Mandatory diploma forces goalkeeper coaches to retire: ‘You almost have to be a video analyst’

• Frank Hettinga

  editor NOS Sport

Rein van Duijnhoven has been a goalkeeper for a lifetime. On behalf of Helmond Sport, MVV and at Bochum in the German Bundesliga, he played more than 500 matches in professional football. And as befits a goalkeeper, he automatically became a goalkeeper coach. Already 17 years ago.

That goalkeeper’s life now ends for Van Duijnhoven, now employed by Roda JC, at the age of 56.

From next season, the European football association UEFA will oblige the Premier League clubs to include a goalkeeper coach on their staff with the highest diploma, the so-called Goalkeeper Coach 3. A year later, the stricter license requirement will also apply to the First Division clubs.

But Van Duijnhoven does not have any diploma. “No, not one. So yes, then you have to start at the bottom. First train a youth team and then I don’t know how many diplomas. Another two and a half years of writing, I don’t feel like doing that anymore.”

“So it ends here for me. This rule will soon apply everywhere. I can’t go back to Helmond, where I worked before, let alone to Chelsea or Barcelona. Yes, it’s all a shame.”

He’s not alone. Last week Sander Boschker announced that he is in his last weeks as goalkeeper coach at FC Twente. The figurehead of the Tukkers had started the highest education this season. In a press release: “I have decided for myself not to continue with this and that means I am quitting.”

Despite the absence of Van Duijnhoven and Boschker, the course, given by the KNVB, is busy. A spokesperson for the football association estimates that half of the goalkeeper coaches of clubs in the Premier League and First Division are in the study benches. The KNVB does not want to reveal exact figures.

A tour shows that quite a few clubs are eagerly looking for a goalkeeper coach for next season who has the right credentials.

Roda JC is looking for a replacement for Van Duijnhoven. “We have already had some discussions, but it is not that easy yet,” says Rob Servais, the technical manager. “There are not that many certified goalkeeper coaches here in the south. And just try to get someone who moves here with his family, the salary is not there either.”

Peter den Otter, goalkeeper coach at Willem II, is almost finished with the course. “I just turned in my last assignment.” And that’s just in time. Willem II secured promotion to the Premier League last Friday.

He is happy with the mandatory diplomas. “It is very good that licensing requirements are imposed on our profession. That sets us apart,” says Den Otter, a goalkeeper coach for 33 years. “Now you could still walk off the field as a goalkeeper and become a trainer. But you really have responsibility for the training, the load capacity. And you could just do that without diplomas? I find that absurd.”

“Football has developed in recent years. And so has the role of the goalkeeper and coach,” says Harald Wapenaar, goalkeeper coach at FC Utrecht. “You have really become an assistant trainer, with a specialization. You look at images a lot. And you are also a scout.” Partly thanks to Wapenaar, Greek goalkeeper Vasilios Barkas now plays for Utrecht.

Wapenaar prepared for the mandatory training years ago. Already in 2012. It was the KNVB’s first pilot. “I think it’s a nice story. Even then they said that it would eventually become mandatory. And then in 2017 or so you wonder: will it ever happen again? But I’m very happy that I passed the course then. It has given me a lot of structure. It is very pleasant to work. And then the head coach also knows what you are doing.”

The bar of the course is quite high, says the former goalkeeper of Utrecht and Vitesse, among others. “It’s a lot of work, especially if you are already a goalkeeper coach, it is quite difficult to combine everything in terms of time. A lot of homework, assignments. There are now a lot of goalkeeper coaches working hard on that course.”

“It’s over-professionalization, if you ask me,” says Van Duijnhoven. “It’s a really tough course. With an enormous amount of computer work. And our generation is not that good at computers, right? You almost have to be a professional video analyst. Of course, there is now a generation that can do that. But I think that they have forgotten that we, including Sander Boschker, have played 500 matches at the highest level. “A lot of experience is lost.”

The goalkeeper slowly turns into an extra field player, an eleventh football player with gloves, Wapenaar sees. “That is why the goalkeeper must also be trained in the club’s way of playing. He no longer only trains in isolation, but also really with the group. The goalkeeper is now really part of it.”

“It’s all well and good,” says Van Duijnhoven. “But a goalkeeper remains a goalkeeper. It’s nice if he can find the free man and kick with left and right. But if he had been a really good football player, he would have played with number 10 on the back. You In the end you just have to stop those balls.”

What will Van Duijnhoven do now? He is currently also team manager at Roda JC. He hopes he can be retained in that role for the club. “Discussions are still ongoing about this,” he says. “But the most important thing is that we are promoted now.”

Next Friday, Roda and FC Groningen will decide in a mutual match who will play Premier League football next season. “That would be very nice to be able to experience that here, Premier League football. I would prefer to stay with Roda.”