Ok, I had a discussion on my Level 1 coaching course with quite a few people. But the Level 1 course is far too easy. There is a lot of responsibility especially as many will be coaching kids. Yet the course is a bit of a joke really. The step up to level 2 is supposed to be a huge jump, but wouldnt it be a better idea to bring the standard of the level 1 up to bridge the gap a little?

There was the written exam, which needed no prep for at all, if you get the 'numpty' questions right, you will get a pass. Some people couldnt even answer a simple question on the ball being 3/4's behind the line for gods sake.

As a result, I am keen to get my level 2 asap, however am not stuck in a quandry of wandering if i am in a position where i could get it given how easy level 1 was. On one hand, doing coaching for a club for a short amount of time is giving me experience, and I have known about football inside out for years, and found the level 1 none testing. But would I fail level 2 due to it being totally different??

What are peoples opinions on level 1.

Beds FA offer a 'Step up in coaching course ' http://www.bedfordshirefa.com/development/courses/StepUpInCoachingInformation.htm maybe your local FA offers the same?

Anyone with an IQ could easily pass this course. I paid £80.00 for 30 hours and I probably only received 20 hours if that and feel ripped off.

I too want to do my level 2 but am concerned whether i'll get value for money.

hope your right about it being easy because im taking mine next week, cant wait but i hate failing so i dont want to fail

The level 1 is a cake walk. so much so that people can actually do the level 2 without the level 1. However to guard against this some FAs say that you must have attended a child protection and emergency aid course. Surprise surprise thats included with the level 1 but not the level 2 course so in all honesty thats the only real benefit of taking the level 1 course.

To be fair though, there are a lot of people who are going to take over the running of junior teams and just dont have a clue about where to start so for those guys its not a bad place in all fairness. Level 2 is not scary at all, its more difficult in part due to the greater amount of work you need to do to complete the course as well as the final assessment which is usualy 4 months after you started, but it still has a good pass rate.

Dont doubt yourselfs just because of the ease of level 1. Think of it as level 1 is going through the turnstiles and level 2 is the one that says welcome to the game.

The Level 1 is a sympton of whats wrong with the English game .We cannot even produce our own England coach.
FA courses are now designed by a group of teachers and university bachelor of PE employees who have no real experience at the "coal face" meaning less practices backed up by loads of theory.From 5 to 15 yrs of age is the most important learning time for the kids.That is where we need the best coaches and the best training and that is where we get the worst.How is it the French,Portugese and Spaniards produce better individuals than us??
Brooking has admitted that the big worry is that in 10 years time not only will 60 percent of premier league players be from abroad but also 60 percent of ACADEMY players.
The first 3 levels of courses are designed to simply make money

In scotland it is the same level 1 are 2 anyone could pass it aslong as you pay for the course its a gurantee pass.

Level 1 is obviously easy and thats really because its more like an introduction to the idea of coaching and setting up practices and consists largely of what i would describe as a step up from warm up drills. Level 2 starts to add a little more meat to it with pratices becoming more game specific. Level 3 is where you really have to be a lot more clued up with regards to analysing mistakes and being able to correct them. Practices revolve aroung small sided games and functions ie defending set pieces. Your next badge the A licence by its very nature makes it vey difficult and highly unlikely for joe average in the street to obtain it. The duration of 2 years and the cost of around £3000 then throw in the fact that if you havent played professionally or managed professionally your hihly unlikely to get a sniff at the course much less pass it. Finally you have the pro licence which is necessary if you want to manage a premiere league club and by 2010 it will be a mandatory qualification for all league managers.

The point i am making is that coaching and management are really geared up to cater for those who played professionally regardless of what level thereby disregarding the potential pool of excellent coaches out there who have never played professionally.

Secondly of the teams you mentioned only France has a better record in international tournaments than England and thats by virtue of the fact they have also won the European Cup once to add to their 1 world cup win. The others you mentioned - Portugal, Spain who must go down as 2 of the biggest under achievers on a national level in world football.

So to conclude on your point of better individuals. There lies a problem. England has some fine individuals but put them together and you certainly dont have a team that gives a performance worthy of winning any tournament. It is teams that win you things all be it with some fine individual performances along the way. Just to remind you that greece are the reigning European Champions.

Level 1 - turn up, pass.

Level 2 - much more difficult. Lots of paperwork to be done, plus 2 assessments on random topics. Believe pass rate to be under 50%.

Level 3 - doing later this year. Heard pass rate is even lower again, around 30%. Much more proper football people on the course, eg no 16 year olds/girls who've never played/coaches stuck in their ways.

Problem arises with people seeing a career from these courses, rather than going on them to learn. I don't care what doors my L3(should I pass)opens, as long as I learn more and improve as a coach.

Just to say we have had a few wins at senior level :
Euro 84 & 2000, Olympic gold 84, Intercontinental Cup 85, World Cup 98, Confederation Cup 01 & 03.

