Studying the Game
Get experience playing football to learn the game. It’s exceptionally difficult to find even a volunteer coaching position without getting experience as a player. Even if you didn’t play in high school or college, you can still sign up for a semi-competitive league at your local park district or field house. There are very few professional coaches that have never played the game, so get some experience to learn the game from a player’s point of view.Tip: Getting some experience with a recreational league is a good substitute for competitive play. Enlist a few friends to create a team for an indoor or outdoor league. Pay attention to the rules as they influence your play. While football isn’t extremely complicated, entry-level managers still need to have a good grasp of how players handle throw-ins, penalties, and free kicks. You don’t have to become a professional player to get the experience necessary to learn the game. There are plenty of professional coaches that only played amateur football.
Read the professional rules to understand the game completely. While there are minor changes in the rulebook depending on where the football is being played, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) manages the international rules for football. Pull up the official rulebook online and read the rules thoroughly to understand the game entirely. There are only 17 rules in the international rulebook. Learning and memorizing them shouldn’t take more than 1-2 weeks. You can find the FIFA rulebook online at https://img.fifa.com/image/upload/datdz0pms85gbnqy4j3k.pdf. While specific leagues have their own rulebooks, almost every league uses the FIFA rulebook as the base for their rules. If you have a firm understanding of the FIFA rules, you can easily learn the differences between rulebooks when it comes time to coach in different leagues.
Watch a lot of football and study the managers. To submerse yourself in the mindset of a manager, watch a lot of professional football and study the way managers make in-game decisions. Pay particular attention to how managers substitute players when they’re tired and enact strategies on offense and defense, since these are the 2 major responsibilities of a manager during a game. Unlike other major sports, like basketball or American football, a football manager’s major responsibilities take place outside of the game. Managers plan strategies, create rosters, delegate roles, and train players. All of this takes place outside of the game itself. It may sound silly, but playing the Football Manager video games can give you a ton of insight into how managers create plays, develop schemes, and manage rosters. A manager and a coach are the same thing. The term “manager” is mainly used in European football, while “coach” is the preferred term in American and Asian football.
Get a college degree in sports management if you’re in school. If you haven’t graduated college yet, get an undergraduate degree in sports management to get a head start in the certification process. Depending on where you live, a sports management degree will let you jump ahead to a higher level of certification. While getting your degree, you’ll learn about how to manage a team, the economics of sports, and how to market yourself successfully in an athletic field. Look up your country’s certification process to determine whether a sports management degree will help you skip ahead. Even if it doesn’t, you’ll still learn a lot of material that will help you achieve your goal to manage a football team.
Becoming Certified as a Manager
Look up the certification process where you live. The certification process for coaches and managers is different depending on where you live. Every professional football league has its own certification process, and it is near-impossible to become a professional coach without getting certified. Go online to find out what the certification process is where you live.Tip: Get certified in the country where you’re going to get experience first before you get certified in the country where you want to work as a professional club manager.
Sign up for a level 1 course to begin the certification process. Certifications are earned by taking courses at a coaching school. Look online to find a coaching program near you. Enroll in the entry level course to get your initial certification. Typically, this will take 6-12 hours in a classroom. The initial certification will license you to manage youth leagues, coach recreational clubs, or work as an assistant coach depending on where you live. The terms for “level 1” are different depending on where you live. For example, in the United States, the National Youth License A is the initial certification, while in England, the same certification is called an FA coaching certificate. There is going to be a fee associated with every certification that you apply for. Once you get a low-level position with an amateur club, the club may pay for your additional certifications, though.
Complete the course requirements and get your field experience. To get your initial certification, show up for class, take notes, and pass the necessary exams. The initial certification will mostly focus on team management, working with players, and mastering the rules. Once you’ve got your initial certification, you are allowed to manage youth teams. Start getting experience as a manager as soon as you get this certification.
Volunteer to manage youth teams after you get your level 1 certification. As soon as you’ve earned your initial certification, sign up at a local park, AYSO league, or summer camp to volunteer as a manager. Managing youth players is the best way to get the fundamentals of coaching down, since you’ll learn how to put a roster together, manage players, and encourage your team to perform well. AYSO stands for American Youth Soccer Organization. The AYSO is the most popular youth football league in the United States. Get at least 1 year of experience running a youth team before trying to move up to an amateur club. You will need to complete a background check before you’re allowed to work with children. Early on, nobody is going to judge your coaching abilities by your win record. Don’t take youth football so seriously that you end up ruining the game for your players.
