The course is a highly personal journey, where you will be encouraged 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.
Ben speaks to Portland Thorns Assistant coach Sarah Lowdon as part of the current cohort of the Award.
Ben speaks to Manchester United Women Assistant First Team Coach Charlotte Healy as part of cohort 1 of the Award.
Ben speaks to former Manchester United Academy Head coach Paul McGuinness as part of cohort 2 of the Award.
Ben speaks to Port Vale Academy Director Will Ryder as part of cohort 1 of the Award.
Ben speaks to former Fulham Academy Insights Manager and U21 Coach Tom Hounsell as part of cohort 1 of the Award.
Ben speaks to Individual skill development expert Saul Isaksson-Hurst as part of the current cohort of the Award.
Ben speaks to Nashville SC General manager Mike Jacobs as part of cohort 1 of the Award.
Ben speaks to Manchester United Women Assistant First Team Coach Charlotte Healy as part of cohort 1 of the Award.
Ben speaks to Portland Thorns Assistant coach Sarah Lowdon as part of the current cohort of the Award.
Rewatch the first Q&A with Ben which covered Component 1: Playing Football
Ben speaks to Port Vale Academy Director Will Ryder as part of cohort 1 of the Award.
Ben speaks to former Manchester United Academy Head coach Paul McGuinness as part of the current cohort of the Award.
Rewatch the second Q&A with Ben which covered Component 2: Player Development
Rewatch the Q&A with Ben which drew together concepts from the first three components of the Award
Ben speaks to former Fulham Academy Insights Manager and U21 Coach Tom Hounsell as part of cohort 1 of the Award.
Ben speaks to Individual skill development expert Saul Isaksson-Hurst as part of the current cohort of the Award.
Rewatch the second Q&A with Ben which covered Component 3: Coaching Players & Football
Ben speaks to Nashville SC General manager Mike Jacobs as part of cohort 1 of the Award.
Rewatch the first dossier check-in with Ben
Ben speaks to Ipswich Town Academy director Dmitri Halajko as part of the current cohort of the Award.
Rewatch the fourth Q&A with Ben which covered Component 4: What We Measure
Rewatch the second dossier check-in with Ben
Dossier review
Fri 29 Nov | 6pm UK / 1pm ET
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 Football Club, Ben is now Director of Methodology at Houston Dynamo.
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.
The next course starts in March '25 but all elements are on-demand with live events also being recorded. The course fits around you and your schedule.
The course consists of 8 workshops which are around an hour each, with some breaks, Q&A sessions and an assessment period. In total 12 weeks.
No. Whilst each workshop will be released on a Monday, you can watch and learn whenever at your own pace. We do recommend keeping up week to week, but you don't need to be watching 'live'. The bi-weekly Q&As will be live Zoom calls. These will be scheduled once we know the make up of the cohort but likely in the late afternoon or early evening, UK time.
The coaching award is just £495 (inc. VAT) per person or US$595.
You can click Enrol Now and pay with a credit or debit card.
If you have a group of 3 or more coaches, please email us on esca@elitesoccercoaching.net or click the Contact button.
For group bookings or payment enquiries please email us on esca@elitesoccercoaching.net
You will have access to the course materials until the platform closure date (see the brochure for a full calendar).
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.
Due to high demand for places we are not currently offering group discounts please email us on esca@elitesoccercoaching.net if you wish to enrol a group.
The ESCA is set apart by its contextual assessment. Though participants complete the same set of core modules, the final assessment is a self-referencing 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 assessment 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.
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.