Keeper wars was a true blessing to me as a keeper and I'll never forget it!

Keeper Wars Director Casey Clark talks about his 1st Keeper Wars experience!

I was asked to sign up for the NOMADS Keeper Wars tournament that was involved with my team’s tournament. I read the rules, thought it sounded fun. Little did I know that it would become one of the fondest memories I have to date in my soccer career. 

Leading up to the event I was very excited but had no idea what to expect, so I prepared for war. I trained and worked on all the parts of the game I could think of fitness, distribution and of course shot stopping. I would always build big games up in my head leading up to the event. This gave me what I consider now, more motivation to train harder and focus in on my craft than maybe I was before. 

When the event came around my stomach was in knots and I literally put my shorts on backwards! I played at the highest level tournaments in California for my age, went to D1 showcase events, and trained with professional coaches but I felt I was more nervous for this Keeper Wars event. It was just me no team, no coaches just me seeing how I compared against another keeper. Not until after the first game would I realize how refreshing it was to have the limelight and compete to show what I could do!  

As the games played I stuck to my strengths at the time, throwing the ball. It got me what I believe was a 9 to 0 first game win. At that point I was hooked. As I continued to win the opponents got harder and my arm could only throw so many good throws. I had to figure out how else I could score! I was able to drop kick fairly well and it got me to the final. After what seemed like a full day of playing I had made it to the final. I was able to take home a win that could have easily went the other way. But that medal is something that I will hold deer for a lifetime. It gave me the opportunity to step up in a thrilling event with all eyes on me and perform. I feel that gave me the confidence to go do the things I never could have believed I would do in my soccer career. Keeper wars was a true blessing to me as a keeper and I'll never forget it.