Over the past couple of years, the South Texas Coaching Education Program has implemented the revised D Course as per US Soccer. For those of you who have been involved in coaching education for a number of years, you are aware that the series of US Soccer licenses – C, D, E, F, & G – contained much of the same information and each subsequent license added more hours of instruction for the same topics. This is no longer the case.
In South Texas, we do not offer the F & G courses – instead the U-6/8 & U-10/12 Modules have been implemented to present an age appropriate format for coaches who work with players ages five through twelve. Most of the curriculum in the Modules deals with a games approach to teaching - where the coaches do not need to have any sort of background in soccer – and activities/games are used to teach the skills of the game (passing, dribbling, shooting, receiving and heading). The philosophy of youth coaching is also an integral part of both courses.
The E Course presents a solid introduction (18 hours – 9-12 year olds) to teaching the game of soccer. Progressions for teaching technique and tactics along with training session design and implementation are presented to provide a knowledge base necessary for all coaches who plan to pursue subsequent licenses. Key elements of the methodology of coaching - “how to coach” – are also discussed at length.
The new D Course curriculum has eliminated repeating much of the basic information presented in the E Course (as it did for years prior) and now focuses almost exclusively on the field critique of all coaches in the course. The critique requires coaches to rely on information obtained in the E Course – training session design and progressions along with the various methodologies of coaching – and their ability to implement practical applications on the field. Additionally, the number of instructional sessions in the D Course has been decreased significantly to provide more time for on field critique of candidates.
For the past two years, we have observed the performance of the candidates who have applied for and obtained E Course waivers to attend the D Course. All candidates receiving waivers had significant playing background (some professional) and/or limited coaching education. Our observations concluded that coaches who did not take the E Course:
· Demonstrated a great deal of difficulty constructing effective lesson plans for training sessions
· Had considerable difficulty performing the on field component of the D Course
· Were often confused by terminology used in the D Course
· Appeared to be more withdrawn during initial practice coaching sessions than those with E Licenses
· Often failed to find obvious coaching points during practical evaluations
· Were more likely to receive State D than National D Licenses
The most important aspect of any coaching education program is that coaches should have a positive experience at all courses. Based on all of the above explanations, I believe that it is in the best interest of our less experienced coaches in South Texas, to be required to take the E Course prior to attending the D Course.
Therefore, South Texas will no longer offer a waiver from the E Course for admission into the D Course.
