Coaching accord pays dividends

This article, written by UEFA's head of football education Frank Ludolph, appears in the latest edition of the UEFA technical publication The Technician.

On 17 January 1998, the 'UEFA Convention on the Mutual Recognition of Coaching Qualifications' was ratified in Ghent by six countries regarded as leaders in coach education at the time, namely Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Training course
Numerous other countries have since signed up to the Convention, which is based on a three-level training course: the B licence, requiring at least 120 hours of tuition, the A licence, also requiring at least 120 hours of tuition, and the Pro licence, comprising at least 240 instruction units. The B licence allows the holder to coach youngsters and adults at the lower levels of amateur football, while the A licence covers the highest levels of youth and adult amateur football and semi-professional football, and the Pro licence is essential for anyone wanting to work in professional football.

Twenty-four full members
Following ratification in December by Northern Ireland, Romania and Ukraine at Pro level, and by Albania and Moldova at B level, over 143,000 coaches across Europe are now covered by the Convention at one level or another. So far, 38 of UEFA's 52 UEFA member associations have signed the Convention, including 24 as full members.

Development possibility
Full membership (B, A and Pro levels) is not the only option available; an association may be accepted as a limited member and given the possibility to gradually develop its coach education system while being accepted into the Convention in a partial capacity. Currently, the applications of 19 national associations are being processed. Their training courses are being evaluated and they are being encouraged to develop coach education schemes that meet UEFA's criteria. Their efforts are supported by members of the Jira Panel, which meets several times a year to steer the development of the training schemes, discuss training structures and content, and decide on applications from candidate associations.

UEFA evaluation
Next year, the signatories to the Convention will be re-evaluated for the first time, in accordance with the UEFA Executive Committee's decision to ensure continuous quality control of the national coach education schemes and so reinforce the Convention's credibility. Thereafter, their membership will be reassessed every three years.

Upgrading coach education
The Convention's declared aim is to upgrade coach education within the national associations. To this end, minimum criteria have been defined for the three training levels (B, A and Pro). If it meets these criteria, any UEFA member association can accede to the Convention. However, standardising the minimum criteria should not result in a loss of national identity; on the contrary, variety in styles of play represents the very essence of the game and should certainly not be sacrificed. In addition to the mandatory criteria, each association can integrate its own ideas into its coach education scheme.

Free movement
The Convention is intended to protect the coaching profession and smooth the way for the free movement of qualified coaches within Europe, in harmony with European legislation. UEFA collects educational material from individual associations and shares it with the other associations.

Coaching licences
The Convention also reflects the desire to persuade the associations to make coaching licences compulsory. All teams – and professional teams in particular – should employ only coaches who have undergone coach education and hold an appropriate licence. This is not yet the case in all UEFA member associations. Such steps will assume particular significance with the introduction of UEFA's club licensing scheme, in which coach qualifications are clearly defined and constitute an absolute requirement.