Elite Goalkeeping Director

A destination youth soccer club serving 12,000 youth soccer players across 100 miles of Colorado, Rapids Youth Soccer focuses on “Developing Remarkable Coaches” through its purpose of "The Heart Behind the Crest." The Club’s commitment revolves around a comprehensive player development process encompassing both on-field skills and off-field growth. We aim to instill a lifelong passion for the game and equip players, coaches, and staff with the skills acquired during their Rapids journey to excel in all their endeavors.

The Elite Goalkeeper Director is a full-time position that focuses on player development, club-wide consistency across regions, and clear communication. It supports the holistic player pathway and education specific to Goalkeepers. The Elite GK Director guides CRYSC Elite Boys & Girls Goalkeepers through the player development pathway by providing oversight into goalkeeper placement, daily on-field specialized training, seasonal match analysis, and regular player evaluations. This role represents all goalkeepers in the Elite region in communications and interactions with member families. The position is committed to the detailed nature of preparation and planning, player-centered training environments, game-day support, and reflection conducive to goalkeeping environments. Exemplify and actively promote the Club’s methodology and player development philosophy through coaching, communication, and team interactions.

Additional expectations include serving as regular administrative support to CRYSC team coaches, directors, and regional administrators. This role is also responsible for collaborating on and conducting coaching education across Elite and other regional programs.

1. Enjoyment First – Stay positive and know that with adversity comes growth. Find joy in the challenges, the small details, the strategy, and the day-to-day.
2. Win Within – Being the best is the only way forward in everything we do, personally or as a Club. Support the objective of becoming a destination youth soccer club in our region and the country.
3. In and Up – Support the Club’s pursuit of constant development, education, and improvement of all we encounter - internally and externally.
4. Keep it Simple, Keep it Small – Work to simplify big thoughts, large expectations, and ambiguous strategies into strategic and club-wide execution.
5. Moment of Truth – Recognize the importance of each interaction, process, decision, and communication within your role. “Create remarkable experiences” is the role’s mantra.
6. Own It – Work to provide solutions instead of waiting for answers. Own the successes and failures of your region/program, encouraging ownership down to the most minor details. 

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Operational:

• Provide administrative support during the season, including weekly communication to goalkeeping families.
• Be the main point of contact for all daily Elite Region goalkeeper program questions and support
• Assist in the execution of the Club’s goalkeeper development plan and support its implementation across the Elite Region’s programs (Pre-Elite, ECNL)
• Oversee the day-to-day planning and implementation of goalkeeper training sessions for all 11U-19U ECNL & Pre-Elite goalkeepers.
• Coordinate the inter and intra-region movement of CRYSC Elite (11U-19U) goalkeepers in collaboration with Directors of Coaching and Regional Goalkeeping Directors. Ensure that all teams have a goalkeeper for scheduled matches and tournament play.
• Lead the USL2, USLW, USLA, goalkeeping strategy for both players and staff.
• Work closely with Rapids Academy Goalkeeping staff to coordinate movement of Elite Boys GKs into the Academy environment, and vice versa
• Organize and conduct annual kickarounds, tryouts, and team placement events.
• Evaluate goalkeeper performance in both training and match settings using objective criteria. Utilize CRYSC Elite Hudl programs to provide video analysis and feedback.
• Conduct post-season evaluation meetings with every competitive goalkeeper at least 2x per year (and additionally as needed or requested).
• Attended weekly technical meetings for Elite Boys and Elite Girls programs, providing updates, insights, and feedback to support ongoing programming.
• Plan and implement off-season goalkeeping camps with the objective of continuing the CRYSC goalkeeping curriculum during the Winter and Summer months
• Maintain regular “office hours” Monday through Friday. Provide availability to players and families to meet as needed.
• Ensure all Elite goalkeepers have an active Individual Development Plan (IDP) aligned with the Club’s framework and seasonal evaluation process.

Supervisory:

• Recruit and integrate goalkeeping coaches for assistant and support roles, with approval of the Elite Boys & Girls Directors and the Elite Technical Director.
• Oversee “GK Apprentice Coach Program” which can offer HS boys and girls a volunteer opportunity as role models and mentors. 

Educational:

• Serve as a point of contact for Regional Directors of Coaching, Team Coaches, and Membership when it relates to goalkeeper education, both on and off the field.
• Within the scope of the goalkeeping program, support the Club’s vision to “Develop Remarkable Coaches”
• Inform and educate team coaches on goalkeeper program processes, policies, and procedures.
• Personally participate in professional development opportunities through on & off-field offerings, CRYSC coaching education, and additional interactive programming (coaching seminars, professional licenses, international immersion)
• Advise and guide college-bound goalkeepers in their recruiting process. Serve as a liaison between collegiate coaches and CRYSC athletes. Collaborate with the College Placement Program (CPP) Director.

• Joy in the Rapids Experience - a positive member experience is naturally different at each level of competition and age. Our goal as a club is for our players to love playing soccer, our coaches love coaching soccer, our staff love working in soccer and our soccer process should be consistent with this goal, which we believe is not mutually exclusive across competitive levels;
• Retention and Satisfaction - a successful communication and customer service operation should result in improved retention and registration across the club on an annual and longitudinal basis; 
• Communication - a successful operation should result in consistent and responsive messaging, customer service, and experiences across all programs;
• Consistency - our operations process should result in a consistent player experience across the entire club versus an environment where the player experience varies widely based on who the player’s coach is;
• Member Enjoyment – several factors are part of developing a club loved by its membership, consisting of players, staff, coaches, families, and partners. We believe the individual player and team experience is the single greatest factor that results in building the club our membership desires. A successful soccer process should result in an experience that engages players, staff, coaches, families, and partners as proud stakeholders of the Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club.

• Significant goalkeeper coaching experience in both small and large settings
• USSF and/or USC coaching certifications. Goalkeeping Certifications are preferred.
• Ability to deliver coaching education to both coaches and the membership
• Understanding of modern goalkeeper training techniques and methodology
• Goalkeeper development strategies and implementation 
• Organizational skills
• Versatile and efficient communication skills for players of all ages and stages
• Multi-tasking in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to coordinate across multiple programs, coaches, and directors
• Public Speaking & Presentation Skills
• Coaching Staff recruitment, management, and retention
• Ability to design training sessions via Sport Session Planner program.
• Proficiency in Google Suite programs (Gmail, Drive, Slides, Forms).

• Elite Technical Director (directly)
• Elite Regional Manager (indirectly)

• Contractor GK Coaches (if applicable)

The Club provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran under applicable federal, state and local laws.

JOB TYPE: FULL-TIME

Salary range of $65,000-75,000 annually. Benefits include PTO, health, dental, vision, retirement with employer match, cell phone reimbursement, life insurance, and supplemental benefits.