Meet A'TEAM Member Scott Goodwin

My name is Scott Goodwin, and I am a professional soccer goalkeeper for USL side Louisville City FC. I am currently with the team at the world-class IMG Academy in sunny Bradenton, Florida, where we just concluded our 5^th day of preseason training. We will be in Florida all of next week as well before returning to chilly Louisville for the rest of preseason. A little more on preseason in a minute.

I have recently joined the A-team at Aviata, and could not be happier with the quality of the product. I want to give a big thanks to Trevor Stiles at Aviata for bringing me in and for the first-class treatment. I am currently sampling almost the entire range of Aviata goalkeeper gloves, and I am honestly having a difficult time deciding which gloves I like best because they have all been exceptional. I have worn roll finger gloves exclusively for years, so I am naturally leaning towards the Stretta Roll Pro V4, but I have been so impressed with the comfort of the Salvo cut that I am still considering it. With any of the gloves, the grip in both wet and dry conditions has been top-notch. I would say that I am fairly picky about my gloves because I want a glove that is comfortable and fills me with confidence so I don’t have to think about the gloves or the conditions, that way I can stay focused on the game at all times. I am happy to say that the Aviata products exceed my requirements.

Just to give a bit of my background, I graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2012, where I was fortunate enough to be a part of an exceptional program that won several titles including the 2011 NCAA National Championship. After graduating, I spent my first season with IF Höttur in Iceland, which was an incredible start to my professional career as I was able to play 22 games. For any young goalkeeper, the battle is getting games. It’s just like any other job where the ones who are hired are often the ones with experience. So to be able to gain so much experience as the starting goalkeeper in my first professional season was truly a blessing. I spent the next season in 2014 close to home with the Carolina RailHawks of the NASL, which was a very good step up. I believe I grew more as a goalkeeper during that season, even though I did not start for much of the year, than any prior season of my career. I had to battle day in and day out to try and work my way into the lineup. I was able to get 12 games that season, including a run in the US Open Cup where we defeated Chivas USA and the LA Galaxy before finally falling to FC Dallas.

After numerous trials across Scandinavia and within MLS during the next offseason, I found the perfect fit with the brand new club Louisville City FC for their inaugural 2015 season. I could tell after only days of playing with the team and the coaching staff that this was something special, and I wanted to be a part of it. By most people’s standards, we had an exceptional first season, finishing 2^nd in the league on points and making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, for the players and coaching staff, we were left with a bitter taste in our mouths because our goal was to win the USL Championship, and we had gotten so close. The city of Louisville has absolutely rallied behind our team, and with the 2^nd highest attendance in the league, the atmosphere makes for an incredible place to play. I am very happy to be returning to Louisville for the 2016 season, where we are going to use the disappointment from the final game last year to fuel us on toward a championship.

And let me tell you, the driving for a championship is well underway only 5 days into preseason here in Bradenton. For 5 days and 9 training sessions, the coaching staff has pushed us mentally and physically to our limits. We opened the preseason with a gym workout that was honestly one of the toughest I have ever experienced. And almost every training session since has incorporated large amounts of running, thinking when we are tired, and pushing past the point when our bodies tell us we are tired. But there is one thing that all of the workouts had in common: we got through them together. That has been an important message from coach James O’Connor throughout preseason. When a group of men pushes through adversity together and comes out the other side even better off, it brings a team together and creates a sense of unity that is a force with which to be reckoned. Having a talented team can lead to a successful season. But having a talented team that can consistently outwork and out-compete the opponent is a recipe for a championship. USE CODE CAMO20 to receive 20% off the Stretta Camo seen here by Scott Goodwin.

Even as goalkeepers, we have been with the team for many drills, using our feet and working on our distribution as much as possible. When separated with goalkeeper coach Thabane Sutu, we have been focusing on footwork, agility, handling, explosiveness, and even more distribution. We are making sure that our form is good and footwork is clean, while pushing our legs to the limits and keeping the competitive spirit that says no ball ever gets by us.

-Scott Goodwin, #1

Louisville City FC (USL)