Goalkeeper Coach

Main Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate goalkeeper development across all U15–U19 academy teams.
• Design and implement an academy-wide goalkeeper-development process aligned with Barça Academy’s game and training ideas.
• Plan and lead goalkeeper-specific training while balancing technical development with representative game situations and decision-making demands.
• Cook with team coaching staffs to integrate goalkeepers effectively into team training and ensure that the team environment supports their development.
• Participate directly in team training sessions whenever appropriate to coach, observe, and support the goalkeepers within the full game context.
• Monitor each goalkeeper’s development, performance, individual needs, competitive opportunities, and long-term pathway.
• Lead goalkeeper evaluations and recommendations regarding recruitment, depth charts, retention, and progression.
• Support college placement and other appropriate progression opportunities for academy goalkeepers.
• Attend as many matches as the academy schedule allows, normally working from the team bench alongside the Head Coach and Assistant Coach.
• Travel regionally and nationally with academy teams as part of the MLS NEXT program and other competitions.
• Cook and support any assistant goalkeeper coach assigned to the program.
• Participate in methodology meetings, staff coordination, coach education, ID camps, and summer camps.
• Show the ability to coach a team effectively as a soccer coach when no specific goalkeeper training is scheduled during camps.

Candidate Profile

• Candidates must have relevant coaching experience in a high-performance environment.
• This may include a professional academy, collegiate soccer, or another comparable high-performance youth development environment.
• Strong junior candidates may also be considered when their previous responsibilities, specialist preparation, and demonstrated potential have prepared them to lead the academy’s goalkeeper program.
• The Right Candidate Will Be a soccer coach first, with the ability to understand the full game and connect goalkeeper development to the needs of the team.
• Have the specialist knowledge and skills to lead the goalkeeper program while remaining open to evolving, being challenged, and adapting to Barça Academy guidelines.
• Put goalkeeper development and the needs of the academy ahead of departmental ownership or personal recognition.
• Be comfortable balancing goalkeeper-specific work, representative game situations, and meaningful integration within team training.
• Work collaboratively with team coaches without becoming subordinate to an individual team staff.
• Embrace feedback and review while maintaining autonomy and accountability.
• Be proactive, organized, demanding, collaborative, and consistent.
• Communicate clearly with players, coaches, directors, families, and external programs involved in goalkeeper pathways.
• Be motivated by this professional challenge, not by the opportunities that may follow.
• Prior knowledge of Barça methodology is highly valued but not required.
• Genuine openness to adapting to our game approach, which may differ from common approaches in the United States, is more important.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• USSF goalkeeper-coaching qualification or equivalent.
• CPR certification.
• Ability to satisfy all required background-check and safeguarding requirements.
• Relevant full-time or high-level goalkeeper-coaching experience.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.
• Willingness to relocate to, or commute daily to, Casa Grande, Arizona.
• A current USSF B License or equivalent field-coaching qualification is preferred in addition to goalkeeper-specific licensing.
• Advanced academic qualifications, or specialized studies in coaching, soccer, performance, or player development are also valued, particularly when aligned with Barça’s game idea.