Coaching Education
Many of our Mockingbird Valley Premier coaches have invested large amounts of time in their coaching education. We've worked very hard to make sure that we consistently sport one of the most highly licensed coaching staff's in the state. While listing off coaching licenses or diplomas can seem like a great thing, we also think it's important that we explain what each of these certifications truly mean - not only in terms of time invested, but in terms of level of expertise that each coach must require to have earned these various licenses or diplomas.
“As coaches we ask that players continue to work on improving their game by competing hard in training, staying focused when a coach is instructing them, working independently with the ball at home to hone their first touch/perfect moves, improve their fitness level and watching high level soccer games,” said Coach Mike Dickey. “As the Director of Coaching, I expect all of our coaches to continue to educate themselves about the game by taking soccer courses where they can be evaluated by mentors, watch high level games on a weekly basis, be open to feedback from myself and other coaches within the club that have advanced experience and finally be excellent role models for the athletes we coach. At Mockingbird, we take our job as coaches seriously and want our teams to improve their ability to score goals and prevent opponents from scoring on us. Coaching Education is a priority for us as we strive to improve the quality of soccer here in the Midwest.”
For starters, there are two main organizations that coaches can choose to pursue their coaching credentials through. The most well-known one is the US Soccer Federation (USSF), but the United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America) also offers educational opportunities for our coaches. Most coaches will focus on one of these organizations and their coaching pathways; however, there are plenty of coaches that have a combination of US Soccer licenses and United Soccer Coaches diplomas. Within both of these organizations, there are a variety of courses that help coaches incrementally improve and increase their knowledge of the game.
Using the Coaching Education Pathway graphic above, you can see the different coaching licenses that a coach can receive with the highest USSF badge is the Pro License. The Pro License requires that a coach be currently working with a professional team or US National team. That being said, at the youth level, the highest licensed coaches are usually A licensed coaches. From an educational standpoint, a coach that has earned that A license is akin to earning a PhD is soccer. This license requires not only a large amount of experience on the field, but a large investment in your coaching education as well.
Next on the list, the USSF B and USSF C licenses, are more like receiving a Masters' Degree or Bachelors' Degree, respectively. Both of these courses are held at a national level with the C License still being coordinated by state associations and often require coaches making multiple trips to meet with their instructors over the course of three to six months. At these courses, coaches work with people from around the country as there is an application process to even gain admittance to the course.
Continuing down the line, the USSF D License and Grassroots licenses are organized and ran by each state organization. Both of these courses help coaches begin their coaching education journey and offered locally to make them as accessible as possible for aspiring soccer coaches. The Grassroots license even features portions that can be taken exclusively online for even easier access. To read more about the US Soccer Federation coaching license structure including the requirements for each course, click here.
The United Soccer Coaches also offer a coaching education pathway that is broken down into five major categories. The Development level aligns with the US Soccer Grassroots license and offers diplomas for the 4v4, 7v7/9v9, and 11v11 levels. These courses are a great way for coaches to begin their education journey and can be taken in less than a day.
The National, Advance National, and Premier Diplomas are similar to the USSF D/C, B, and A licenses. Much like with the USSF licenses, these diplomas represent an increased investment in time with the Premier Diploma requiring 40 hours of directed learning as a well as a field assessment.
There are also Director of Coaching, Goalkeeping, and eLearning diplomas offered through the United Soccer Coaches. For more information on the full list of education opportunities offered through this organization, click here.
At Mockingbird Valley Premier, we have worked hard to make sure that our coaching staff is looking for ways to continue their coaching education. Coaching licenses and diplomas are a great way for our staff to make sure that they’re progressing alongside our players. We are aware that these licenses and diplomas are not the only sign of a great coach; however, we will always work with our coaching staff to make sure that they’re given the chance to take advantage of these educational opportunities. Our goal is to create an environment of learning for our coaches in order to ensure that we are continuing to improve what we do and how we do it.