Coach Certifications
To improve, players need instruction, practice, and time to develop. The same is true for coaches. USA Lacrosse is comprised of coaches from all walks of life, with varying levels of experience, and covering all age levels of players.
Our member coaches range from full-time professionals to new parent volunteers who are just helping out. Regardless of where you fall in the spectrum, it's our vision that all lacrosse teams are coached by USA Lacrosse certified coaches for the benefit and quality of our sport.
With this in mind, we have created our Coach Certification Pathways. These programs are designed to cover a broad range of topics and to support the development of coaches through a progression of steps. These certifications are the foundation of the USA Lacrosse Coach Development Program, which seeks to grow the game and enrich the lacrosse experience for all participants.
The USA Lacrosse Coach Development Program is the surest way to access everything you need to know to be a great lacrosse coach. Learn the art of effective lacrosse coaching with this nationally recognized program designed by experts in the field.
The USA Lacrosse Coach Development Program will help coaches to:
- Effectively teach everything from fundamental skills to advanced team tactics
- Work with youth in an age-appropriate, safe manner
- Choose the proper drills to plan effective practices
- Implement a positive coaching philosophy
CERTIFICATIONS
Developing coaches is a tremendous responsibility for USA Lacrosse. We know that coaching is not just about winning. It’s about instilling a lifelong passion for the sport. It’s about creating a legacy of trust, character, skill, and sportsmanship that shows in the players you impact. It’s about working to get better at everything you do and asking your players to do the same.
The USA Lacrosse Certification Pathways are designed to help and guide you along this journey and to ultimately enrich the experience for everyone.
Bronze
Bronze is the new baseline certification and is required of all active coach members. It primarily focuses on safety and risk management topics. Our goal is for every lacrosse coach to step onto the field, having this critical knowledge and to ensure all participants have the safest experience possible.
Requirements
- Valid membership
- Background check
- Completed abuse prevention course
- Cardiac care course
- Concussion course
- Cultural competency course
- Annual rules test
Other benefits
- Additional materials for practice planning
- Basics of lacrosse and the Athlete Development Model
Silver
Our Silver Certification is designed to equip coaches with the foundation to coach lacrosse well and to set players up for future success by instilling the fundamentals of the skills needed to play the game. Member coaches learn key insights which help introduce the sport, begin skill development, and retain new players.
Requirements
- Valid bronze certification
- Complete proper contact course
- Complete 4 silver level online courses
- Additional $35 fee
Other Benefits
- Full access to all silver level online courses
Gold
While Silver focuses on coaching each individual player, Gold begins to move into more team concepts. The content, again presented by top level college and club coaches, teaches how to bring players together to begin forming your offense and defense. Maybe even more importantly, it helps build the team culture which can make the team even greater than the sum of the individual players.
Requirements
- Valid bronze and silver level certifications
- Complete 5 gold level online courses
- Additional $35 fee
Other Benefits
- Full access to all silver and gold level online courses
Platinum
With Bronze, Silver, and Gold completed, coaches are really building momentum along with a solid knowledge base. They are ready to dive into deeper concepts and resources to refine skills, planning, and practices to be more effective and efficient as players are able to take on more. This is the focus of the Platinum Certification
Requirements
- Valid bronze, silver and gold level certifications
- Complete 5 platinum level online courses
- Additional $35 fee
Other Benefits
- Full access to all entire library of online courses within each tier
- Eligible for coach camps
5 reasons to complete the Coaching Certifications
- Certification completions verify that you are a coach set apart from the crowd. You’re recognized as having achieved coaching knowledge and sport-specific training from the only standardized lacrosse coach-training program in the U.S., developed by the leader in the sport, USA Lacrosse.
- You’ll gain credibility with parents and administrators that you take coaching seriously and are committed to being the best coach you can.
- Your NCSI background screening is nationally recognized and utilized by most governing bodies and many youth sport organizations.
- You’ll acquire a wealth of coaching knowledge and techniques along your training journey. Our curriculums are built by coaches and players at the top of the game and formulated to help you have the most impact on your players.
- Completing a certification is easy and convenient.