in a position where it's, you know, the game revolves around us. So it's cool to hear your perspective as a coach from it. Last question you kind of touched on earlier, obviously, we're adapting with the times we're not on the field with our players. I think it's probably more difficult as a goalkeeper because you can't have anyone shoot on you. So I mean, what are some ways you've been encouraging your players your goalkeepers to stay involved in game shape? Not just physically but mentally.

JEFF OLECK  

Yeah. You know, first and foremost, I think it's it's about staying active, as much as you can, you know, and not getting caught in kind of this at home, permit lifestyle, getting out and going for a walk or a run or, you know, going around a park or whatever it might be, but staying active and that doesn't necessarily always mean soccer. I grew up playing a ton of sports and so if I can grab a basketball and shoot around and be active and get a sweat in, I'll do that if I can, you know, play, catch or throw a frisbee or whatever, I'm going to do that too. So stay active as best you can. Because not only does that help you physically, but it's also going to help you mentally, right we have to stay engaged and we have to stay connected with with our physical bodies in order to make sure that we're ready to absorb information. You know, mentally, as I mentioned earlier, now we're putting together distance learning packets similar to what a lot of coaches and clubs and colleges and everybody is kind of doing right now. It's certainly unique for us as coaches because we are so used to being on the field and providing that in person instruction. It's challenged me and I know it's challenged our players to stay as involved as they can while being distant. You know what we're doing is we're trying to continue to engage our athletes. So with our distance learning packets that's gonna hit on the four pillars every week. So technical, tactical, physical and psychosocial. So that psychosocial element might be, you know doing a quiz, or a personality quiz or it might be watching a video of you know, elite goalkeepers and listening to a goalkeeper coach talk about mentality, I sent a video out to my goalkeepers a couple of weeks ago that was called the goalkeepers The only loneliest position on the field and so I think them staying engaged with that and I asked for some questions in return some some answers from them about that video. And you know, what's the most difficult part you think about being a goalkeeper? What do you love about being a goalkeeper? You know what stood out from that video that the professional players said, and so many of them hit on that, that psychology. I've been having zoom meetings the last couple of nights with our goalkeeping groups, which has been great. I think right now you know, players are craving that interaction. And, you know, I know even this in our zoom conversation leaves a little bit to be desired in terms of being able to shake your hand and sit there in person and chat. But ultimately, I think that that connection, you know, remains really important to keep those kids feeling like they have that community and that goalkeeper group that they can lean on a little bit, because we're all in the same situation. When I when I had these zoom meetings, the last couple of nights the focus has been, what are the challenges and what are the opportunities in our current situation. And I really encourage them to think about every challenge that they're encountering, can also be spun as an opportunity. So a lot of them are talking about the challenge and the difficulty of dealing with online academics and balancing their schedule and figuring out, you know, well, I finished my schoolwork in 45 minutes, what am I doing the rest of the day, and I reminded them that there's such an opportunity right now for them. To learn good time management skills, you know, I said, How many of you guys want to play college soccer? And almost every hand goes up right? In my zoom meeting, I said, Do you think that there's going to be somebody, you know, tapping on your shoulder and saying, hey, you need to make sure you do your homework now, because you have, you know, practice later. And they're saying, No, you know, that's not gonna happen. Well, why not? You know, why not be an expert at time management at 14 years old? Then when you get to college, you're like, Oh, yeah, I've already done this. I have this skill set, right? Or the opportunity might be that, you know, the challenge. A lot of them are saying, I'm stuck at home with my family. My brothers and sisters are driving me crazy. And so what's the opportunity in that while you get a lot of good family time? Absolutely. Right? Absolutely. So training, the mental side of the game during this time, for me, has looked like a lot of reading. A lot of digging into coaching content, good, bad, and otherwise, there's a lot of stuff out there. But for me, and what I'm encouraging my players to do is to absorb information right now. Use this as an information gathering time. Whether it's reading articles or watching videos or reading books or and I've sent them recommendations every week things they can read and investigate. But I think there's an opportunity again, with maybe some extra time to dig into resources that you haven't had time for, you'll put on the back burner and say, Oh, yeah, I'm gonna read that later. And then three months down the road, you know, you delete it from your inbox, because you're like, Well, I didn't read it, then I'm just gonna get rid of it.

JEFF OLECK  

So, as much as maybe that's not a clear cut answer for what all these players can do at home. I do think that there lies and opportunity in this to really digest a lot of good content or watch videos or, you know, learn more about your craft so that when you are back on the field, you can apply some of those lessons and add tools to your toolkit over the course of time.

CHRIS GORDON  

Absolutely, I think, you know, it's it's easy to, to get the physical done. I feel like We all look forward to going outside going for a run or shooting some hoops or whatever it might be touching the ball. That's that's the easy part. It's staying involved in the game keeping that passion, that excitement. Because we're not out in the field teams, we can't interact with time we can't enjoy the the camaraderie. So I think that keeping that excitement keeping that passion as high as it can be during this time will help us you know, still be successful when we are back together. And so that's good. I mean, we'll, we'll end with we'll end with some lights and fun questions to get to know a little bit better. Alright, ready? First one. You know, you've you've obviously coached some pretty high level teams at the college side. And now with with your Academy team, what's the coolest atmosphere you've ever played or coach that

