US Soccer has an online platform that contains a variety of educational material and course access. Click below for access to the US Soccer Learning Center
US Soccer has revised their coaching pathways and the corresponding licensing structure. A graph showing the structure is below:
In their model, coaches transition from “grassroots” to “pro” pathways through a series of broader and deeper courses. On the left side, the entry-level courses are designed to be taken either in-person or online. In order to advance to the D course, applicants must complete a minimum amount of in-person coursework on the 4v4/7v7/9v9/11v11 courses.
The “letter” courses – D through A – have been revised in both content and delivery over the last several years. At one time, these courses were delivered in a mostly-field environment with some classroom work in either a 1 to 2 week format or stretched over multiple weekends. The letter courses are now delivered in three phases – an initial meeting in which material is delivered, an intermediate period in which the coach implements training with his/her team work with a mentor/educator, and a follow up meeting for additional material and assessment. In the more advanced licenses, there are multiple iterations of the phases. For example, the A youth license involves 4 in-person meetings and three implementation periods.
It is important that our coaches are registered with the US Soccer Learning Center in order to receive access to materials and updates from the federation. Creating a new account is easy – click on the “Sign Up” link in the upper right of the Learning Center and follow the instructions.
Once you have created an account, we would like everyone to take the 20 minute “Introduction to Grassroots Coaching” course. This course provides the foundation for further education within the US Soccer educational platform and some insights into the revisions that the federation has made to their coaching methodologies. The course is suitable for coaches of all levels, especially if you have not kept current with the changes made by US Soccer in recent years.
Here is some of the material from the Introduction to Grassoots Coaching course.
Six Tasks of a Soccer Coach
Profile of a Grassroots Coach