FA Level 2
in Coaching Football

Overview

The 1st4sport Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Football (QCF) is awarded by 1st4sport Qualifications and has been developed in partnership with The Football Association – the national governing body for the sport – and its education arm, FA Learning. The 1st4sport Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Football (QCF) is regulated at Level 2 on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF). For further information on the regulated status of the 1st4sport Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Football (QCF), please log on to The Register of Regulated Qualifications website. For further information on the UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC), visit the sports coach UK website.

Criteria

The 1st4sport Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Football (QCF) is designed for adults (over 16 years of age) with some experience in coaching football and who have ideally completed the 1st4sport Level 1 Award in Coaching Football. Our football coaching courses aim to provide you with an introduction to the processes and principles of coaching the sport to adults and children. This certificate provides an opportunity for potential football coaches to be supported in developing the knowledge of how to effectively plan, conduct and evaluate football coaching sessions, enabling them to coach without supervision, but normally as part of an organisation or club’s overarching coaching programme. Students in further or higher education studying sports-related qualifications might also wish to pursue this vocational qualification to support their interest in the sport.

Why Study?

• To gain the skills to introduce people to the sport of football in a safe and ethical manner
• Football is recognised both as a competitive sport and an excellent vehicle for the delivery of a variety of key skills to young people
• To support the growth of the sport at grass-roots level

What can I use it for?

Holders of this qualification may seek employment (paid or unpaid) as football coaches in local amateur junior/senior clubs, FA Charter Standard Clubs and Schools, local authority community football schemes and Football in the Community schemes. It may also be used as a stepping-stone to other vocational football coaching qualifications. Other vocational football coaching qualifications to which you might aspire include the:

• FA Youth Award
• FA UEFA ‘B’ Coaching Award
• The FA Level 2 Goalkeeping Coach Award

Outline

On successful completion of the UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC), you will be able to understand:

• the role of a coach
• the coaching process
• participants’ learning styles
• behaviour management
• how to reflect on a coaching session
• the principles of planning coaching sessions
• the principles of skill development through coaching sessions
• how the stages of participants’ development impact on their coaching
• the principles of evaluation in coaching
• basic nutrition and hydration principles for sports performance
• physical conditioning for sport
• principles of mental preparation in sport
• how to support participant awareness of drugs in sport
• how to ensure participants’ safety during sport-specific coaching sessions
• how to ensure equitable coaching of sport-specific activities.

On successful completion of the qualification, you will be able to:

• review players’ needs for a series of coaching sessions
• produce a series of coaching session plans
• plan the evaluation of a series of coaching sessions
• prepare resources for the coaching session
• assess and minimise risks before the session
• establish and maintain working relationships
• prepare players for coaching sessions
• deliver coaching sessions
• develop players’ performance
• conclude coaching sessions
• evaluate players’ performance
• evaluate coaching sessions
• evaluate and develop your own coaching practice

How will my programme be structured?

Football coaching courses are usually designed by the recognised centre that delivers the qualification. They may, therefore, vary in length and format. Depending on your needs, delivery centres can offer intensive courses or a series of learning events over a period of days or weekends. Whatever the timescale, all learning programmes should include the following phases:

• attendance at an induction event that will provide you with an introduction to the qualification and ongoing support throughout the programme of training and home study, to ensure you understand the requirements of the qualification. In addition, you will receive support and guidance on accessing learning resources that support the development of your knowledge
• programme of training, during which you will be provided with the predominantly practical and technical information required to enable you to fulfill the role. You will undertake a series of short assessments of coaching football
• achievement of knowledge via a structured programme of learning and/or home study and/or distance learning modules
• further development of your application of the role of a coach, via practical coaching practice over a period of time and the development of a coaching log
• a final assessment of your practical coaching

At the conclusion of the programme of training and assessment, you will be provided with formal feedback on your performance and an action plan for your further development.

Assessment

The 1st4sport Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Football (QCF) assessment will require you, in summary, to:

• have an appropriate understanding of the Level 2 knowledge units and the specific technical knowledge underpinning the coaching of football, which will be assessed via performance, simulation, tasks and assignments as specified by the Level 2 Technical Syllabus for football
• produce plans for 12 football coaching sessions, four of which must be linked. These sessions must be drawn from the Technical Syllabus developed for football
• provide evidence of the preparation for all coaching environments used to deliver each of the coaching sessions for football
• deliver a minimum of two football coaching sessions, which must be observed by an appropriately qualified assessor
• evaluate all coaching session plans