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FA Qualified Coach – how to become an FA Qualified Coach

Fancy being an FA Qualified Coach? Do you know how to become an FA Qualified Coach? If the answer is yes, then please keep on reading!

The Football Association of England have set out a comprehensive approach to train potential grassroot coaches all the way to elite level. The FA have set out a pathway from a grassroots level coach undertaking their first course all the way to the elite training courses required to manage an international team.

There are three main areas of the coaching pathway set by The FA. The first one identifies the entry level qualifications and finishes at the UEFA Pro Licence certificate, which is a required qualification to coach a professional club or international side. The second area covers specialist courses such as goalkeeping, Futsal (indoor football) and disability football. The third and final pathway covers courses that are aimed at youth development such as The FA Youth Award.

In order to start your coaching career you must first be enrolled onto a Level One Certificate in Coaching Football course which is available to undertake throughout the UK under county Football Associations. This course will generally cover the organisation and provision of delivering safe and enjoyable coaching sessions for participants. The course is aimed at working with groups of young players and developing players’ technical skills and abilities through the use of practical drills.

Upon completion of the Level One certificate you can apply for the Level Two Certificate in Coaching Football which provides a more advanced level and understanding of coaching. The main aspects of this course is understanding different coaching styles that can be used in coaching a team, what to do in the event of an accident and emergency and how to prepare for that, and nutritional and scientific information for players.

Once you have achieved Level Two Certificate status in coaching, you are eligible to coach any semi-professional or amateur team in the country. The next stage would be The UEFA B Licence. This award teaches coaches to apply principles of performance profiling. This is to enable coaches to evaluate player and team performance whilst setting goals. Coaches will also learn how to analyse matches and analyse psychological and fitness performances whilst also provide more of an insight into nutrition.

The UEFA A licence is the highest practical coaching award available and it will follow the UEFA B licence. This award enables you to progress onto being an FA Academy Manager or the UEFA Pro Licence award which is required to manage any professional club or international side in the world. This course is suited to coaches who work for teams playing 11-a-side football and it has a requirement of 120 hours or practical and theoretical work.

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The article publication date: 16 February 2018

Further Reading/References

The Football Association (2001-2018) Coaching Pathway, available at: http://www.thefa.com/my-football/football-volunteers/coachingvolunteering/get%20into%20coaching/coachingpathway (Accessed 01 January 2018)

Photo credit: Pixabay

Author: Zia Ahmed

Graduated with a BA (Hons) in Sport Management from Loughborough University, UK. Ahmed writes regularly on sports science and relevant subjects. His other areas of interest are business development, customer service and social media marketing.

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