Policy Signature Issue
Use the MCC Continuum of Coach Qualifications to Assess and Guide Decisions about Coach Training Requirements
Improving coach quality starts with shared tools and understanding about the training and knowledge required of coaches. States, schools, programs and other youth sport stakeholders can use the MCC Continuum of Coach Qualifications as a framework to evaluate current coach training efforts and develop a clear path toward evidence-based, high-quality coaching.
→What this looks like when we get it right: The MCC Continuum of Coach Qualifications is used to assess if coaches meet safety, training, and competency benchmarks, the minimal requirements which should be met before working with youth.This starts with ensuring initially coaches have passed background checks and completed basic health and safety training. Once this foundation is met, states, schools, programs, and other youth sport stakeholders will aim to advance their coach competencies over-time.
→Who can drive this change? Government, including state legislatures; Coach Education; Sports Governance, including State Athletic Associations; Program Operators, including schools
Why This Issue
Following the model of state-level licensing and quality standards for out-of-school-time programs developed in the early 2000s, the MCC Continuum of Coach Qualifications offers a first step towards establishing youth sport program licensing and quality frameworks. Coaches are an essential input in program quality frameworks along with curricular and safety standards aligned with positive youth development. Establishment of coach training requirements with a focus on continuous improvement and ongoing learning is a necessary first step to achieving a youth sport program quality framework.
About this Tool
This tool,which provides six levels (or stages) of incrementally higher standards of coach qualifications, is grounded in existing national standards, such as the American Development Model, the SHAPE National Standards for Sport Coaches, USOPC Coaching Standards, and findings from the American Institutes for Research Preliminary Implement Report on MCC. Stage 1 is a background check, which should be required by every youth sports organization regardless of budget and size. At each step up on the Continuum, the suggested qualifications increase: Stage 2 is comprised of essential first aid and physical safety elements, and Stage 4 adds positive youth development and coaching pedagogy. By Stage 6, a coach has all of the essential qualifications to engage youth in a safe, fundamentally sound sporting environment supportive of health and skill development.
The continuum is a suggested progression of trainings and qualifications that can be adjusted to represent an organization’s priorities and requirements. It was designed to serve as a diagnostic tool for states and organizations to assess their current coach requirements to prioritize how to improve while also foregrounding the vital importance of foundational safety requirements and the inclusion of youth development education.
The Continuum can also be used to guide policy conversations at the local, regional, and state level about what types of trainings should be mandated via legislation or policy.
Getting Started
Use the MCC Continuum to guide coach training requirements for programs and local/state policy. The MCC Continuum outlines progressive stages of coach qualifications and evaluation mechanisms. Youth sport organizations can use it to define a minimum threshold of training required to work with youth. States can also use it to guide requirements for youth sport providers. For example, a state may require all coaches to meet Stage 2 qualifications in order to coach. for a youth sport provider to be licensed by the state.
Right now, only 11 states meet stage 1 requirements for youth (non-school) sport coaches and only three meet stage 2. This leaves many young people vulnerable to inconsistent, and sometimes unsafe, coaching. To protect health, safety, and well-being, we must start with baseline requirements for anyone who works with youth in sport, including both paid staff and volunteers.
Over time, states and organizations can evolve along the Continuum, strengthening policy and training as policy and regulation mature and are embedded in program quality frameworks and program licensure . Ideally, state bodies would also offer free technical assistance to help organizations meet these standards. Another option is for state bodies to reduce cost-related barriers associated with background checks and basic health and safety trainings.
Support observed competency and continuous improvement. Training and licensing standards are an essential starting place. At the highest level of the Continuum, the focus shifts to observed coaching competencies and ongoing support. Organizations aiming for the highest program quality should evaluate coaches in practice, assess competencies and provide structured opportunities for feedback and ongoing professional development.
To encourage movement up the Continuum, states could offer grants or technical assistance to incentivize licensed youth sports programs to pursue the highest level of coach qualifications. The responsibility for compliance should lie with programs and organizations, not individual coaches.
Embed coaching standards in broader program quality frameworks. Coach training is a foundational element of quality standards and should be integrated into a broader program quality framework linked to licensure. See Washington State’s licensing and quality standards for out-of-school-time and childcare as a model.
These frameworks should recognize the diversity of youth sport providers, including everything from national organizations like the YMCA to small, local nonprofits. While all providers should meet essential health and safety requirements, states should prioritize support for smaller organizations that serve communities that are under-resourced, tailoring technical assistance and resources to meet their needs.