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EARN THE ELITE SOCCER COACHING AWARD
A philosophy-first award that doesn't tell you what to coach — but helps you discover what's important to you and your players, and how you design environments to deliver on it.
Next cohort begins August 3rd
Earlybird pricing - Enrol Now
WHAT IS THE COACHING AWARD?
Designed and delivered by Ben Bartlett, the Elite Soccer Coaching Award (ESCA) is a cutting-edge course focused on developing your individual style and potential.
The award encourages you to reflect on your context (your club's vision, the soccer you want to play, the players in your team), refine your coaching approach to best meet your ambition and create your personal coaching dossier.
The ESCA reflects a new age of coaching, one that is less routine and prescriptive, more responsive, holistic and context relevant. It is your chance to move beyond the "what" and "why" and codify the "how".
Course Features
The skills you need to stand out.
8 workshops across 4 core components available online and on-demand
Designed and delivered by Ben Bartlett with bi-weekly live Q&A sessions
Exclusive tools and resources available 24/7
Final assignment provides a coach-centred, deep, clear and coherent coaching dossier
2 hours per week for 12 weeks, 100% remote yet highly social and interactive
Coaching Award certificate
Who is it for?
Most coaches know what they believe about the game. Few can explain it with any real clarity and fewer still have the evidence to back it up.
The Elite Soccer Coaching Award is for coaches who want to change that. The coaches who can articulate their philosophy precisely — who can walk into a room and explain how they see the game, how they develop players, and why it works — are perceived differently. They're taken more seriously. They get the opportunities.
The work you do on this course is your work. Your game model. Your player profiles. Your coaching approach in your context. By the time you finish, you won't just understand yourself as a coach — you'll be able to demonstrate it with confidence and clarity, whoever you need to see it.
Academy coaches
Career movers
Senior coaches
Component 01
Playing Soccer
You'll combine what matters about the way your team plays with the fluid principles of the ESCA — developing your own game model and exploring contemporary approaches to attacking and defending.
Workshop 01
- Course structure, intentions & journey
- Learner commitments
- Beliefs about learning & soccer
- Playing soccer — scoring goals
Task 1
Detail how your team plays soccer
Workshop 02
- Scoring goals & how your team plays
- Playing soccer — start attacks
- Playing soccer — stop attacks
Task 2
Build your game model
Component 02
Developing Players
You'll examine three critical factors — talent identification, development programmes, and player progression — profiling your players and building a support programme that connects directly to how your team plays.
Workshop 03
- Player development considerations
- Player profiling
- Talent identification
- Development programmes
Task 3
Build profiles for three of your players
Workshop 04
- Player profile review
- Connecting player profiles to game model
- Individual tactics — beat opposition & defending
Task 4
Combine game model with player profiles
Component 03
Coaching Soccer & Players
Every session and interaction should blend player needs with your game model. Using a constraints-led approach, you'll develop a coaching curriculum and a library of practice sessions built around yours.
Workshop 05
- A curriculum for team & players
- Coaching practice design
- Constraints-led approach
Task 5
Build your curriculum
Workshop 06
- Practices — start attacks
- Practices — stop attacks
- Practices — score goals
Task 6
Detail 3 sessions that reflect your curriculum
Component 04
What We Measure
You'll build processes to measure how effectively your coaching is helping the team and players achieve what matters — drawing on case studies from different environments to test whether what you're doing matches what you said was important.
Workshop 07
- Connect game model – profiles – coaching
- Measuring your game model
- Measuring player development
Task 7
Identify what's important to measure
Workshop 08
- Measuring your coaching
- Overview of the journey
- Final dossier submission
Task 8
Bring together & submit your final dossier
Elite Soccer Coaching Award
EXPERT
GUEST SPEAKERS
We have brought some of the most respected names in the game into the room. Each guest joins a live session connected to a specific component of the course — not as endorsers, but as practitioners speaking directly to what you're building. As you build your dossier, you'll get exclusive insight into the dossiers of leading coaches in the professional game.
David Moyes
Learning his trade at Preston North End · The cultural elements of coaching · Clarity around systems, your team and staff
Playing Soccer
Andoni Iraola
The importance of football to communities · Refining and flexing your game model · Measuring success
Playing Soccer
Keith Andrews
Brentford's culture and success in recent years · Experience as a player for club and country · Journey as a coach
Coaching Soccer & Players
Jesse Marsch
Keynote session · Facilitated by Graham Mills
Phil Neville
In conversation with Ben Bartlett · Portland Timbers head coach
Steve Holland
In conversation with Ben Bartlett · Former Chelsea and England assistant manager
Slaven Bilic
Transitioning from player to coach · Engaging more experienced players · His approach across environments
Chris Davies
In conversation with Ben Bartlett · Birmingham City manager
Your Personal Coaching Dossier
The ESCA is context-driven which makes it accessible to coaches at every age and stage of the game.
Assessment
Your Dossier.
Your Coaching,
On The Page.
Most qualifications assess you against someone else's idea of what good coaching looks like. The ESCA works differently.
Over eight workshops, you build a personal coaching dossier — a coherent, connected document that captures your game model, your player development programme, and your coaching curriculum. At the end, it's submitted as your final assessment.
Because the award is context-driven, you're not assessed against a framework or generic standard. You present your work and we provide direct feedback to support or challenge it based on its alignment with what you've said is important.
Finish the course and you'll be uniquely positioned to articulate what you value, why you value it, and how you go about achieving it. Whether you're coaching the U9s or the first team.
Game
Model
Player
Profiles
Curriculum
Sessions
What We
Measure
Coaching
Dossier
Your
Coaching
Dossier
Everything you build across the four components, drawn together into one coherent document.
WALL OF LOVE
Abbas Yassin
Alfie Wylie
Declan Duffin
Graham Mills
Moritz Kossmann
Ryan McConville
BEN BARTLETT
Ben is a UEFA Pro-Licence & MSc qualified coach. Over 25 years of coaching experience has led Ben to focus on player development.
He has written two best-selling books, advocating a shift in the coaching culture which is more responsive and better connected to the environment and the people within it.
Having recently led the integration of coach and player development at Fulham FC in the Premier League and Houston Dynamo in MLS, Ben is now the Pro-Licence Educator for US Soccer.
Ben previously spent 12 years at The English FA, supporting the development and training of coaches within national teams & professional football clubs.
He also has experience leading youth development programmes which support the development of international players in both The Premier League and English Football Leagues.
A regular presenter at coaching conferences, Ben is the author of the best-selling and highly influential coaching books Constraining Football and Connected Coaching.
Explore our frequently asked questions for anything we might have missed.
When does the course start?
If you enrol today you'll have immediate access to the workshops and resources. You will also be invited to join the next instructor-led cohort which starts on August 3rd 2026.
How long is the course?
The course lasts about 10 weeks during which time you'll watch 8 on-demand workshops which are around an hour each, and participate in live Q&A sessions with Ben and with experts we bring in. At the end you'll have two weeks to finalise your dosser if you wish to submit your work for feedback. You will have access to the workshops and resources for to complete the award at your own pace for a full year.
Do I need to be free on certain days?
No. You can watch and learn whenever at your own pace. Live Q&As and expert interviews are scheduled at convenient times for UK and US learners and all are made available on demand after the event.
How much is the course?
The coaching award is just £495 (inc. VAT) per person or US$595.
How do I book the course for myself?
You can click Enrol Now and pay with a credit or debit card.
How do I book for the course for others?
If you have a group of 3 or more coaches, please email us on esca@elitesoccercoaching.net or click the Contact button.
Can I pay by invoice?
For group bookings or payment enquiries please email us on esca@elitesoccercoaching.net
How long do I have access to the course for?
You will have access to the course materials for a full 12 months from the day you enrol.
How will I access the course?
Once you’ve registered and bought the course, you will be able to log in anywhere on the Elite Soccer website and commence elevating your coaching. Naturally, we will email you as each workshop is released and there will be direct links therein.
Can we get a group discount?
Yes. If you would like to provide access for your club please contact us via esca@elitesoccercoaching.net and we will be in touch to talk about your needs.
How does the assessment work?
The ESCA is set apart from other qualifications by building your dossier. Though participants complete the same set of core modules, the final assessment is a personal document.
The final assessment is a critical component of the course as over the 12 week period you'll be guided to build your own body of work. Rather than assessing participants against what we believe is important in the game of soccer, we are able to assess against what you have told us is important to you.
The dossier empowers coaches to formalise their beliefs and to close the loop. At the completion of the assessment, you will be uniquely positioned to demonstrate what you value, why and how you go about measuring it and affecting it - whether you're coaching the U9s or the first team. This will all be in a dossier you can show fellow coaches and prospective employers to clearly communicate your beliefs.
Your dosser can be as simple or as complex as you think necessary.
Contact
Want to get in touch?
For any questions about the ESCA please fill in the form and we will respond within one business day
Since 2010 Elite Soccer has given subscribers exclusive insight into the training ground practices of the world’s best coaches. Published in partnership with the League Managers Association we have unparalleled access to the leading lights in the English leagues, as well as a host of international managers.
Elite Soccer exclusively features sessions written by the coaches themselves. There are no observed sessions and no sessions “in the style of”, just first-hand advice delivered direct to you from the coach.
