KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Soccer Coaches Association of America has launched Foundations of Coaching, a new online course developed as an introduction to coaching the sport and youth athletes for the first time.

The course is made available at no cost to the NSCAA’s more than 30,000 members and can be purchased for $25 by non-members. All individuals who complete the course will earn a digitally personalized NSCAA Diploma.

Take the Course: http://www.nscaa.com/foundations

“The NSCAA Foundations of Coaching Diploma should be required watching and listening for all youth soccer coaches,” NSCAA director of coaching education Ian Barker said in a press release. “From the least to most experienced coach working with the least to most competent youth players, the NSCAA Foundations of Coaching Diploma provides essential information in both an engaging and interactive way.

“The Diploma is full of ideas that inform the coach both on and off the field, and it comes complete with a variety of superbly illustrated, age-appropriate lesson plans. The content of the diploma is something every youth coach should ideally take before committing to coach youth soccer players. For those coaches who have already begun the coaching journey, the diploma will resonate strongly and help them become a more effective coach and educator.”

The curriculum developed for Foundations of Coaching focuses on improving coaching instruction in order to progressively improve player performance by providing insight into targeted training activities for beginning to advanced players of all ages.

Foundations of Coaching will serve as the first step in coaching education for many and is complemented by the NSCAA’s additional Coaching Development Courses (4v4, 7v7/9v9, 11v11), eLearning opportunities (Small-Sided Games, Attacking/Defending Principles of Play, Key Moments in the Game) and Online Resource Library with 1,100+ coaching materials. In addition, the NSCAA also offers Get aHEAD Safely in Soccer and LGBT Diversity & Inclusion as free online courses for all in the coaching community and for the good of the game.

This is the digital edition of the NSCAA course catalog:

http://www.nscaa.com/web/education/course_catalog.aspx

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.