Coaching community and events
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We help raise coaching standards across the continent by providing regular opportunities for European football’s coach community to collaborate.
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UEFA coach education conferences
By bringing together experts from all of our 55 member associations every two-three years, our education coach conferences allow the European coaching community to share best practice and first-hand experiences.
Staged every three years, each event focuses on modern educational methods and principles, such as empowerment, innovation, collaboration and respect for national football cultures and histories. Detailed analysis of technical and tactical trends across all UEFA men’s and women’s competitions, from youth to senior level, ensures the wider coaching community benefits from the elite game.
The 14th edition of our coach education conference, staged in September 2023, covered:
- Recruitment and retention of a qualified coach educator workforce.
- Integration of specialised goalkeeper and fitness coaching into team preparation.
- Introduction of the new football fitness coach diplomas.
- Adapting coaching methods to the women’s game.
- Action plans to encourage more women to obtain coach and coach educator qualifications.
UEFA national team coach conferences
After each of our men’s and women's European Championship final tournaments, we organise conferences for participating coaches, along with technical directors and other experts, to assess technical and tactical trends as well as key developments in elite-level coaching.
For example, our national team conference for Women‘s EURO 2022, staged at St George's Park in November 2022, discussed how the tournament had set new benchmarks for the women’s game from tactical intelligence and technical skills to fitness levels and coaching acumen.
"The story behind football is team development – how you create the team, how you work together. When the communication is good on and off the pitch, then you get a better collaboration, and better results."
Participants also looked at improvements in preparation and performance analysis, as well as the game-changing role of the UEFA Women's Champions League in preparing female players to deliver their best in high-pressured, high visibility matches.
UEFA pro licence student exchange
Held annually at our headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, our Pro licence student exchange programme brings together coaches from different countries and backgrounds for discussions, mini-workshops and practical training sessions.
Topics include: high performance environment, leadership, decision-making, dealing with pressure and crisis situations, managing media, player and supporter expectations.
Under the leadership of their association’s coach education director, students also learn from experienced frontline coaches, guest speakers and UEFA ‘s own team of technical instructors.
"Each nation has its own way of doing coach education, but the more we can exchange, the more value we create for the Pro licence course."
UEFA Share
For more than a decade, our UEFA Share programme has supported football development in Europe by providing opportunities for more than 14,000 coaches, coach educators, grassroots specialists and technical staff at our member associations to share knowledge and skills.
Share workshops are supplemented by our tailored support for member associations, focused on the creation of reality-based learning environments.
"We want goalkeeper coaches to think ‘backwards’ from the game when planning training sessions and ask themselves: what’s the game telling us and how should that impact how we work with goalkeepers?"