Football’s evolving education
The demands of modern football are rapidly changing. The arena that talented players enter into is much quicker than ever before. Players in all positions of the pitch must be technically adept: capable and comfortable to receive and manoeuvre the ball in all circumstances of the game. The best players regularly display an expert mastery of both body and ball; with the indication that these requirements will only increase. Perfecting individual technique, however, is only one half of the story. Instant and clever decision-making - often in the face of exerted pressure distinguishes the ‘great’ players from the rest.
Players must also have thorough knowledge and understanding of how to operate as part of a team. With modern tactical trends painting a picture of flexibility and dynamism, elite players can adapt to almost any game scenario. Gone are the days of rigid formations and restrictive positions. Formations and positional roles are interchangeable, dictated by the state of the game.
With the footballing landscape vastly changing and coaches in need of navigation through this dynamic field, The FA’s courses have had to change at equal speed.
With a closer focus on skill-development and realistic game-related practices The FA Coaching pathway provides a suite of coaching courses to meet the needs of the changing game. The launch of the new UEFA B Licence, aimed at coaches who intend to work with intentional players, has been redesigned to meet the challenges that coaches in the modern game face.
THE NEW FA UEFA B LICENCE
The FA have developed and launched a new UEFA B Licence Award in 2011.
This course is now a stand alone UEFA B qualification that links the newly revised Level 2 CCF qualification with the new UEFA A award. There are a number of improvements that have been incorporated to help support aspiring coaches and continue to build on their experience. It will also help in the FA’s goal of improving the recognition of coaching as a profession.
An overview of the new course
The new UEFA B course is a thirteen day course, culminating in a three day final assessment.
It is designed to progress coaches who already hold the L2CCF and an associated action plan that supports their application.
The extended time of the course provides more opportunities for practical/technical work and increased time for students to coach /receive feedback. There is also an increased opportunity for logged coaching time away from the course to help students to develop their coaching experience within their club environment.
Improvements to the Technical content:
The practical element of the course has more than doubled and includes a wider range of practices/resources for coaches to utilise.
These include:
- advanced technical practices
- squad practices
- pattern drills
- wave practices
- functional practices
- phases of play and small sided games
Coaches will move towards the context of coaching sessions more closely aligned to the 11 v 11 game.
Improvements to the Theory to Practice content:
All theory elements have been linked to the work of the coach and his/her players. An example of some of the content is below:
- A philosophy of coaching
- A consideration of how players learn
- A study of both coaching styles and communication processes
- A detailed consideration of player analysis
- The psychological factors associated with player performance
- Consideration of the key elements related to coaching session delivery
- The development of progressive coaching sessions
- Comprehensive coaching session evaluation and reflection
Improved resources for UEFA B Licensed Tutors and Students
To support this new course, there have been a number of improved resources for both Tutors and Students.
Amongst others, these include:
- A new developed UEFA B Coaching Handbook
- A newly written and branded UEFA B Student Workbook with twelve new assignments and a detailed daily Learning Programme
- Newly prepared power point presentations for all aspects of the Learning programme
- A new UEFA B Technical guidelines book, with associated practices to underpin the new practical content and syllabus
- A new dvd for the Player Analysis component of the course
- A newly developed Goalkeeping Module and resource, which will be delivered by National Goalkeeping staff
Applying for the new UEFA B Licensed course
For more information and details of courses in your region, please click here.
