The current shelter in place policy imposed as a reaction to the Covid19 crisis is providing me with the time to muse about things that are a little more lofty than some of my usual range of topics. Today I’ve decided to deal with the issue of sport coaching education.
The Current State of Sport Coaching and Coaching Education
Even though the U.S.A. is profoundly interested in sports and there are thousands of individuals earning a living as sport coaches, there is no way to earn a degree in sport coaching. Even coaches at the highest levels of the professional sports leagues who earn millions of dollars in annual salaries are not required to have a sport coaching degree. Moreover there is no designated pathway for aspiring coaches to follow to reach professional status.
I don’t believe it’s a stretch for anyone to acknowledge that there is a sufficient body of knowledge that must be mastered in order to develop coaching proficiency. Nor is there any controversy over the size of the skill set in which sport coaches must develop mastery. Both areas can be addressed through properly designed courses, internships and on the job training.
The Need for a Certifying Agency or Authority
While many nations have a ministry of sport and culture, no such body exists within the U.S. government. Many of the problems that currently exist in sport could have been addressed by such an agency. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a governmental agency, but a single source of authority would provide some authenticity. No other body is rising to contest, say the FAA, and although there are some flaws (and always will be), most of the best practices are in place.
Such an agency should be set up to deal specifically with sport and not fitness. It needs to be a reliable resource for authoritative information or at least a sanctioning body for those organizations that provide information and/or content. It should also provide oversight for accreditation of national governing bodies (NGB), and it should be guided and controlled by a dedicated governing board. The provision of liability insurance would provide another check on the certifying activities.
Academic Rigor
Many of the problems that have arisen in coaching are due to the low bar for inclusion into the profession. This is now becoming a reality for the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) who started out certifying anyone with a bachelor’s degree who could pass the certifying exam. Moving forward the organization will only accept application from those individuals with a degree in sport science of a related field.
While Americans tend to be science-phobic, this does not mean that effective coaching should occur without an education grounded in science. There should be a core curriculum of academic courses that will prepare prospective coaches with the knowledge and reasoning skills to coach effectively. In the old Eastern bloc coaching education system, candidates were required to undergo two years of math and science coursework before getting into the specifics of coaching education.
Pedagogy should be emphasized as well as accepted best practices in the skill acquisition for the specific sport chosen.
Internships
The proposed agency should also be involved in certifying providers of internship. Some internships see interns as a source of free menial labor and not as prospective entrants into the profession. An approved internship should be considered as vocational training with specific professional standards being met as part of the curriculum.
Follow up
Once a coach has earned a coaching certification, there should be some method of follow-up. This does not have to be in the form of CEU’s, but could include a summary coaching history, attendance at online workshops or at local, regional or national conferences. The cultural values of a profession are best maintained and developed through interaction with other practitioners.
NGB involvement
Of course, NGBs should be involved with the national coaching agency as that is where the coaching expertise resides. One thing, however, needs to be kept in mind and that is that NGBs are not educational entities, but rather sports program organizers. Although almost all NGBs have some form of coaching education, many of them do so in order to insure that minimal initial standards for performance and training are maintained so that new athletes in the sport are not exposed to unproductive practices.
Quite obviously the NGBs should be involved at the internship level and may chose to become more involved at the academic level but that will depend on the composition of the coaching community within a specific sport.
So these are my musings about a proposed national coaching education and certification program. Some group or organization with more resources may someday chose to run with this idea or maybe not. I think the concept is a valid one, however, and I expect some resistance from many of the established coaches, but that is not a reason why we shouldn’t be thinking about improving the profession and improving coaching for the future.