Sports Coaching Certification

At the earliest youth stages in sports, a lot of coaches are volunteer parents with little-to-no-formal training. But for those people who coach at higher levels with youth players, especially if they have any desire to move on to coach at the college or professional level, coaching certification is a must.

  1. General Entities

    • Organizations such as the American Coaching Academy (ACA) and United States Sports Academy help coaches by providing access to educational opportunities in a variety of sports. For example, the ACA provides an online coaching certification program for everything from baseball, basketball, and cheerleading to soccer, volleyball and wrestling. Although these programs might be enough for some, coaches looking to coach at higher levels, even for youth and high school sports, might be better served with a sport-specific certification or an advanced degree.

    College/University Degree

    • Many colleges and universities offer degrees such as bachelor's and master's degrees in areas such as physical education, athletic coaching, and sports management, all which can be valuable for individuals pursuing coaching as a career. Institutions such as Diablo Valley College, Kent State and Clarion University offer degree programs useful for those interested in coaching.

    Sport-Specific Certification

    • Getting certified through coach certification bodies that cover individual sports can be a critical tool in expanding knowledge, and it is often required to coach in some leagues. For instance, the New England Premiership soccer league has minimum standards of licensing for coaches, and coaching directors for its affiliates must have at least a USSF B license.

    Soccer

    • Using soccer as an example, there are two main bodies running coaching certification programs in the United States--the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The NSCAA offers nonresidential and residential courses, a goalkeeping institute, special topic courses and clinics, college credit through the University of Colorado and more. The USSF offers E through A level licenses, a national goalkeeping license and more. These courses generally require a set number of hours and participation in classroom and field sessions. For example, the NSCAA National Diploma program is a 50-hour course that includes oral, written and coaching evaluations.

    Costs and Commitment

    • Obviously, costs vary depending on the size and scope of the course. Going to a college or university for a coaching degree is like going to school for anything else. It;s going to take years and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Attending sport-specific certification programs such as an NSCAA course will take a few days, perhaps a week or more, and they will cost hundreds of dollars and might require you to stay at the course location. Programs such as those offered by the ACA can be fairly inexpensive, perhaps less than $100.