Thanks guys for the help so far. I am just starting to look at getting some formal qualifications. I have been coaching for the last 4 years, I am 20 now and I have been coaching my brothers div 1 club team (he is 3yrs younger then me) I am now coaching a team at my brothers school and I would like to take some courses so that I could eventually coach a top division 14/15 yr old club team.
Just a couple more questions
What level would the senior license allow me to coach at?
Also would many top division junior coaches have say a C license or higher?

Good question.

Not in Tasmania - yet.

I've recently seen an accredited FFA B Licence coach do some unadulterated rubbish on the training track -total anathema to the National Curriculum - with a split state league men's senior team.

One of the best local coaches I've seen, who is unknown to many, only has a FFA Senior Licence. He coaches a women's split state league senior team. His qualifications are two steps lower than the coach using awful stuff. I've picked up some excellent stuff from him.

The senior license is intended for coaching amateur players and clubs. You should essentially see it as a stepping stone to the C license. The Senior License isn't so much a "formal qualification" as opposed to "training". Think of it as TAFE and university level degrees. While they have courses that focus on the same area, the amount of information and the assessment tasks are tailored to a higher level. Krisskrash mentioned on the first page that he completed the Senior License and wasn't too happy with it. Maybe he can shed some more light on his experiences?

When are you planning on doing the Senior License, Roar #1?

I would hazard a guess that not many top junior division coaches would have the C license, simply because it's a new thing, but I honestly don't know. Perhaps someone else in here knows a bit more about how common it is?

If you held a C license and planned to coach a top division junior side, I think you would be well on your way to being right up there with the highest qualified coaches in the junior league (Outside the A-League clubs, of course).

Contact your club (and other clubs in the division) and simply ask about what badges the managers and coaches for specific teams hold. It's a fair question and if anything they would want to advertise how qualified their coaches are :)

Good luck!

Edit: Thanks Decentric!

Edited by Draupnir: 23/5/2012 12:28:57 PM

If you have no FFA qualifications, I'd recommend the Grass Roots certificate. One gets a lot of info in the time, it is free and only takes two hours.

They provide a handbook too.

I dont think there are many part time youth coaches who hold advanced qualifications in Australia, from experience maybe 2-3 per age group in each state.

Exactly victory, there wouldn't be much point in going for a position like that with advanced qualifications.

Post updated with New Zealand Football (NZF) information. Don't want to leave our lovely neighbours out :)

I guess I might start working through them over the next couple of years. I am not really in any hurry. I will have a coaching position open for me at my brothers school for as long as I want it. Bonus is it pays $800 for 8 games and 8 training sessions.


Yes I will work through all of the certificates.





There are 2 main reasons I would go for an advanced qualification; firstly, Just my own personal enjoyment/ developement and secondly, gives me a better chance of moving onto higher level club and rep teams.

As Decentric mentioned, the Grass Roots certificate goes for 2-3 hours only and is free. If you click on the Community Course Pathway List and Information provided in the FFA section in my post, it lists all of the certificates and courses that are being run.

There are quite a few Grass Roots courses being run in Queensland - There's one in Brisbane next month, on a Saturday. Check them out! Good luck :)

Edited by Draupnir: 23/5/2012 02:45:01 PM

Updated with Japanese (JFA) information.

Would be keen to find out the prerequisites for a VCL (Victorian Champions League) coach, If anyone could help me out?

Hey Decentric,

I'd be careful recommending these Grass Roots certificate to just anyone, anywhere. The problem I have found is that what is presented and how is entirely dependent on the facilitator. Some are inclined to stay inside for a lot of it and use pictures, whiteboards or blackboards for demos, especially if the course is 'after hours'.
The ideal presentation will be on the pitch, hands on (so to speak) for the entirety. Not many do this, I have heard that a Tasmanian Southern development officer does an excellent job.
Check around and find out from a reputable source if the facilitator does a decent job, however if you have played and coached for a while skip the grassroots and go straight into the junior license and certificate. The grassroots could well be a waste of time for anyone that has done some practical coaching.

Hey victory, thanks for the question. Just had a look for you, and here is a direct quote from FFV.



So it all depends on which position you are looking at going for. The FFA C Licence would be your best bet, but as it says, you can get away with a Youth or Senior licence depending on the position. If you have any other questions, fire away :)

Updated with United States (USS) information.

Good point.

I'm disgusted with some of what you've said occurs in Grass Roots courses elsewhere.



I'm not going to mention the Southern Tasmanian Development Officer's name, because I'm getting to know him. I think he is doing an outstanding job in most capacities he is involved in. Sometimes he has too much work on his plate. I'm not sure some of his state FFA colleagues now appreciate how tough his job is in schools.

I did a session for two hours in a tough school yesterday to access migrant communities. I've been a teacher of 26-27 years experience. I had a shocker of a class first up. He does this every day without being a trained teacher. He has gone into all the other 17 or so tough schools too. If he does high schools as well one can add another dozen tough ones to his workload.

