How to Become a Coach

The first thing to realize about becoming a coach in the US is that there are many options and pathways to consider. The requirements for your coaching journey will be different if you want to learn how to coach your child's team than if you aspire to become an NCAA Division I college coach. In addition, be aware of your state association requirements and regulations. 

Membership
United Soccer Coaches is your association for all things coaching. Receive all the benefits of membership including access to most eLearning products at no additional charge, $1 million in general liability insurance (only available in US and Canada), access to a suite of insurance products at group rates, Soccer Journal, opportunities to nominate players and coaches for awards, member pricing on all products including Convention, and insider involvement in member groups. 

Join as a full member for $125 per year. 

Learn more about the benefits and join today at https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/join/! 

Education through United Soccer Coaches
United Soccer Coaches offers comprehensive yet focused educational courses for coaches at every level of the game. Collegiality and mutual, lifelong learning underpin all that we do in our coaching education. We work to help our fellow coaches grow and develop in a positive and professional manner in each and every course that we teach.

First, check out our Development or eLearning courses that help introduce the basics of coaching soccer. We have a few eLearning courses that are available for free to anyone online, such as Get aHEAD Safely in Soccer and LGBT: Diversity and Inclusion. These courses are a great starting point to get the general idea of how our courses are presented. You can then look to see if there are any eLearning courses that spark your interest because those can be taken anytime and include interactive lessons. You can also look to see if any of our Development courses are taking place near you by reviewing our Education Calendar. 

We offer a Foundations of Coaching eLearning course that provides some basics on coaching at all levels of the game. Free for members and only $25 for nonmembers, Foundations is the perfect introduction to coaching youth soccer for the first time, and as a helpful refresher for those coaches coming back to the youth game. 

If you feel the Development courses do not fit your needs or experience level, we also offer Advanced courses. The Advanced courses begin with the National Diploma, which does not have any prerequisites, though we recommend completing the 11v11/Pre-National Diploma before taking this course. Check out our Education page for more information about Advanced Diplomas. 

Minimum Requirements
In addition to utilizing our coaching education courses, you will want to check out U.S. Soccer to obtain any licensing that may be required by your state or club. U.S. Soccer is the governing body for all coaching licenses in the US. Some clubs/states have minimum coaching requirements, so we recommend checking out your state association website to find out their specifications. Association diplomas are recognized nationwide, and many clubs will accept either United Soccer Coaches or US Soccer certifications. 

Be sure to check with your state association for more information about any help they could provide for obtaining diplomas through the Association or licenses through U.S. Soccer. State associations and local clubs work with both the Association and US Soccer to host courses locally. 

Other Resources
If you're interested in learning more about coaching salaries in the United States, view our recent Compensation Survey. 

We also encourage you to look for employment via our Jobs Database. 

International
If you live outside of the United States and are interested in becoming a coach, we recommend first taking some of our eLearning courses. These courses will introduce some of the beginning coaching topics and can be taken online from anywhere. 

Please note, United Soccer Coaches is unable to assist in visa application processes.

If you did not find the answer you were looking for, please head to the Member Services Help Center.