̨MM

Skip to content

Some tips from a pro

Following last month’s visit from Carl Valentine, a group of young soccer players were again treated to some fun and skill-building with a former professional.
web1_170617-CVR-M-IMG_5515
Former professional and national team soccer goalie Erin McNulty was the guest coach for a kid’s clinic, Saturday at Valley View in Courtenay.

Following last month’s visit from Carl Valentine, a group of young soccer players were again treated to some fun and skill-building with a former professional.

Erin MacNulty, who played in goal for the Canadian Under-20 women’s team, was guest coach at a Saturday clinic for girls at Valley View field.

“I like training young kids,” said MacNulty, who took the group of U-8 to U-10 girls through a number of footwork drills and introduced them to goalkeeping. “Make it fun for them — more fun than anything.”

The Winnipeg-bred MacNulty had played under Riptide soccer development co-ordinator Shel Brodsgaard when he coached with the national program. She tended the pipes for the 2008 team that won gold at the U-20 CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football ) championship. She later trained and played in tournaments with the women’s national team. MacNulty also played soccer at Florida State University, where she earned a bachelor’s in business management, and at Penn State, where she completed a masters. She now works in Vancouver, and coaches on the side.

“I’m not sure if I’m going to go into coaching full-time,” she said.

The Comox Valley United Soccer Club and the Marine Harvest Riptide co-hosted the clinic.

“We’re trying to co-operate heavily with Riptide. We’re a feeder organization to them,” said Stefan Szkwarek of the CVUSC.

“This is our way to reinvest in the future. We get an ex-professional, ex-national team player. Second time around, it’s amazing.”





(or

̨MM

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }