About Coaching In The Community (football) in Staffordshire University

Delivered in partnership with Stoke City F.C, Coaching in the Community FdSc (Football) will give you the training and insight you need to develop your knowledge, understanding and skills within community football coaching. During this course, Stoke City F.C. will provide enhanced work experience opportunities that will allow you to practise, train and strengthen your coaching capabilities.

Our two-year course will take you on a journey from grass roots through to professional football environments, where you’ll build your knowledge of the complete cycle of sports and performance, including the surrounding influencers of sports development, biomechanics, physiology and strength and conditioning. Not only this, the course facilitates the opportunity for you to complete field-recognised qualifications, including F.A Level 1 and 2 Coaching, Futsal Level 1 and Coaching Disabled Footballer’s.

Throughout the course you will get the opportunity to meet and build connections with a variety of successful professionals through visiting Fellow and External speakers. Our extensive network of contacts are invited to share their personal experiences and journeys on a regular basis, and there are opportunities for a Player Pathway programme with Stoke City F.C. too if you can demonstrate on-the-field talent to a professional level.

During your first year you will develop your knowledge of the underlying concepts and principles in coaching sport/exercise within community settings, with access to support and placement opportunities from Stoke City F.C. You’ll also have the chance to get to grips with the fundamentals of exercise physiology, biomechanics and strength and conditioning. While building this foundational knowledge, you’ll also study a module that explores academic skills, bringing you up to speed with transferrable skills that include research, data analysis and assessment writing.

Within the second year this will expand to allow you to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts surrounding the coaching of sport/exercise. Demonstrating these attributes when evaluating the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems within and around the discipline of sport/exercise and coaching whilst in your employer engagement sessions and placement. You’ll also have an assessed placement with our partners and be able to tailor your studies to your evolving career aspirations with a choice of optional modules, including Fundamentals of Nutrition and Metabolism and Sports Science for Coaches and Teachers.

Entry requirements

To apply for an undergraduate (bachelors) degree you need one of the following qualifications:

• Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) / Standard 12/ XII with a minimum score of 65% overall

• International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma with 28 points overall
• Successful completion of a relevant International Foundation Year from a recognised UK Institution
• For A-Level requirements, please see the ‘entry requirements’ section on the relevant course page