IMG Academy's Paul Jennison: \"Keeping the ball out the net is the easy part\" - FIFA Training Centre

At the IMG Academy there is a big goalkeeping culture. Goalkeeping coaches play an integral part in players' long-term development, helping them to become better people as well as footballers.

Paul Jennison is Head of Goalkeeping at the IMG Academy in the United States. The IMG Academy is a multi-sport school based in Florida and has helped to develop hundreds of elite athletes. In this video Jennison gives a detailed insight into what his role entails. He discusses the goalkeeping programme, what a typical training week looks like and how life skills and holistic development are generated at the IMG Academy.

Some of Jennison's key responsibilities include:

Leading goalkeeper training;
Helping to integrate goalkeepers into team training and assisting head coaches within that realm;
Providing a presence on game days for the goalkeepers and being a secondary voice for head coaches offering a different perspective on game feedback.

Watch interview

Part 1: Jennison’s role and the goalkeeping programme.

Part 2: Training and how sessions are planned

Read summary

Part 1: Jennison's role and the goalkeeping programme.
Jennison works with both the boys' and girls' programmes across all age groups. They have training three times a week from Wednesday through to Friday. The goalkeeper trainers have a responsibility to help the goalkeepers in the team training and also on game days, providing coaching and support. Jennison's team work very closely with the head coaches in asking what they need from their goalkeepers and how they can help the goalkeepers be successful in their environment. Some days there may be a crossover of activity, but their biggest mindset is to make sure they are helping the goalkeeper be successful within the team environment.

Part 2: Training and how sessions are planned.
Jennison says the most important thing is for a training session to look like the game. When Jennison is planning a session, he will always think of the end product and deconstruct it, taking it back to the most basic point of the activation. The older he gets the more he realises that simpler is better. The less moving parts and the less complexity make the game seem more enjoyable and if goalkeepers are clear on their role the more successful, they generally are.