"The Director of Coaching Diploma course provides the greatest engagement and learning for those desiring information relevant to running a successful soccer club.  The value of information gained in formal learning through presentations and informal learning through guided discussions with other Directors is phenomenal.  You will not find a better event for learning to lead a club."  Bill Steffen, Ed.D. in Psychology; National Staff Coach and DOC Diploma Course Staff Member

Everyone involved in club soccer wants to run a successful youth soccer club, but to understand the processes involved in creating such success, one will do well to garner all of the guidance and information available regarding such a process.  For those of you involved in the quest of building a successful soccer club, let us introduce you to the NSCAA/US Club Soccer Directing of Coaching Diploma.

These 21-hour non-residential courses are designed to address the issues confronting the director of an American club. The curriculum is created jointly by NSCAA and US Club Soccer and examines technical, conceptual, leadership and administrative skills of current and future directors of coaching for youth soccer clubs for the purpose of developing players. US Club Soccer is a non-profit organization committed to the development and support of soccer clubs and players in the United States.

Many of our Directors of Coaching and the board members of their clubs find the transition between understanding what makes a successful club and actually building such a club to be a difficult process. This requires patience and understanding from the DOC, coaches, parents, players, and board members.

The Director of Coaching Diploma Course is perhaps the most important educational tool for DOCs in the country. Whether you are an experienced DOC or contemplating taking the first steps on the ladder to becoming a DOC, the course will provide you with the information to succeed in growing and developing a successful club under your leadership.

A question from Andrew Donnery, Staff Coach and Course Director for the NSCAA/US Club Soccer Director of Coaching Diploma: “Let me ask you this. You remember the first time you started something new, a new hobby or a new job. Were you an expert or did you not know what you were doing? It is the same for the DOCs.  Imagine soccer development and running a club as an assembly line. We start by adding the foundations and then slowly build from there. The finished product on an assembly line comes out at the end not in the middle. It is the same for your club and soccer players; the assembly line end is a talented 18 year old player, a young man or woman who has grown and developed and had fun in every step of the club soccer experience.”

The course is designed to prepare Directors of Coaching to navigate successfully through the many problems and questions DOCs face in the day to day running of a club. Our staff have years of experience as DOCs and as experts in subject areas that enhance the competence of leaders of soccer clubs—psychology, management, and leadership among others. 

Our teaching staff members provide you with an environment in which it is safe to ask questions while learning from the course materials and from your peers. The course ranges from defining the club structure, to financial management, to dealing with board members, parents and players—with many other sessions in between!

Charlie Slagle, CEO of Capital Soccer League, and a staff member on the DOC Diploma course, offers the following insights into the value of the course:  "The NSCAA/US Club Soccer DOC Diploma is a course that answers many questions that the candidates already have and also stimulates them and provides answers to questions that they hadn't previously asked. Candidates learn from the instructors and each other in this very focused setting. It is a "must do" for any DOC or aspiring DOC no matter what their previous experiences are." 

The next NSCAA/US Club Soccer Director of Coaching Diploma course will in Hoover, Alabama on the weekend of May 18-20.  We hope to see you there or at a future DOC Diploma course or at any of our NSCAA Coaching Academy courses.

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