Jill Loyden helps train next generation of goalkeepers

I'm sure most of you know Kate by now, but in case you don't - she covers high school sports and occasionally pro soccer for the Inquirer. Follow her on Twitter here.

SEWELL, N.J. - Walk into the Keeper Institute and there's no sign of what the director and founder has accomplished. No big posters on the wall of the years spent representing the United States. No mention of placing second in the 2011 World Cup or the gold medal finish in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

No trace of the fact that she played with and against some of the best in the world.

You'd be forgiven for thinking this warehouse was just another place for local soccer players to practice. Instead, it is the home of TKI, a training school founded by Jill Loyden, former goalkeeper for the Women's National Team and Sky Blue FC.

The Vineland native's name - and the luster that goes with it - may have gotten the kids and their parents to TKI in the first place. But that's not why they stay.

They stay for Loyden, the person. Loyden, the internationally successful keeper is just a bonus.

"If you met her on the street you would never know she was a professional player and I think that is the greatest thing," TKI trainer Maria Dorris, said. "She doesn't thrive in that spotlight. She thrives when she is helping other people."

The warehouse sits next to a recording studio, in the same lot as a baseball and softball academy, crossfit gym and trampoline park. Just off of Delsea Drive, a TKI sign with an arrow points cars in the right direction and a tall flag lets you know where it is more specifically.

You definitely have to be looking for the facility to find it but once you do you won't be disappointed.

"She said the greatest piece of advice she ever got was to not name her company after herself," Dorris said. "Because it's more than that- it's more than just her name."

Loretta Axelsson describes it as a "euphoric haze." That's the state her two daughters, Victoria, 13, and Natalie, 17, are in after a session at TKI. Dawn Cleaves adamantly agrees, showing before and after pictures of her daughter, Trista, 11, to prove it.

Axelsson and Cleaves rave about Loyden. They point to her enthusiasm, generosity, and willingness to go above and beyond as traits that make the experience "one in a million."

Right on cue, Loyden yells a drawn out, "Yes" and it reverberates throughout the facility during a weeknight session. A player had just done something right, corrected her bad shape, and her trainer was proud of her.

"That right there," Cleaves beams. "That enthusiasm is what gets the girls."

Loyden always knew she wanted to coach, training players when she was still a Villanova Wildcat. In starting TKI, Loyden wanted local players to have something she didn't growing up: a great keeper trainer.

"I grew up never thinking I was good enough," Loyden said. "I compared myself to other goalkeepers who were getting awards, on the national team. I never thought I could do that."

She talks a lot about potential and how easy it is for some goalies to "throw in the towel" if they don't think they have what it takes. Loyden, Dorris, and TKI want to change that, providing the resources kids – and their coaches - need to excel at a position that is often undervalued and overlooked.

"We are developing goalkeepers that will do greater things than we have ever done," Loyden, whose 5-10 frame still looks match fit, said. "I feel lucky to be a part of that."

What started out as a small group of girls, living a nomadic existence in various fields throughout South Jersey, has now grown. TKI trains kids as young as eight, as well as high school age, collegiate players and professionals. This August, Loyden and Dorris will take TKI on a Midwest tour, corresponding camps with National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) games.

"You have a bunch of other keepers that are very, very talented - very, very athletic - so, it pushes you to do even better," Cherry Hill native, Chris Ogunsami, 19, said.

"You can totally tell that Jill genuinely cares about us," Ogunsami, the starting goalie for the Vanderbilt women's team added. "She specifically cares how each person progresses. I think training with her has had a huge impact."

The expansion comes on the heels of Loyden announcing her retirement this past October, something that came as a surprise, considering goalkeepers are usually considered in their prime in their late 20's or early 30's. But for Loyden whose life is go-go-go between the Jillian Loyden Foundation, spending time with her nephew Madden, active involvement in her church and broadcasting for the Philadelphia Union the decision to stop playing professionally was a relatively easy one.

"I realized my life was more important than the way a ball was going to bounce one day," Loyden said. "I don't want my life to be defined by a soccer ball, a trophy or awards."

The same reason there are no obvious signs at TKI that point to Loyden's tenure with Team USA is why the 30-year old wasn't on the podium in Canada, as the squad captured the nation's first World Cup title since 1999.

If she wanted to be in Canada wearing No. 21, she would have been. But she's driven by success of a different measure. One accentuated by helping others.