Continue to gain additional certifications for 2-5 years to improve. It will take a long time to get all of the certifications you need to coach professionally. It may be 2-5 years before you have all of the necessary licenses and can run your own team. After you complete your initial certification, discuss your goals to manage a professional team with the certification instructor to determine your next steps. Sign up for the next tier of classes to get your next certification. Some countries have optional certifications that specialize in specific aspects of the game, like free kick strategies or how to design a lineup. Get as many of these optional certifications as you can afford to make yourself more marketable in the future. Most of the mid-level certifications require field experience. You must complete these field experience hours by volunteering with a youth league. Some of the higher-level certifications take hundreds of hours of classwork. The path towards professional certification is different for every country and league. In the United States, the certifications are divided by “grassroots” and “pro” certifications. You need all of the grassroots certifications before you can start the professional pathway. Many other countries use a similar model.
Working up to Head Manager
Apply to become a high school, college, or amateur manager. Once you’ve had some experience managing a youth team, apply to high schools, colleges, or amateur leagues in your area to see if they have any positions available. Make sure that you have the necessary certifications before applying to these positions by contacting the school or league and seeing what they require.Tip: You will likely need to start out as an assistant manager if you’re applying to a high school, since high schools often put a teacher who the players know in charge of their teams. Some of these positions are unpaid, but managing a mid-level team is often a part-time job anyway. Work with a mid-level team for 1-2 years before you try to move up to a minor or professional league.
Contact teams in minor leagues to move up to a professional club. Most major soccer leagues, like the English Premier League, Serie A, and Major Soccer League, have minor leagues where players get experience and prepare for professional play. Send a resume, portfolio of certifications, and cover letter to every club that you’d be willing to work at. Many of these clubs don’t publicly post openings, so it’s a good idea to keep your information available to these clubs, even if they aren’t looking for managers at the moment. Be resilient and don’t take rejection too hard. This is the hardest step in your journey to becoming a professional coach, so don’t get upset if this takes a while. Customize your cover letter for each individual position. In your cover letter, express interest in any managerial positions that are available. Unless you have a lot of experience, it’s unlikely that you will be offered a job as a head manager right away.
Accept any low-level managerial positions with professional clubs. Most of the early openings that you get job offers for are going to be for low-level assistant positions. It’s better to get your foot in the door at a professional club than it is to hold out for a higher position in management. Once you are hired, establish yourself as reliable, smart, and dependable by showing up on time and completing your responsibilities. It may be years before you work your way up to a position as a head manager. It is easier to find work in management with teams that have struggled in recent years. Consider applying to the lower-performing teams last to test the market and see if you can get into a better club.
Get 1-5 years of experience working your way up in a minor league. Once you’ve gotten your foot in the door at a minor league club, work hard and establish yourself as a reliable component of the club’s management staff. Show up to any optional professional development opportunities and build positive relationships with the players and other members of the coaching staff. It may be 5-10 years before you’re offered a head coaching position. It will be easier to get a professional offer if you can get into a head management position with your minor league club.
Apply for head or assistant coaching positions with professional teams. While you’re working with your minor league team, apply for any head manager positions with professional teams that you hear about. Continue sending your resume, portfolio, and cover letter to professional clubs to get your name out there. As you continue to work in the minor leagues, network by introducing yourself to premier management staff that you come across.Tip: You may have a ton of luck moving into a premier management position if you shift to a less popular league. For example, if you’re in an assistant manager for a minor league English association club, you’ll be an attractive candidate if you apply to head management positions in the Major Soccer League in the United States, since the English Premier League is considered to be a tougher league.
Be resilient and positive until you land a head management position. It is extremely difficult to find a head management position with a professional football club, and it may be decades before a club gives you a shot. Enjoy your time working in lower-level management positions to stay positive, and never give up on your management aspirations. With enough hard work and a little luck, you may become a professional manager!
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