My first week back on campus seems like déja-vu, all over again.  Only one year ago I was stepping foot on the Wabash College campus as a rookie coach, but it seems like so much has happened since then.  Time sure flies when you’re busy (and having fun).  This summer was no exception.  As you can see from earlier blogs, Coach Giannini and I were involved in a couple camps at the beginning of the summer, starting off with our own Little Giants Soccer Camp here in Crawfordsville.  We then packed up and headed north to lead the Crown Point team camp, hosted by Crown Point High School in northwest Indiana and Coach Ryan Collier.  After that, Coach Giannini and I would head our separate ways and reunite almost a month and a half later.

    I spent a few days in my home town of Indianapolis doing some individual goalkeeping training with my Dynamo F.C. goalkeeper who was preparing for high school tryouts.  Yes, he made the team!  I then packed up and headed back up to “The Region” to be a part of the Valparaiso University women’s soccer camp.  Being back at my alma mater was a real treat.  It was surreal to be coaching on the same pitch on which I played so many games and trained so many hours.  Directed by Coach Anthony and Marovich of Valpo women’s soccer, it was a camp for a variety of ages from 6-17 years old.  My primary responsibility was to train and coach the goalkeepers.  It is always interesting to be involved with different age groups, as you can see the learning process taking place at various levels.  My goal is to provide a safe and challenging environment for the goalkeepers, and I think I achieved that goal.  My thanks to Coach Anthony and Marovich for including me in their successful camp.

Then, it was time for a vacation.  I set off to the west coast…yes, my first trip to Los Angeles.  A close high school friend and a former Valpo teammate of mine now live out there so I was able to visit both of them and take in the California sunshine (and no humidity!).  My former teammate is now studying at Pepperdine University to achieve his masters in psychology.  My other friend is working as an assistant in a talent management company, so both of them had many stories to share of their experiences on the coast.  Ahhh, the beach was refreshing….but back to work!

    The day after getting back from Los Angeles I drove down to Bloomington, Indiana to be a part of the Indiana Soccer Camp directed by IU men’s head coach Mike Freitag.  It was another interesting camp to be a part of for a couple reasons.  The first reason was because I was surrounded by veteran coaches whom I learned from every day.  They’re stories, wisdom, and jokes were constant entertainment for me and created a fun environment to be a part of.  The second reason was because for three summers as a young kid, I attended that camp.  I remembered the little things about it (the hot dorms with fans churning, the evening demonstrations, and the always refreshing swimming pool).  Here, I was again responsible to train a group of goalkeepers throughout the week.  I had 16 and 17 year olds who I trained every morning then evaluated and coached through game play and drills with their individual teams.

    I even was “recruited” to be the staff goalkeeper throughout the week.  That meant taking part in demonstrations, showing drills/exercises, and standing between the pipes for the camper vs. staff competitions.  It was a blast!  I loved competing at that level again and also taking a peppering of hard shots from the talented IU men’s team.  As they say, goalkeepers need to be a little bit crazy to stand in front of 80 mph shots!  My thanks go to Coach Freitag and Coach Don Madvig for mentoring me and allowing me to learn from them throughout the week.

    The week after that was a slower week of individual goalkeeper training and also spending a weekend in Terre Haute to earn my National “D” License.  The coaching license courses consist of lectures, practice demos, practice coaching sessions, and testing.  After the two weekend course is complete, each candidate is evaluated and given the appropriate license, certificate, or letter that you need to retake the course (hopefully not for me).  I again had good opportunities to learn from coaches at various levels.  Some were college coaches like me, but I also spoke with youth coaches and discussed the importance of developing young players.  If we ignore the youth level, the players that fill our college teams will become less and less prepared.  We need to start at the grassroots!  That course was also a treat because my former Valparaiso University head coach, Mis Mrak, was the instructor.  So we had some time to catch up and look back on my four years at Valpo.  We also had a few good laughs while watching the “Beckham Circus” surrounding David Beckham’s debut in the MLS.

    To wrap up the camp season, I spent a week in Indianapolis working with Miles Glynn, the founder and director of Indiana Goalkeeper Academy (www.igasoccer.com) and the goalkeeper coach at Butler University and IUPUI.  He and I trained 14 keepers in Avon every morning, and then drove back into the city to train 19 more in Lawrence in the evening.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a better group of kids.  They all came with the willingness to learn, push themselves, and have fun.  Miles has a wealth of goalkeeping knowledge that I like to tap into every once and while to refresh or gain new ideas for my training here at Wabash.  Many thanks to Miles for everything he has helped me with and for including me in his growing business.

    Again, it was time for another vacation to recharge before I reported back to campus.  I traveled with my family to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.  The summer trip to South Carolina is a tradition of ours that has been going on since my first memories exist.  The beautiful environment with the marshes, dunes, and beach are ideal for a family getaway.  Since we are all busy people, it is nice to slow the pace down and spend some “lazy” time with them.  The big news that came out of that week was that my sister, Jenny, got engaged!  I went for a swim in the ocean one afternoon, looked over, and saw her now fiancé on his knee with a box in his hand.  I’m very happy for them and look forward to the wedding sometime next summer. 

    With my exciting, busy, and beneficial summer behind me, I am now completely focused on the upcoming season.  Coach Giannini and I are extremely excited to greet the players back on campus in exactly one week!  We are optimistic and enthusiastic about our incoming class of freshman and the role that they can play on the team for years to come.  Our returning veteran players will be stepping foot on campus as leaders and as the catalyst for this team to achieve something which it never has!  Keep an eye on your Little Giants this year; big things are just around the corner!

-Assistant Coach Jeff Oleck