Goalkeeping coach Staniforth conducts camp

Former South African hockey goalkeeper Dave Staniforth is conducting a three-week camp at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here for the Indian male and female goalkeepers and young coaches under the initiative of Hockey India (HI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI), it was announced on Saturday.

"The camp which commenced on September 5 will go on till 28, consists of seven goalkeeping coaches, 14 male goalkeepers and 14 women goalkeepers," HI said in a statement.

Among the trainees, top-rated custodian P.R. Sreejesh, young Akash Chikte, Harjot Singh, Subodh Tirkey, Suraj Karkera, Abhinav Pandey alongwith others are improving their skills.

Indian women's team members -- Savita Punia, Rajani Etimarpu, Yogita Bali and Sweta -- are learning the new tricks from the specialist.

The seven coaches include Romeo James and Helen Mary.

"The programme is based on many aspects of goalkeeping which include the technical aspects like shot stopping, clearing, closing down and defending set pieces as well as the non-technical aspect like communicating with a defence, match day preparation, using video analysis, the mental aspects of goalkeeping and post match or practice recovery," Staniforth, who coached the Indian senior and junior teams in 2013, said.

"Most importantly, my focus is on educating and training the group which consists not only of players but the coaches too," Staniforth, who played 65 matches for South Africa, added.

Speaking on the camp, high performance director Roelant Oltmans said: "Staniforth will work with us for the entire training period. This is definitely going to boost the confidence of current goalkeepers of the national teams."

Durban based Staniforth also worked as a goalkeeping coach and video analyst for Hockey India League (HIL) side Uttar Pradesh Wizards in 2013 and 2014.