I am bit surprised that the real analysis in term of game problem and solution starts at level 3.
I am considering starting my badges and knowing that pro-zone and stuff like tactical and statistical analysis are only taught at level 3 is really disappointing.

Apologies forgot about the 84 win in the euros. Did mention the world cup, but dont mention the others all though they are worthy.

We must remember that there are a lot of people out there who need the level 1 just to get some sort of knowledge and grounding because they really dont have a clue. Also, it is not necessary to do the level 1 before you do the level 2. It really depends on your circumstances and experience. Theres really no other way of doing things as everyone needs a starting point. The more serious you are then maybe the further you will want to go.

I need to do level 1 as well, but I have already read a lot of book on coaching as the bibliography is quite extended and available in France where I use to live.
There is one I got at university about systemic analysis applied to football, a very good book that gave me loads of headaches to understand it. I don't find that kind of written material in UK.

Your talking rubbish. Im away to do my Licence in Brussels "only place you can do it" and im paying just under £950 and thats for a full week.
I also work for the SFA and im not an ex football player.
Whats the main problem is level 1 and level 2 both in england and scotland is that its far to easy to pass, you pretty much just turn up and anyone could do the course whether it be a nurse to a a guy who sits in the pub all day.
Then you have too many managers in saturday and sunday league football who dont have a clue what there doing when training there playersl.

I could gurantee people even on this site dont know how long you should hold a stretch for and what you would do after first stretch and where you should start.

let me guess....You work for the SFA

Gosh.. you dont have to say this in every post.

and as if it's a big deal, scottish football is rubbish, i'd rather work for my local sunday league pub team.

let me guess....You work for the SFA

Gosh.. you dont have to say this in every post.

and as if it's a big deal, scottish football is rubbish, i'd rather work for my local sunday league pub team.

what a weird statement

Well mr sfa i suggest you should read a few more posts before you go out on a limb because generalising about people on this forum is a sure fire way for people to ignore you. So you work for the sfa and westbroms right you mention it in every post you do. I could work for the english fa and still not have anything to do with coaching a professional team or managing one. So your point is what exactly? When you start managing or assisstant managing a professional club in the spl come back and prove me wrong. Oh and finally just where did you get the nonsense of brussels from "the only place to get it" as if.
I suggest you follow this link and then come back and issue me with an apology.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6189330.stm
Oh and thats on top of having to obtain the A license.

The English L2 is not 'too easy to pass' thank you very much, less than 50% do actually!

As for the whole 'people on this forum wouldn't even know how long to hold a stretch for'.......the answer would be zero seconds, as dynamic stretches is the modern way of thinking.

With regards to strectching, it really depends on which articles you read as some would favour ballistic strecthing and others static strecthing. There is no evidence to suggest 1 is better than the other. Some articles that have caught my eye would indicate a routine that includes both is probably the way to go. Indeed if you see the pro warm up routines before a game it would suggest that that is the philosphy they adopt as they appear to use both types.

Good statement. Only work for the SFA at a certain level which already said. Must admit am keen to what you do as only poster about coaching that is seems to know what they are talking about. Pro licence again would love to talk about this mainly because in scotland we can only go to brussels.

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_football.cfm?curpageid=657

This website will give you a look at how the coaching structure is here.

I see where you are coming from now maybe we just got off to a bad start, but it doesnt help putting people down on the forum because the great thing about this forum is that there are people willing to give advice where they can and despite myself being quite experienced i still feel that im gaining knwoledge from a lot of guys on here.

I havnt once lied. Our set up is very different compared to england. We get players and coachs from england who come up here to do there badges as what i believe to know is that our structure is more advanced. Im not aloud to do my Licence in England. Only Brussels im affraid but with working with SFA dont need to pay a penny which is alright. Just gotta hope i pass.

I never said you lied, i merely got frustrated at the fact you implied i didnt know what i was talking about although you put it a little stronger than that. But no harm done so back to square 1.

strass
However I have a feeling that you have self interest here and probably run courses for the FA .The courses are simply not good enough - level 1 is the most important course it sets the new coach on his "OFFICIAL COACHING PATHWAY", more IMPORTANTLY it should provide the starter ogramme for young players.
Instead we have no coaching practice and a series of unrelated fun games that have no carry over in to the real game there is minimal transference.Loads of theory about health and safety but no real insights in to coaching methodology.
Just as interesting is that there is no learning "spine" that progresses the coach from 1 through to the A licence .The small sided game should be part of level 1 because at junior coaching level it is the examination of the previous practices put on in the early part of the session.
When kids go down the park they don,t say "LETS PLAY the FA kick the ball in the opposite square and run back to the line and they kick it back game" (and by the way why would you have a practice that teaches kids to kick the ball away ) They put down jackets for goals and PLAY A GAME.In the old days that would have been in the street in a tight area which would nat