Jimmy ‘s experience includes time with the Egyptian National Team staff
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS (April 30, 2026) – In this particular training session for Corpus Christi FC (CCFC), strength and conditioning coach Islam Gamal, better known as Jimmy, prepared a demanding session – part of that is the infamous beep test.
It tests a players’ endurance while perpetually increasing their speed the longer the test goes on. Players dread it. Jimmy decided to run the test on his own, in his free time, the day before.
“I want them to feel what I feel,” Gamal said. “I’m almost close to them at this age. So, I have done it myself and reach a good number which is like 17. Which is like I killed myself. So, I feel when they’re going to struggle.”
The beep test is the ultimate mental test to Jimmy. Cognitive training is a big part of the sports performance program he’s implementing with CCFC – especially when it comes to injury rehab.
“Some players they come, mentally they are not here,” he said. “So, you have to work with them as a life coach, mental coach. So, I have to work with their cognitive work.”
Jimmy comes to Corpus Christi after starting his coaching career in Africa and Europe. The former professional footballer has a UEFA B License in fitness, a certification only 10 people in the world have. He began studying sports performance while still playing professional soccer. He craved more after online studying so he then traveled to California before moving on to England, earning several degrees and certifications along the way.
In his young coaching career, he’s already earned four trophies with Pyramids FC in Egypt. He’s coached and worked alongside the biggest names in Africa and Europe including Unai Emery and Jurgen Klopp.
“Unai Emery is that guy that believed deeply in the sports science and the data. He liked to convert all the data from the game, from the training to the (next) training session. He liked to develop IDP, individual development plan for each player,” Gamal said.
Jimmy is using his experience to get the best out of the CCFC players. Working with the entire coaching staff, they evaluate even the smallest details to find ways to improve performance. Evaluating data isn’t new, it’s how the numbers are interpreted and the plans created from them that makes what Jimmy does, unique to smaller soccer clubs.
“I’ve seen like six, seven teams so far, seems normal. But I can say I can change a lot in my field about the sports performance, about teaching the players the data isn’t about the total distance running,” he said.
“How to implement the acceleration numbers, the deceleration numbers, change of direction numbers to the game. How to take data from the game, and footage from the game, and take the data from the GPS, and show it to the players, and work on it, develop it.”
You can see Jimmy leading every warm-up prior to CCFC home matches all season long.