We will probably be working together a bit in the imminent future too. I've covered his back to other organisations frustrated with state FFA. I'm very impressed with his work in SAP too. One had to drag his predecessor out of the FFA office.

Our state FFA Development Officer's Grass Roots sessions are all hands on throughout the session.

As a club TD I organised 14 coaches to do a Grass Roots course yesterday. Maybe we have a very good instructor down here.

How come you know so much about Grass Root courses around the country? I have a feeling I know you in person.;)

Edited by Decentric: 23/5/2012 10:35:15 PM

Updated with Canadian (CSA) information. Sadly lacking.

Have just been in contact with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) in regards to non-citizens enrolling in AFC courses there. Priority is given to Singaporean citizens and permanent residents and they will only offer course placements to non-citizens/non-residents if all spots have not been taken up.

Hoping to hear from some other associations in the near future about similar circumstances. Will update when I get any information.

Your doing a great job in this thread Draupnir!

Thanks Ashnak! On a bit of a break from university stuff and I really want to get into coaching/management and realised that it was actually pretty difficult and/or time consuming to just get one's hands on the information. Hopefully this will just make it easier for everyone. I for one have already used it as a shortcut to find some things so that says enough I suppose :)

Are you interested in coaching/management? Have you done any courses?

Edited by Draupnir: 24/5/2012 02:33:01 PM

Have been in contact with the Malaysian Football Association (FAM) about the AFC C License. The C license is conducted on request of the State Associations, and you need to pass a 4 day "D" course to be admitted. They only have maximum 24 places for these courses and I'm not even sure if they do them in English, still waiting for a bit more information.

Will let you guys know!

I am interested in doing the basic coaching badges, the ones run in SA I have heard pretty good things about and they are run regularly. I haven't done any coaching at this stage but I am fascinated by the tactics and techniques of football :)

I honestly hope you are successful in your pursuit of a coaching career, well educated coaches are the missing link at the moment.

You should go along and do them, some of the ones here in NSW are actually free, even the senior license and youth license. When I get around to it, I'm going to update the main post with information about the individual state associations as they run the regional variants of the FFA C course, which is less than half price as well. Keep checking back!

I was thinking about starting up some sort of tactics thread in the performance section because it seems to be completely missing. Lots of talk about technique and that kind of thing, but no actual "deep tactics" discussion is going on. I suppose it might be best left for the experts, but hey, my Championship/Football Manager profiles since CM03/04 aren't doing too badly, haha!

Thanks for the well wishes. I've always been interested in the management side of football, so I guess we'll see if I am up to it! Hope you give it a go too!

Hopefully the people (me included) will keep this thread updated on their progress, results and thoughts about the courses they've taken.

Agree.

It is really good what you've done here, Draupnir.

This is becoming a pretty comprehensive resource for coaches.

I've emailed the KNVB asking for details about the 2013 English Language course, but have heard nothing in response. I wonder whether my old contact there has retired as there have been no replies from his email address in the last few years.

Thanks again Decentric, it's appreciated. Still a lot of work left to go though!

It's a pity you can't get in contact with him, would be good to know what the deal is with the specifically English language courses over there. Let me know if you get a response or any information.

I've mailed a few associations/federations in the last week and am awaiting replies. Mostly Asian federations (As it's a lot cheaper and quicker for Aussies to get over there and get them done), asking about the situation with English courses and requirements for non-citizens. No terribly great news as of yet - unsurprisingly local candidates are favoured over foreigners - but maybe a diamond in the rough will turn up.

I might try and get in contact with someone from the KNVB about English courses, although I have absolutely no contacts over there.

Still haven't heard from the KNVB. I'll send another email.

Let me know of the results (if any..)

I sent one off to the KNVB last week. Got a reply but only to inform me that they had forwarded it to somebody a bit more relevant. Will post any information I get from the reply.

Updated with (the very little) information from FNSW, FQ, FFV and FSA. Will add the others in a little while!

Ironically this info has come to me through an FFA official. A number must visit this site because he asked me if I'd made a comment about FFA C Licence costs on here.

The regional FFA C Licences cost $1600 wherever they are. The one in West Australia is the same as the one in Tasmania. So if you do a regional C Licence in your state, rather than a centralised one, you will probably save $3000 or more.

Thanks for that Decentric.

The one drawback about the regional C Licence is that I am quite sure the days are staggered over a number of weeks/months. That coupled with the fact that they are held in rural areas (travelling money, accommodation money) leads me to think that there wouldn't be a massive advantage after all. If you know of, or hear of a regional C licence course that isn't staggered (ie; residential) it'd be amazing if you let us know!

Good to hear that people off the forum are getting access to this!

PS; No reply from the KNVB yet. Frustrating!

Edited by Draupnir: 1/6/2012 03:56:12 PM

The course is only a few kilometres away from where I live. It is convenient. I'd prefer the staggered course.

Apart from the KNVB course I did, I'm only too pleased when we reach the end of the day at most FFA courses.

I think a lot more people check this website than you think. I know of two FFA staff coaches who do. We also had former FFA Technical Director and Perth Glory senior coach, Ron Smith, who posted a few comments on here.