USATF coaching certification

Save your money. Practice your craft and/or find an experienced coach that you can shadow of use as a mentor.

Level 1 won't teach you anything you don't know about distance, but what you learn about sprints will actually be useful, and even if you never intend to coach hurdles or field events, you'll enjoy watching them having learned some of the basics.

Level 2 is a pretty conventional Vigil/Daniels curriculum, which was fine. The real value was in the Q&A sessions and in talking with your classmates in off hours. At least if you do it in person; I know they were doing it remotely for a while, and that seems a lot less useful.

Level 3 emphasizes the best parts of 2. There's a lot more discussion, and a long-term project that you have to do after the coursework.

Long term, the best benefit is the contacts you make. It's great to be able to talk to other coaches in other parts of the country to exchange ideas about how you approach particular problems. Once you get beyond a pretty basic level, coaching is far more art than science.

Sure, it's not necessary. But it's a good way to meet more than one coach, and the ones you meet are likely people who want to talk about coaching and try different approaches. Sometimes shadowing a great coach will just show you one way to do things. It's not an either/or proposition, anyway.

Also, unless you have some pretty jaw-dropping PRs a lot of people won't take you seriously without a certification. It can help a ton at getting hired by an AD who doesn't know the first thing about track. It can convince adult amateurs that you actually know what you're doing. Of course, this may not be relevant depending on your goals or situation.

I think getting the certification shows that you care, that you are interested in learning about your "craft".

I actually took the class years ago and I did find the non distance stuff to be very very useful. While Ive been around T&F for years I knew (know) very little about training sprinters or field events.

I need a refresher now that Im in a new position, and I want to take the level 2 and 3.

If you're in So Cal, go the the LA84 Foundation coaches clinics for free. At one time, it included USATF Level I don't think it does anymore:

la84.org

Coaching Education - LA84 Foundation

adminnohackers

Well-trained coaches ensure that young athletes have fun, stay engaged and get the maximum benefit from youth sports.

Link:la84.org/coaching-education/

I did USATF Level II in the late 90's, and back then it was a bunch of insular coaches from back east, some of whom were effective presenters, and others not so much. It was not nearly as good as the LA84 clinics. Also the program was more like an endurance test than being concerned about what we learned. It was then I realized the entire USATF certification carries a lot more weight in the east as compared to out west. I also did NSCA-CSCS and USA Weightlifting certs - both were worthwhile.

Congrats on taking the initiative on your coaching education. In regards to what instructors could be better, you need to be aware that all of them need to adhere to the curriculum. You also will have 3-4 instructors sharing the 20 or so hours on Zoom during your Level 1.

Level 1 is a general look at some key knowledge in coaching track & field.

Who could be better to teach you will depend on your preferences. For example, I like Christensen for the endurance events.

Level 2 is much more fun as you focus on your favorite event group and discussions/networking make the experience worthwhile. The in-person modality gives you a lot more of the connections.

Level 3 is a blast. It is a more in-depth look at one event group plus a long-term project.

Sorry that you experienced insular coaches from back east. I also did level II in the 90s and my instructors were from all over the country:

Will Freeman-- IA

Scott Christensen-- MN

Tinker Murray-- TX

Robert Vaughn--TX

Ted Smith-- WA

Mike Corn--LA

Troy Engle--KS

Jack Ransome-- OK

Al Schmidt--MS

The best part of these clinics is always interacting with peers from all over the country and networking.

.....and the morning runs.

Any idea how often USATF holds Level 2 ONLINE courses? I am not US-based. My country doesn't do very well in distance running and I am pretty sure local courses will not be as good. (I know I first have to do level 1 and have a few year's coaching experience to be able to sign up for level 2 but still, out of curiosity I'd like to know.)

I am not sure but you will now need to pass USATF Level 2 Science in order to be admitted to your Level 2 school of your choice. I would start on that now, it takes awhile.

Is it just me or is there no way to currently take these courses online? I see description of the courses but not a link to take them.

Keep checking the calendar for level 2 as they update that every couple of months. For level 2 they typically do two schools per year. I have been outspoken that they should never do level 2 on-line. You learn as much out of class from your classmates as you do your professors. I think they are trying to get away from that for this reason and others. This certification online is definitely a weaker experience for students.

They used to combine level 3 with IAAF level 5, but they did not do that this time in December. So, I am not sure what the future is for that.

The level 3 course is typically offered once per year with two disciplines covered. So, you might have to wait a couple of years for endurance to cycle in.

My Level 3 sprint school was an incredible experience with long days for a week with Ralph Mann, Loren Seagrave, Mike Holloway, and many others. I have kept in touch over the years with a few of the coaches and scientists in this program.

For my distance level 3, I met every couple of weeks with my mentor who is one of the top coaches in the US to discuss amongst other things the subject of my project which was a post collegiate athlete I was coaching for a macrocycle.

I learned quite a bit from the process and am grateful for the experience.

Also, someone compared it to a clinic. The schools are not a clinic. Level 1 is easy, but you will be tested and graded more difficulty as you go up. Level 2 used to be weighted heavily on the group project, but they changed that.

I wasn't a huge fan of the format when I went through it for level 2. We were tested online with the sports sciences prior to coming in. When we arrived, they tested us again in person on the same material. There was a group project that you were graded on and then the test at the end of the week.

I enjoyed level 3 way more. We had a home study that was reflective of our coaching and had another project on arrival related to that as well. The in-person school was an intense 6 days of lectures and practicum for 12 hours per day. Most of my classmates had internationally ranked athletes. Breakfast, lunch, and dinners with that group was incredible.

There was no test but a presentation we each had to give regarding our project which was taking an athlete through a Macrocycle. The final project was a summation of training, study, and results from our chosen athletes. Overall, it was a yearlong process. They have changed the format for level 3 now to be a hybrid in which you do online study and then meet for a shorter in person experience of 3 or 4 days.

Is anyone having trouble getting into any USATF courses? I paid for and registered for the Level 1 course nearly three weeks ago and I still cannot get into the USATF Campus link.

The guy at the help desk is working this issue, but I'm starting to get antsy.

I was able to get in. Started ~57 days ago. Now I need to sign up for the event specific weekend session, but they have no classes available for future weekends and they say i need to sign up for one before my 60days is up (in 3 days). I've had no response from the emails I've sent over the last 3 days. Also starting to get antsy and nervous they will reset my account and have to start over again.