The 'Return to Coach Education programme' is underway
Please see the important message to our grassroots coaches community from our Coach Education team:
Dear Coaches,
We are pleased to announce our phased Return to Coach Education programme is underway! The Coach Education team are working hard to ensure courses scheduled between March-August 2020, that have been affected by COVID-19, run as safely as possible for our grassroots community.
Following the COVID-19 guidance set by The FA and DCMS, we have decided that to ensure our delivery is safe for all learners and staff involved all rescheduled courses will be taking place at our hub sites; Winklebury Football Complex, Front Lawn Recreation Ground and Stoneham Lane Football Complex. The only exception to this will be courses taking place on the Isle of Wight.
Return to Coach Education programme (September-December):
- Phase One of the plan will focus on those courses that have started, which have certain elements needing to be finished for completion of the course (e.g. learners part-way through their Level 1 qualification). – IN PROGRESS
- Phase Two focuses on the previously scheduled courses that have not started. These are being re-scheduled and learners contacted direct to confirm their preferred course dates. We are focusing on the Level 1 in Coaching Football courses first before moving onto the wider course programme including our standalone courses (one day workshops, e.g. First aid and Safeguarding).
- Phase Three will monitor demand for any new courses, which will be set up across our hub sites.
We appreciate your patience at this time. Due to the number of courses being rescheduled the exact time frames for our phased approach may vary. We aim to update our website once we move from each phase so please keep an eye out for more information.
Further Information
Some steps have already been taken by The FA and Hampshire FA to support new and existing coaches due to the disruption caused by COVID-19. Some online education has been made available, including the new FREE FA Playmaker course supported by BT, and some qualifications have been extended to allow for more flexibility ahead of the 2020/21 season. These are outlined below:
- FA Playmaker Supported BT:
This course covers how to make football happen for all by connecting with players, supporting fun sessions and keeping participants safe. It is FREE to all, delivered online and offers an introduction to coaching, emergency first aid and safeguarding children. To find out more and access the course click here.
- First Aid Qualifications:
If you are already a qualified coach and your first aid qualification expired between 1st February 2020 and 31 July 2021 you will have had an extension applied to your FAN records through until 31st July 2021. Please note that holding a valid first aid qualification is considered best practice and a requirement for Charter Standard, it is not a requirement for affiliation or coaching a team. For Charter Standard, coaches/clubs will be given sufficient flexibility to update qualifications when we return to normal practice.
- Safeguarding Children Re-Certification:
If you are already a qualified coach and your Safeguarding Children qualification is due for renewal you can do this online here.
- Online Courses:
There are a number of online courses available currently from FA Education, the links for these are below:
- Safeguarding courses
- Medical courses
- Other