Coaching Education Degrees, Courses and Programs

Coaching education covers two quite different things. Academic programs (degrees, certificates and postgraduate awards in sport coaching) study coaching theory, athlete development, pedagogy and performance analysis. Professional coach education, run by governing bodies and awarding organisations, awards licences and badges that sports often require for a coaching role.

For example, football federations award tiered licences under confederation frameworks, while national coaching bodies run general coaching certificates across sports. These are credentials, not academic degrees, even when a university delivers them.

Both routes are listed here, in different sections, so that a coaching licence is never confused with a degree. Prerequisites such as playing experience, previous licences or safeguarding checks are recorded as published.

Typical topics: Athlete development, Coaching pedagogy, Session planning, Performance analysis, Safeguarding, Coach-athlete relationships.

Also called: Sport coaching, Coach education, Coaching science, Trainerausbildung, Formation d’entraîneur. These names lead to this one page.

Many sports and employers require a specific licence or certificate to coach at a given level, and these are issued by governing or awarding bodies. An academic coaching degree may or may not carry such a licence; the program page says what the provider states.

• ASCA Professional Level 2 Accreditation (Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (ASCA)): Be a current ASCA member and an accredited ASCA Associate L2 coach, with 2 years full time experience or equivalent hours (3,600).
• Football Australia C Diploma (Northern NSW) (Northern NSW Football): Completed Foundation of Football course and a valid Working With Children Check.
• B+ Lizenz (DFB-Akademie (Deutscher Fußball-Bund)): Valid B Licence and at least two full years of youth coaching, incl. at least one year since starting the B Licence; DFB club membership; extended police certificate; medical certificate; admission test via documents.
• Diploma in Sport Coaching (R49) (Republic Polytechnic, School of Sports and Health): GCE O-Level or A-Level routes with listed minimum grades.
• Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Sports Management and Coaching (Technological University Dublin): Leaving Certificate 6 subjects at Higher level including 2 H5; Maths O6/H7/F2 or higher; English or Irish O6/H7; CAO TU935; 2026 points range 290-476; Garda vetting required.