Over the course of the evening 38 young goalkeepers each faced 15 penalties with the aim of saving as many as possible. The rules were set that it was only a legitimate penalty if it was on target so it was either saved or went in, if a penalty went wide, over or hit the frame of the goal it was re-taken.
Therefore 570 legitimate penalties were taken over two hours of which 299 were saved, so 52.45% were saved (which is pleasing as a goalkeeping coach!) One goalkeeper in particular was very hard to beat, Lewis Kirk saving 15 out of 15 and the West brothers, Samuel and Daniel also boasted impressive figures, both saving 13 out of 15.
Credit goes to all of the goalkeepers on the night though for their efforts in cold conditions.
The reason this event came about was due to the fact that Declan Lehmann who is the Under 16 Goalkeeper in the academy at Swindon Town, who I have coached for 8 years was recently sadly diagnosed with cancer. Declan is battling this and has currently just completed his third bout of chemotherapy and we wish him well. He and his family have been supported by Calm and as I was looking for a local based charity to support, this seemed the ideal option and hopefully we can raise as much money as we can for them. It was great to see Declan and his Dad, Markus come along to support the event.
Over the next few weeks all monies through sponsorship of the goalkeepers from family and friends along with donations will be collected in. Alongside this we currently have an auction going on with a deadline of Monday 29th February so by the start of March we will be able to update everybody with the final figure raised. Initial signs based on monies already handed in on the night and promises made by a number of other parties give me a great deal of optimism!
As stated there are four auction items up for grabs: Signed Manchester City football (current bid stands at £50) Signed Glasgow Rangers and former Swindon Town goalkeeper, Wes Foderingham gloves (current bid stands at £85) Signed Swindon Town Captain, Nathan Thompson boots (current bid stands at £75) Signed Swindon Town striker, Jon Obika boots (current bid stands at £75)
To make a bid for any of these items, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. also if you would like to make a donation to this great cause please email me so that we can explain how this can be done.
I was very proud of everybodys efforts on Wednesday from the goalkeepers themselves, the coaching staff and all the parents that braved the cold to support the event. I look forward to being able to give everybody the final figure we have all managed to raise.
Steve Hale