JEFF OLECK  

ah, as a player, I would you know, It perspective and time is a funny thing. But I played at Michigan State when I was at Valpo. And, you know, that was a small, mid major school stepping into a big 10 environment. And I was destroyed by the fans sitting behind the goal. I mean, there was not one bit of information about me or my family that they did not know somehow. And so, you know, as much as it was frustrating in the moment, it gave me a better understanding of maybe what goalkeepers at the highest level are experiencing. And so I walked away from that game, you know, really frustrated, but in as time has gone on, it was a lot of fun. And it was just a game where you know, you make a save and you can kind of look back at the crowd and give them a wink. But you let something in, they're going to let you hear about it and so there was kind of a good back and forth there. As a coach, I would say I'll give a shout out to the terps they provide a really fun On environment to play in so when I was coaching at Northwestern going to Maryland and playing in their stadium, obviously, you know perennial team in the NCAA Tournament almost every year winning national championships great great coaching staff sotto Surowiecki doing, doing a great job with with that, but their environment was a ton of fun. And one specific moment, I used to I put a GoPro behind my goalkeepers goals, so that we can see a little bit more of what's happening in and around the goal, their footwork, their shot, stopping and a lot of great, you know, feedback on set pieces. And so I was actually going to put the camera behind the goal and there's, you know, probably 200 students behind the goal that are screaming and shouting at me and that sort of stuff. And it was just a little moment that I had the GoPro in my hand and I kind of turned it to them and kind of waved it across the crowd and they were cheering and hooting, hollering and so I put it behind the goal and I start walking away and they had this Chant that they started, they said he's a good sport. He's a good sport. So just a really fun environment to be a part of. And it probably helps that we went in there and had success both of the times that we visited. So that leaves a little bit more fun memory, in my mind. But yeah, I would say, you know, the big 10 I'll tell you what, man they provide a really fun environment to coach and play in.

CHRIS GORDON  

Yeah, that's some great soccer in the big 10 for sure. All right. So being a Midwest guy now you're you're obviously out in Colorado. interesting to hear what you're going to say on this one. So coaching environment, would you rather be 100 degrees or 30 degrees 30.

JEFF OLECK  

Every day, oh, yeah. I love the snow and we actually got five inches of snow last night. So we're in it right now. We

CHRIS GORDON  

got some snow here yesterday, Chicago, man.

JEFF OLECK  

Yeah, unfortunately, all the ski resorts are closed because because it COVID right beyond the slopes right now instead of talking to you.

CHRIS GORDON  

Sure. Yeah. Last one, Mount Rushmore goalkeeper's

JEFF OLECK  

Mount Rushmore goalkeeper. Well, um, okay, gotta give credit to the American Opportunity, Howard and how many are in Mount Rushmore. This is better or I think right yeah, we'll go sorry sorry America didn't know that one. So I'll go Timmy Howard all right got it got a salute the American Oliver con guy watched as you know he's not a current goalkeeper but played for Bayern Munich German national team goalkeeper guy that I watched a lot of when I was a kid. absolutely crazy. But but a lot of fun to watch. Move on. I as I mentioned earlier, Roberto Giannini was a big mentor and influence of mine still as a great friend of mine to this day and he would not let me leave his his kind of environment and leave his umbrella without being very well versed in Italian soccer. He might he might be disappointed that I don't say Dino golf but but I will say bouffant and that one and let's say currently, no My current cold it's a tough one right now. It's a tough one. I'm going to have to go Becker, Allison Becker. I mean, I just think that what he does with his feet and there's a lot of good goalkeepers in that that kind of category right now you got guys like Patterson or de or players with their built but what he's done with Liverpool has been fantastic. And he's just such a well rounded goalkeeper, so I might create some enemies by that list. But right now, those are my four.

CHRIS GORDON  

List. I haven't had a goalkeeper Mount Rushmore yet. So you're the first one. Okay. You said a good bar. Okay.

JEFF OLECK  

It's good. You did that question last because if you did it first people might shut me off. I said Liverpool, and we'll just turn off your broadcast.

CHRIS GORDON  

Well, I think we had a good way to get you out. Jeff. It's always great to catch up. I do have to give you a shout out the beard is on point right now. Thanks, man. You're the only one that's rivaled my beard so far. He's got me beat so you know hopefully won't have to go on. Too much longer.

JEFF OLECK  

Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I appreciate all you guys do it exact. Send my love to Sam and Simon and Barry and everybody there. And for all the players, coaches, families out there, stay safe. Keep your social distancing. We will get through this will get out of this we will be back on the field and be ready for when that moment comes. Because Because I'm certainly excited for it to happen. As soon as possible. I need to get off of this computer screen and get back on the field. Absolutely. All right, man. We'll stay safe and we hope to see you out

CHRIS GORDON  

on the field soon. Thanks, Chris. That's all for a conversation today. Thanks again to coach Jeff folic for joining us. Coming up on exact club experts will be talking to more coaches and hopefully answering any questions that you may have, as we're all waiting to get back on the field. Again, to see all of our interviews or to ask a specific question, please visit or shout us out on our social media platforms Instagram On Twitter with the tag exact sports, our Facebook page exact soccer, or check out our blog exact sports.com slash blog. Thanks again for tuning in. We'll catch you all again soon. That's all for a conversation today. Thanks again to coach Jeff Holic for joining us. Coming up on exact club experts will be talking to more coaches and hopefully answering any questions that you may have, as we're all waiting to get back on the field. Again, to see all of our interviews or to ask a specific question, please visit or shout us out on our social media platforms, Instagram and Twitter with the tag exact sports, our Facebook page exact soccer, or check out our blog exact sports.com slash blog. Thanks again for tuning in. We'll catch you all again soon.