An ex-professional goalkeeper is attempting to produce a conveyor belt of stoppers for the future.
Ipswich-born Danny Potter, a former Chelsea trainee, played for the likes of Exeter and Torquay during a career, which finished at Leiston.
The 36-year-old also appeared in Sky One’s Dream Team series in 2002 but now wants to focus developing youngsters to hopefully follow in the footsteps of himself and names such as Gary Bailey, Arran Lee-Barrett and Richard Wright, at his football academy, DP Elite
“When you watch juniors in training sessions, you tend to see the goalkeepers join in with the outfield players for 50 minutes and then have balls blasted at them for the last 10 minutes of a session,” he said.
“They are not receiving expert coaching, it’s not doing their confidence any good and the last thing they remember when they are going into games is having 50 shots fired past them.
“It’s difficult for coaches at childrens’ level, they are all volunteers who try their best and do their best, but many are not qualified.”
Potter’s plans are beginning to come to fruition, but he says he can’t guarantee success.
“It doesn’t mean that they will be playing Premier League football in years to come, but we can improve them,” he explained.
“It’s great for their confidence as there are a lot of kids that have never had any coaching.
“They get spotted by a pro club and may have a couple of training sessions there, before being told ‘you are not for us’ and they are then back at square one.”
Potter was on Ipswich’s books as a left-back as a youngster before being released. He was spotted by a Chelsea scout playing in goal in Ipswich, and his career took off from there.
“When I went to Chelsea there were lads that had been training since the age of nine or 10 and it made a difference,” he said.
“Lads who want to be goalkeepers are not getting the chance to improve and their dreams are being shattered pretty much before they even get a chance.”
For information on DP Elite, contact Danny Potter on 07912 148888 or email dpelite@outlook.com
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