Amy Ridgely Westminster, Md. I play goalie and I was wondering if you knew of anything I could do to try to improve my game? I really need to work on high balls. If you have any suggestions, I would really appericate it. Dean Caparaz: We spoke with former George Mason all-America keeper Skye Eddy, and here is her response to your question: “While it is difficult to give you a lot of specific instruction without seeing you play, and without knowing your age or skill level, here are some general things to concentrate on: * Goalkeeping is about body control and balance. Make certain you are taking lots of little steps as opposed to large steps, where you might become unbalanced. As well, a good rule-of-thumb is that you don’t want your shoulders to be moving a lot when you’re moving laterally. If you are twisting and turning your body a lot, you will have difficulty moving with the optimum speed and control, and (most importantly) you will have difficulty securing the ball. * ATTACK THE BALL. If you stand and wait for the ball to come to you, you are not in control of the situation. Instead, go and get it. This will help you in many ways: you will possibly beat an opposing player to the ball, you will be moving and catching the ball which will make it easier to gain possession as opposed to the ball coming and hitting you (the way a ball might hit and bounce off a wall), and you will be farther ahead in your area and therefore in a better position to distribute the ball to a teammate. As far as some specifics about working on high balls, or the “air catch” as it is often called, here are some general guidelines: 1. Judge the ball before you react to it. This seems like an obvious statement, but many keepers have difficulty with the air catch because they are moving before they know where the ball is going. 2. Try to have a straight path to the ball. 3. Time your approach so that you don’t have to stop and wait before you jump up for the ball. Your approach and save should be one motion. 4. When you jump for the ball, you should be taking off from one foot. Drive both arms and one knee to help you get more power. 5. Make contact with the ball at the highest point of your jump. 6. You should not find yourself landing in the same spot you took off from. Your momentum (because your approach/save is one motion) should carry you forward. Good luck!” Lee Anderson Huntington Beach, Calif. I was curious as to how long Project-40 players retain that status. There are some teams with players that have been there for 2 years and are playing regularly. When do they count against the official roster? Mike Woitalla: That’s an excellent question, Lee. It is, of course, a great benefit to the club when a useful player is Project-40 because he doesn’t even take up a roster spot. I know that Project-40 players can be dropped at any time — the league wanted to simulate the pressure young pros abroad must live with. And I know that cut P-40 players would still receive their scholarship money should they choose to go to college. But MLS has been vague about when a P-40 player would — or must — become a regular signee. My guess is that the league does not have a hard-and-fast rule about that. In official MLS P-40 descriptions, its members are referred to as players between the ages of 18 and 22. Perhaps the P-40 player who turns 23 before a new season reaches a point when he must hope the league is willing to offer him a regular contract. (Keep in mind that the U.S. Soccer Federation is partnering with MLS in this project — it puts up the school funds — with the idea of nurturing the U-20 and U-23 national teams.) We’ll try to offer a definitive answer to your question as we continue to track P-40 in the pages of Soccer America. Josh Leutz Ann Arbor, Mich. Perhaps you could clarify something for me — what is Sampson looking for in the defensive midfield position? Harkes gave the ball away and attacked too much. Sorber is tactically better but offensively inept. This position has been under such scrutiny recently — who has done the best job there in your opinion? Is Marcelo Balboa an option? Ridge Mahoney: Josh, what Sampson is looking for is exactly what Chad Deering supplied against Paraguay and Austria: A tactically aware, defensively solid midfielder who can also distribute the ball. Several years ago, Lothar Matthaeus played a similar role for his country, what some observers called a “grafter” — a player who links the attack and the defense, and serves as a bridge between the sweeper and the playmaker. Obviously, neither Deering nor any other U.S. player is in the class of Matthaeus at his peak, but the function of the position remains the same. He must be able to mark space, tackle, pass the ball, and get forward when necessary. Balboa plays a similar role for Colorado, and actually began his international career as a defensive midfielder, but was soon converted to a defender. If Sampson had decided to play Balboa at defensive mid earlier, say last year, he could have developed into an option at that position. Another player who’s proven he can play defensive mid is Dooley, although his age precludes him from playing 90 minutes at that position at the international level three times in 10 days, which is the World Cup schedule. In 1994, Dooley and Sorber were the central midfielders, and in Milutinovic’s cautious system, both of them were primarily defensive. Ed Poon Washington, D.C. I’m curious about the exclusion from Project-40 of promising young prsopects Justin Stoddard and Myles Stoddard. Both Stoddards skipped college soccer and have two seasons of second-division soccer under their belts, and both played regualrly last year with their clubs (Nashville for Myles and Seattle, then Rochester for Justin.) Both are age-eligible for the Olympics and Myles was a member of last summer’s U-20 national team and Justin was in the pool until getting hurt playing in the NPSL. I know Project-40 was originally supposed to be for kids who were in high school or college, but MLS has already made exceptions for players who were already professionals in Juan Sastoque, Jose Botello, Esmundo Rodriguez and Tim Howard. Considering the difficulty MLS has had getting players in Project-40, it seems odd that the Stoddard’s aren’t included. Also, do you know of any other players who are young enough for the Olympics who are playing in the USISL or A-League? Paul Kennedy: MLS is rather picky about who it chooses as Project-40 players. Take the case of Jake Dancy (Wizards), who, at 20, is one of the youngest players in MLS. He isn’t in P-40. On the specific cases of the two Stoddards, I simply don’t know. We can’t speak for the Stoddards, but since Project-40 players can only make the MLS minimum and both have played pro ball, perhaps they make and/or expect a higher salary. By the way, Myles was called in for this weekend’s U-23 national team training camp in Chula Vista, Calif. Current rosters with ages aren’t yet available for the A-League and USISL, although there are surely a good number of young players eligible for the Olympics. Evan T. Whitney Cambridge, Mass. The scheduling of MLS seems to establish a conflict with the educational efforts of the college draftees as the pre-season and early games come right in the middle of the spring semester. How are the players handling their educational concerns with respect to training? Especially those that may attend school across the country from their respective clubs? Mike Woitalla: I won’t be able to give you specific examples how the latest round of draftees are coping with their graduation progress. As a rule, players who go pro have to delay the completion of their degrees because of the conflicts. In fact, it’s common for students to need more than one semester of credits when their last college season is complete. (Student-athletes and regular students alike often take the four-and-a-half or five-year plan.) I do know that Eddie Pope was so concerned with his school work after being drafted by D.C. United for the 1996 season that he even turned down a U.S. national team call-up in order to attend exams. And Brandon Pollard, of Virginia, was given a leave of absence from the Dallas Burn at the start of the 1997 season to complete his studies at UVa. And this very week, former UVa striker Brian West (now with Columbus) missed the inaugural U.S. Pro 40 Select Team match at El Paso due to a midterm at Ohio State.