His game: There was a time when the hockey goalie's position was relegated to the pudgy player or the kid with asthma.

Not anymore. Today's successful goalies are highly trained athletes who dedicate many hours a week to stay in shape and hone their skills.

"You have to be quick. You have to be powerful. You have to be a good skater," says Jamie Phillips, 15, of Caledonia, a goalie for the minor Midget Triple AAA Junior Falcons in St. Catharines.

His goals: Phillips' personal goals include getting drafted by the Ontario Hockey League.

Successful goalies are strong skaters who are agile, move quickly, have great balance and concentrate well, says Matt Clark, owner of On Ice Goaltending School in Hamilton, where Phillips has had a training program developed for him. He trains there and also works there part-time.

His regimen: To prepare for the hockey season Phillips did dryland or off-ice training during summer five times a week.

It included mountain biking twice a week, covering 30 to 60 kilometres on each ride, for cardio and leg strength.

Three days a week he spent two-hours doing goalie-specific workouts at On Ice's gym.

"You want to have strong muscles, but you want to be mobile and flexible," says Phillips.

Workouts started with 30 minutes on the rowing machine for cardio and to strengthen the core, arms, legs, back and chest.

Rowing was followed by 90-minute workouts concentrating on strength building with weights one day, speed and agility the next, and balance and flexibility the following day.

Phillips also spent one hour a week on goalie-specific power skating and puck handling as well as two hours of on-ice lessons stopping shots and honing his technique. He also played four-on-four hockey once a week.

Now that hockey season is here, he'll have a minimum of two team practices a week as well as two games -- home and away.

He'll train at On Ice for one hour at least once a week practising "all the basic necessities for games" including positioning and controlling rebounds.

His lifestyle: Playing for a St. Catharines team means lots of commuting. His dad, an elementary school teacher, does most of the driving.

"I don't have a lot of spare time," says Phillips, an A-student at McKinnon Park Secondary School in Caledonia.

"It helps that my dad and mom say that I can't play hockey unless my grades are good. That challenges me."