Career Path: 5 Levels Of Qualification You Need To Become A Football Coach
Football coaching qualifications are the surest way to actualize your football coaching dreams. This means you will need to enroll in some courses to learn and develop the skills required to coach a football team.
There are about five levels of qualification offered by the Football Association. While your ambitions will usually determine what level of qualification to go for, you can complete the five levels to advance your career to the highest level.
To qualify for the first level, you have to enroll and finish a short-duration course. The course is free and lasts only a few hours. The good thing is you can take the course without any prior experience in football.
First Level (£160)
The first level of qualification, “Introduction to Coaching Football,” is very important in building your career as a professional football coach. It is a 4-week online course and comes for just £160, with a minimum age requirement of 16 years.
Second Level (Cost: 500£)
The UEFA C license is the second level of qualification for football coaches. Before registering for this course, this level requires you to have certificates, such as first aid and safeguarding. You must have been coaching a football team, which must be in the same region where the course is taking place.
Also, the minimum age requirement is 16 years, and the course duration is 16-20 weeks.
Third Level (Cost: £960)
The UEFA B Licence is the third level and helps football coaches to develop critical decision-making skills. Anyone taking this course must be an active coach of a team for a complete season. This reason is to help football coaches analyze individual players’ performance and allow them to develop and assess their coaching strengths.
You have to be at least 18 years old to enroll in this course, and the course duration is 9-12 months.
Fourth Level (Cost: £3,645)
The UEFA A Licence is perfect for ambitious football coaches in order to gain professional experience by coaching at the youth development stage levels. This is where football coaches learn relevant football strategies and tactics, trends in the game, England DNA principles, etc.
The course duration is 12 months.
The Final Level (Cost: £9,890)
The UEFA Pro Licence is the highest qualification for football coaches in England. Aside from the rigorous training aimed at equipping football coaches with relevant skills so they can compete with others at the very top level of the game, the course also equips them with great leadership skills.
The course duration is 18 months.