USATF or USTFCCA for a coaching certification?

Only done USATF. L1 is an extremely superficial overview of everything, imo. Weighted toward the sprints a little, which is fine. If you are truly a novice, its probably useful. Like if you are a football coach going to pick up track coaching.

Its good that it covers everything I guess but spending even 1 second on the hammer is kind of a waste of time for 99% of coaches.

The speakers/coaches when I went were pretty good. They made it tolerable and even mildly entertaining at times.

If your're already coaching or were (are) an athlete, you'll already know much/most of what they cover. The stuff you don't know (throws, racewalk, etc) might be irrelevant unless you coach throws in which case you already will know it.

I have the Level 1 from USATF. I agree e with the poster above that it's sort of surface level stuff. Level 2 is where the hardcore stuff comes into play from what I can determine but you need Level 1 or plus 3 years coaching experience to do the Level 2 school.

USTFCCAA is what most coached rec if you are looking for technical and scientific info.

Both are AWFUL.

If you know nothing about track & field then I can see USATF Level 1 being helpful, but any of the education beyond that is a joke.

They do more harm than good in my opinion. It is just something you can put on your resume, since some people see value in these certifications.

If you are hoping to truly learn valuable information, I advise you don't attend either of these and find a good clinic or speaker or just find a really good coach and pick their brain.

taken both wrote:

Both are AWFUL.

If you know nothing about track & field then I can see USATF Level 1 being helpful, but any of the education beyond that is a joke.

They do more harm than good in my opinion. It is just something you can put on your resume, since some people see value in these certifications.

If you are hoping to truly learn valuable information, I advise you don't attend either of these and find a good clinic or speaker or just find a really good coach and pick their brain.

I dont know what you're talking about. With level 2 of either you'll get good clinicians for 5 straight days plus other well intentioned coaches eager to learn. I did level 2 in both, usatf 20 years ago and ustfccca a few years ago. I enjoyed both. If you want to coach in college you might want to find out which certification they prefer, if you just want to learn pick the clinicians, times and site that suits your needs. I lean toward ustfccca because it was founded by and for coaches.

Coaching is the ultimate goal as I am set to graduate this upcoming spring. I am really looking to learn how to coach some of the more technical events, so that I can be more versatile than just distance coaching. Of course I realize this will require going to more clinics outside of just a basic coaching certification. That being said, I do want to have this as a resume component so I will most likely go with the USTFCCA one. Thanks for the advice.

USATF Certs:

If you want to coach US National teams. Example: The Junior Women's Throws at the World Champs. Take these courses every summer, and get up to level 3, and you will be among the group selected to coach at those events. You can have nice certifications on your office wall.

USTFCCCA Certs:

If you want to be a college coach, rise among the ranks of your peers, and earn lifetime achievement awards by the USTFCCCA, then these are the certs to get. Also good if you plan on being a general worker for 15+ years and want to kiss the behind of the Director of Track/ XC at a D-1 school.

Lydiard, Bowerman, Igloi, etc never had certs like the above branches have today. Heck, I doubt Vigil and Larson have certs. Most of the best coaches are D-2 + D-3 (sometimes NAIA + D1) coaches who have to take the time to develop the moderate talent that they have with the limited resources.

Bottom line in today's NCAA/ High School world, better get 1-2 certs to stay relevant and make it look like you know what you're doing, even if you don't. Go with whichever one your institution will pay for, and whichever one is closest to your home.

In the olden days people became experts by being apprentices. Nowadays we need universities, certifications and grad school, that's just the way it is. I'll admit that the best coaches I know don't have these certifications but learning is always helpful. Level 2 is a boot camp worthwhile for networking as well as getting any question you might have answered.

coach wrote:

In the olden days people became experts by being apprentices.

Exactly--and if the NCAA actually had rules and guidelines and curriculum for Grad Assistants, coaching apprenticeships could be worthwhile.

coach wrote:Nowadays we need universities, certifications and grad school, that's just the way it is. I'll admit that the best coaches I know don't have these certifications but learning is always helpful. Level 2 is a boot camp worthwhile for networking as well as getting any question you might have answered.

and undergrad amd grad school drives students further into debt that can't be paid off with worthless humanity degrees. the almighty self-righteous university gets to declare who is worthy and who is not, largely based if the checks clear each semester.

the coaching education systems listed above have done a decent job in being competitive with grad schools (in terms of worthwhile day-to-day operational knowledge), but until AD's and the NCAA get real with coaching education it will be a collective chasing of the wind for most people talented enough to get into the coaching profession.

on a similar note, it's always bugged me that high quality assistant coaches who have been at institutions for many years can be fired by new head coaches, if previous head coaches retire, get fired or move on to a new school. I wish the NCAA had a system in place to protect high quality assistant coaches who have done their due diligence, perhaps do not wish to be head coaches, and are excellent assistant coaches/ managers.

I thought the organization USATFCCCA was put together by our best coaches to address your concerns.