For the first time in the history of the Goalkeeping.com Academy, the Indoor Christmas Tour took place from December 27th to 30th, 2022. No fewer than eight goalkeeper camps in eight different major cities in Germany and Austria were run more or less in parallel. More than 200 young goalkeepers and almost 40 coaches took part. The Christmas Tour was definitely a complete success!
Credit: Wolfgang Schade
Stay fit during the Christmas holidays
Whether in Vienna, Linz, Rosenheim, Munich, Nuremberg, Koblenz, Bonn and Gelsenkirchen - around Christmas, the range of goalkeeper training is usually low or non-existent. We were able to remedy this problem with our 2-day intensive camp! The goalkeeping technique was honed for 4 hours a day in modern soccer halls.
Action in Westside Soccer Arena Wien and Soccerarena Linz
Our goalkeeper camp in Vienna on December 27th and 28th started things off. Under the direction of Simon Manzoni, we were able to welcome 27 young keepers from the Vienna area. They had the opportunity to train with seven highly qualified goalkeeper coaches. In addition to the long-established Jaromir Pitak, Sebastian Gessl and Samir Karalic, Martin Klauninger, Foroutan Bagherian, Julian Senfter and Carlos Ferber were also on board for the first time.
The Soccerarena Linz has been the location of the Goalkeeping.com Academy indoor goalkeeper camps several times. And again this year the hall in Further Strasse in Urfahr offered a top location for our training. In addition to Markus Bachhofner and Thomas Missbichler, Wacker Burghausen keeper Markus Schöller and the Lower Austrians Markus Posch (Scheiblingkirchen) and Günther Prath (FC Winden) had their coaching premiere for the first time.
Three goalkeeper camps in Bavaria
Training took place not only in Nuremberg and Munich, but also in Rosenheim for 2 days. From December 27th to 28th we were guests for the first time in the Soccerarena Mangfalltal near Rosenheim, where five new goalkeeper coaches had their premiere: Almost 25 kids had the opportunity to train with Christian Schlosser, Christian Sekanina, Mate Kovacs, Benjamin Morawitz and Francesco Parillo.
In Munich we were guests on December 29th and 30th in the Soccerhalle München Nord. And here too, in addition to camp director Jürgen Petschner and Maximilian Laub, we were able to welcome three other top-class new coaches with André David Esch (TSV Buchbach), Fabian Müske (TSV Karslfeld) and Jakob Mathews (Dachau). On December 27th and 28th, Steed Ray (goalkeeping coach SpVGG Ansbach) and his team made significant progress and an unforgettable experience for the 25 young goalkeepers at Kickfabrik Nürnberg. We are pleased that Uwe and Lukas Liebenstein (Goalkeeping School Liebenstein) as well as Sandra Klug and Daniel Eschenbacher supported us for the first time.
Credit: OMG Pictures
Top conditions in the Goalbase Urmitz near Koblenz
In Koblenz, the Goal Base Urmitz convinced us with top training conditions. Our 22 young goalkeepers were able to develop optimally there on December 29th and 30th under the direction of Samir Handanagic. Also part of the coaching team: Roger Grempler (SC Bonn), Kai Schröder (SG Neitersen-Altenkirchen), Janik Engelhardt and, for the first time, the Turkish national goalkeeper Ilayda Icier.
North Rhine-Westphalia - an area full of talented young goalkeepers
Two Christmas camps were also realized in NRW. In addition to Bonn (December 27th and 28th at Sportpoint Meckenheim), a camp in Gelsenkirchen (December 29th and 30th, Alma Park) was also on the program for the first time. There, too, almost 30 goalkeepers attended the two-day training session. In Bonn, athletics coach Firat Uyar supported Samir Handanagic's team of five coaches.
We were also able to set up a more than top-class team of coaches for the premiere in Gelsenkirchen: Marcel Siepmann (Union Nettetal) acted as camp manager for the first time. In addition to Christof Osigus (formerly Schalke 04), Kai Hanysek (SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter) and Markus Biermann (Borussia Bocholt), Kai Henkel (1. FC Bocholt), Maxim Albov (DJK Südwest Köln) and Maximilian Warwas also completed the team.
Credit: Sami Mounir Omrane Brahim
We would like to thank our camp managers, the entire staff and the photographers Wolfgang Schade, Norina Sami Mounir Omrane Brahim, Norina Tönges, Dana Alicata and OMG Pictures for their commitment. Such large events can only be organized with a good "team behind the team"! After the great success of the Christmas Tour 2022, the 2023 tour is already being planned. You can look forward to several new and additional indoor locations!
You can see more about the Christmas Tour on Facebook and Instagram. You can also access all videos of the Christmas Tour 2022 on our YouTube channel!
Easter Tour 2023 - Registrations already open !
Next up is the Easter Tour 2023. On April 1st and 2nd, 2023, five more 2-day intensive goalkeeper camps will take place in Düsseldorf 🇩🇪, Frankfurt 🇩🇪, St. Pölten 🇦🇹, Spittal an der Drau 🇦🇹 and Brixen 🇮🇹! Registrations are already open - for more information click here!