You’re In Safe Hands In Manchester
Goalkeeper training in Manchester is really paying off for Andrea after his move from Basketball.
Andrea Melica is one of the IHM Football Academy goalkeepers and has been working hard with Head of Football, Sam, to improve and develop his game. Andrea is studying English language + Football in Manchester until March 2024. Each morning he takes his place in class to improve his English, then in the afternoon he puts on his gloves and is the man between the goals for the IHM Football Academy team.
Having only recently transitioned from Basketball, Andrea is having to learn some new skills in his quest to be a successful goalkeeper, and he’s doing very well at it too. Working with Sam each day in one-on-one sessions and group sessions with the team, Andrea has had to go back to basics and change some of the handing skills he had learnt from basketball. Something that he has taken in his stride.
Over the past few months there has been a great improvement. Andrea was even awarded Player of the Match recently for his performance and ability to keep the team in the game with some outstanding saves. His underlying sporting ability, along with hand-eye coordination from his basketball days, have really set him on a great path to develop as a goalkeeper.
Head of Football Sam said:
“it’s been a real delight to work with Andrea over these past few months and help him move over from Basketball to being our number 1.
He totally has the basics of a goalkeeper with the hand eye coordination, his athleticism and bravery and is a great student out on the pitch, so we are working on all the other elements. We’ve had to go back to basics on a few things to change habits from basketball, but it’s worked really well.
Andreas’ footwork, head movement, body-weight distribution and handling are all things we’ve worked on and are improving. He’s responding so well to everything we’ve been doing and I can’t wait to see where he can get to in the next few months, as there’s been so much improvement so far.”
Goalkeeping is a very specialised position and we at IHM Football Academy are delighted we can offer this development to Andrea and others like him who wish to become a goalkeeper. Sam, as Head of Football, is perfectly placed to assist our young athletes in this position as he himself was a goalkeeper and worked with some of the best coaches in the country whilst he was a young player.
If you would like to join our team, as a goalkeeper or in any other position, contact us now and have an appraisal of how best IHM can help you.
