Do you care about the credentials, license level of the coach for your young pre-select players? I see some coaches at various clubs have "B" licenses, which seems to be the best around here, and some do not list their license level.

Does it matter to you as a parent when picking out a coach? I have never considered it before, but as my kids get older, I am starting to put more weight on it.

your experience?

My son has had the same coach for 5 going on 6 years and he has no license. The club keeps hounding him to go and get it but that means time away from his 3 teams. If you Google his name this is what you get. (About 2,710,000 results) of course not all those are him but the majority are! My son loves his coach, and continues to learn from him every day so you have to use your discretion. If you feel your child is learning and you wonder about the licensing ask your coach why he does not have one, if he/she is a decent person he/she will talk to you about it.

Running wrote:Do you care about the credentials, license level of the coach for your young pre-select players? I see some coaches at various clubs have "B" licenses, which seems to be the best around here, and some do not list their license level.

Does it matter to you as a parent when picking out a coach? I have never considered it before, but as my kids get older, I am starting to put more weight on it.

your experience?

Coaching license in and of itself does not mean a lot...but having a license (they are generally age appropriate so the level of license matters primarily with the age being coached) means the coach has committed to staying current and taking the time to study the craft. A National Youth License is also a cert that means a lot as the coach has to spend a lot of time obtaining it.

A, B, C licenses generally speaking speak to tenure and level of player. A coaches are certified to coach professionals for example. I may have oversimplified this so i am sure others will weigh in...but your coach not being certified is not a disqualification in and of itself...but if he is using old school American methods...well, that to me is a red flag. Teaching young people to move the ball around stationary objects may do some good, but the problem with soccer is that the other guy keeps moving...

To answer your question - it depends. The higher the level the coach played the less I focus on the license; however there a few A-licensed coached out there. Does that mean they are better no, but it means they have to go through conituous education every year to keep their license.
For a coach not to have any license just shows his disinterest in broaden his horizon. Every day is a school day and no coach knows it all.

The German wrote:To answer your question - it depends. The higher the level the coach played the less I focus on the license; however there a few A-licensed coached out there. Does that mean they are better no, but it means they have to go through conituous education every year to keep their license.
For a coach not to have any license just shows his disinterest in broaden his horizon. Every day is a school day and no coach knows it all.

I had never thought about it before but perusing some the team sites made me notice the credientials of different coaches. I like the idea of the coach at least having a C license if I am going to paying thousands dollars of year to him. On the other hand, as stated above, it he is good and I have track record with him, why should it matter?

Rightback wrote:

Running wrote:Do you care about the credentials, license level of the coach for your young pre-select players? I see some coaches at various clubs have "B" licenses, which seems to be the best around here, and some do not list their license level.

Does it matter to you as a parent when picking out a coach? I have never considered it before, but as my kids get older, I am starting to put more weight on it.

your experience?

Coaching license in and of itself does not mean a lot...but having a license (they are generally age appropriate so the level of license matters primarily with the age being coached) means the coach has committed to staying current and taking the time to study the craft. A National Youth License is also a cert that means a lot as the coach has to spend a lot of time obtaining it.

A, B, C licenses generally speaking speak to tenure and level of player. A coaches are certified to coach professionals for example. I may have oversimplified this so i am sure others will weigh in...but your coach not being certified is not a disqualification in and of itself...but if he is using old school American methods...well, that to me is a red flag. Teaching young people to move the ball around stationary objects may do some good, but the problem with soccer is that the other guy keeps moving...

Moving a ball around stationary objects is a staple. If a kid has no control over the ball over stationary objects, he will definitely not have it when objects move. Baby steps. I believe in cone training, and I am a coach. Do you want your kid to have skills, cones are important then.

Yes I know about the Coerver method
Yes I know about Socceru.com

Cones and juggling and kicking....

On the Coaching license, its just a certification, the coach still needs a soccer brain, just like any other profession.

GoWide wrote: My son has had the same coach for 5 going on 6 years and he has no license. The club keeps hounding him to go and get it but that means time away from his 3 teams. If you Google his name this is what you get. (About 2,710,000 results) of course not all those are him but the majority are! My son loves his coach, and continues to learn from him every day so you have to use your discretion. If you feel your child is learning and you wonder about the licensing ask your coach why he does not have one, if he/she is a decent person he/she will talk to you about it.

Sorry GoWide to burst your bubble, but your coach is not as good as you portray him to be.
He would actually profit from enrolling in coaching clinics.
Sadly enough there are too many 'players' out there who think that they can make some money coaching.
I personally think that having at least a D coaching licence should be required to coach Classic League teams.