Smith, Goalkeeper Coach for several England development sides, began his camps four years ago with the idea being to work with the top 20 young stoppers from around the country.
Not only would it provide an opportunity to see them in action on the training pitch, but also allow Smith and his colleagues to get to know the players on a personal level.
Smith, who has worked at The FA as a National Coach since 2004, holds the camps four times a year, and he invited us along to his final one of 2014 in Warwickshire last week.
“The players stay overnight, so it allows us to get to know them as people too,” Smith told TheFA.com. “That’s important for them, as if they go on to be selected for international duty then there isn’t quite that same fear factor as they have the familiarity of knowing a coach or even the other keeper.”
Smith has vast experience between the posts both from his playing and coaching career. After a spell at Newcastle United as a youngster, he went on to become Gateshead’s record appearance holder, playing in 405 consecutive matches for the Tynesiders.
He went on to work for Sir Bobby Robson back at St. James’ Park after his playing career, tutoring Shay given and Steve Harper, before joining The FA.
And having worked with some of the top keepers in the game, he believes his camps provide him with an ideal opportunity to not only spot the talent coming through but help him to instill the England DNA within their game.
Great 4 days of goalkeeping; players, staff and facility great !
— simon smith (@simonsmithgk) December 11, 2014
“You can send people to watch, but if they are in a good team then they won’t have very much to do. With the camp you get to see them very closely and get to work with all their technical aspects. It gives us a real advantage and fits in with the DNA.
“We want to play out from the back and it helps to make sure people are comfortable and they can do it.”
Smith added: “It’s all about the goalkeeper being part of the team. For too long now it has been a bit like ‘us and them’, but now we want work on them being more comfortable being the 11th man and an outfield player.”
#PLAYINGYOURPART
Fellow national coach Tim Dittmer, the England U19 goalkeeper coach, is one of those who assists Smith with the running of the camps.
This month Dittmer spoke with Bootroom magazine and echoed the thoughts of his colleague on the England DNA.
He said: “The goalkeeper being part of the team, and not viewed in isolation, is the first and most important aspect. When we have been looking at the how the game will be played in the future and how we want our future England goalkeepers to play when we have the ball, we want the goalkeeper to be an additional outfield player – the 11th player.
“We have to create an environment for them to express themselves and to be creative with their distribution. We don’t want our goalkeepers to be boring or one dimensional in their play. We want them to express their advantage of being that 11th player.”
Watch the FATV video with Simon Smith at the England goalkeeper camp above.
