A water polo goalkeeper is known as crazy — someone who seems willing to take the knocks, 85km/h missiles homing in on the face and content to enjoy watching half of the match from afar. But that goalkeeper needs to prepare just as hard as any attacking player. Former triple international Tomaz Lasic, who now resides in Perth, Western Australia, takes a look at what is needed to be a goalkeeper in myriad sports.
The advertising blurb says it all — The Love of Goalkeeping: Many Sports, One Love” — is a unique exploration of many unique, physical, mental and developmental demands and characteristics of goalkeeping that seem to consistently match across sports with a goalkeeper.
Many books have been written about overall aspects of various sports or individuals, but Lasic, who first played for Yugoslavia, then Slovenia before shifting to and competing for Australia in the 1990s, the love of the goalkeeping position stretches beyond the pool.
He has been a keen football goalkeeper, coaches the sport and has a sharp eye for what is needed to become a cage-keeper no matter what the sport.
Lasic fell in love with goalkeeping when only 10 years old in his hometown club Triglav in Kranj, Slovenia. He played water polo for several clubs, most notably Mladost from Zagreb, Croatia and won several national titles and two European Champions’ League titles.
After migrating to Australia in the early 1990s, Lasic won several national titles with Fremantle Mariners (above). Between 1984 and 2000, he represented Yugoslavia, Slovenia and Australia at the highest international level more than 100 times.
Lasic coached and mentored elite water polo players and specialised in working with goalkeepers. His many successful protegés include the winners of gold and bronze Olympic medals. In addition to his international water polo experience, Lasic had also stood in soccer, futsal and handball goals at a local, amateur level.
Lasic said while the book should be welcomed by coaches and goalkeepers, the book is neither a highly technical coaching manual nor a biography.
When his younger son fell in love with soccer, not water polo, goalkeeping, Lasic started engaging with soccer goalkeeping specialists and soon noticed the incredible similarities in goalkeeping. He decided to tackle the question that had been swirling in his head for nearly three decades: “What is common to goalkeepers in all sports?”
The result is his book The Love of Goalkeeping: Many Sports, One Love.
The question seems odd at first, but when examined more closely, the opportunities and challenges goalkeepers share across sports are truly astounding — football, futsal, field and ice hockey, handball, water polo, lacrosse, hurling and others.
Scoring Goals asked Lasic why he wrote the book?
“Because it just had to be written. All books are unique, but no one, to my knowledge, has tried to look at goalkeeping across different sports instead of one sport, as it is usually the case. All sports have their own 'goalkeeper union' of understanding, innovating, copying, supporting and respecting each other and I thought why not expand this union across different sports? What justified this was the realisation that there are far more similarities than perhaps the more obvious differences between goalkeepers across different sports.”
Who did you approach across the sports?
“A big range of people from master coaches and goalkeepers at highest levels to parents of young goalkeepers. Not perhaps in all equal measures, but I got responses from all sports with a goalkeeper, from football to handball, water polo and even hurling and from all continents, too. Over 18 months I engaged with more than 100 people through conversations and surveys. This material complemented the research from academic and popular sources and really framed the picture that emerged — we goalkeepers are so similar, no matter what sport. And that is why we can learn so much from each other!”
What happened once you covered your costs?
“Once I reached that goal, I published a free e-book as a gift to goalkeepers and all who care about them. It is, after all, a true labour of love for our craft and my goalkeeping brothers and sisters.”
Who should read it and why?
“Anyone who is or cares about goalkeepers. I was particularly careful not to turn the book into a technical manual, so it is accessible to readers of all ages and levels of interests. There is something in it for everyone, proved by the fact that I got rave reviews from the likes of Croatian water polo coaching legend Ratko Rudic, Australian hockey royalty and a former English Premier League goalkeeper to a few parents and their children who appreciated it.
“A young teen in Wales even took it as a book of choice for World Book Day at his school, dressed, of course, in full goalkeeper kit. My heart sang when I saw the photo!”
The book is written in a way that ensures that either a layperson, junior goalkeeper, professional coach or sports commentator can find in it things to help them in understanding and appreciate the demanding, sometimes quirky and wonderfully rich world of goalkeeping, no matter what the sport, Lasic said.
The book is also a family affair and not just for the prowess between the posts. The beautiful minimalist illustrations that frame the chapters are the work of Lasic’s son Sebastian, a 15-year-old budding graphic media student at the time of publication.
In the book’s foreword, the dual Olympic-winning hockey coach and recognised Australian sporting legend Ric Charlesworth wrote how this comprehensive and easily readable companion to understanding and working with goalkeepers is “a must for every coach in every sport with a goalkeeper.”
The book is available from theloveofgoalkeeping.net website and all major online retailers in both print or ebook format. Signed copies and bulk discounts for clubs and organisations are available via theloveofgoalkeeping.net together with other services offered by the author.