The former Czechoslovakia and Slovakia international has spent the last week in Auckland to conduct a FIFA Goalkeeping Coaching Course on behalf of New Zealand Football and also visited OFC last year to helm a pair of similar courses.
Goalkeeping has been identified by the OFC Technical Department as a key issue in the development of football in the Pacific and Vencel feels the foundations are being put in place for great progress to be made.
“For me, there is no doubt that Oceania can produce world-class goalkeepers,” he says. “Maybe it will not be tomorrow but it will happen eventually. Why not?”
The running of courses such as the one Vencel has just presided over will be a vital component in lifting goalkeeping standards across the region. The three-day gathering was held at the OFC Academy at Mt Smart Stadium and was attended by 18 representatives from all of New Zealand’s seven federations.
The participants were at varying stages of their coaching careers and included the likes of current Football Ferns number one Jenny Bindon and former All White James Bannatyne. The content consisted of a range of practical and theoretical sessions and included many aspects of the goalkeeping trade.
Vencel was pleased with the response of the participants and hopes they will put into practice some of the information they have learned.
“The people who came all had a good knowledge of goalkeeping and our contact was very positive,” he says. “I hope they were able to go home and take something with them from the course.”
FIFA Instructor Vencel is the ideal man to pass on the advice as he enjoyed a glittering career between the sticks during his time as a professional goalkeeper. The former international represented Czechoslovakia twice before going on to make 19 appearance for Slovakia between 1994 and 1998.
He made his debut for home town club Slovan Bratislava in 1988 and was bought by French team RC Strasbourg in 1994, helping them win the Coupe de la Ligue in 1997. He dropped down to Ligue 2 several seasons later and helped Le Havre AC win promotion in 2002 but could not prevent them being relegated the following season.
Now 45, Vencel is charged with implementing FIFA’s new goalkeeping programme across the world and says there is as much talent in the Pacific as anywhere else.
He says the challenge is to harness that potential and bring it to fruition through technical programmes and quality coaching.
“I think Oceania is somewhere near the starting point,” he says.
“But if we only have the starting point and nothing else has happened ten years later then there will still be the same issues. That’s why the good work that the technical department is doing is so important. There are a lot of ideas and programmes for the future and they will be a big help for coaches throughout the Pacific Islands.
“I think we will soon have a new generation of coaches in Oceania and, from this point on, we can start to hope that many good goalkeepers will be produced.”

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