JERSEY CITY, NJ…Men’s soccer may be in the off-season, but that hasn’t stopped Kevin East, the head men’s soccer coach at New Jersey City University, from furthering his soccer coaching knowledge. East, the 2000 New Jersey Athletic Conference coach of the year, who has just completed his fifth season at the helm of the Gothic Knights with a career record of 59-40-5, just 10 wins shy of passing Robert McNulty’s record of 68 wins for the most by a men’s soccer coach in school history, now has something further to add to his resume: a National “A” Coaching License from the United States Soccer Federation.
The "A" license course is the highest level coaching course in the country. It is a pro license course that needs to be renewed every four years through continuing education to remain valid. And it wasn’t easy to obtain.
The course, which East attended from January 2-10, 2003 at the University of Tampa in Florida, is comprised of lectures on tactics, field sessions, sports psychology, physiology of exercise and nutrition and laws of the game. Candidates need to successfully pass several difficult tests to attain their license.
“The "A" license coaching course was very demanding both mentally and physically but I feel it has helped me become a better teacher of the game,” said East this week while posting the new license among other coaching awards in his office at NJCU’s Athletic & Fitness Center. “Candidates are put under a lot of stress constantly by being tested and critiqued. The course has a high failure rate so I'm glad to have gotten through it and I look forward to applying some of the content to future training sessions. This course is so difficult, you only want to have to do it once."
Among the various requirements of the course were a six-page written paper with references on a given topic, laws of the game, the observation and analysis of a live game, a team management paper, and oral questions on tactics and methods of coaching that are not announced until the test begins.
Furthermore, a topic is assigned and candidates must design a training session and run players through their practice making coaching points (tactical and technical) to show their understanding of the topics covered. Once this is done, the players the candidate just trained must play a regulation game and the license applicant has to apply their methods to the game, making adjustments when necessary to correct mistakes.
-WWW.NJCU.EDU/GOKNIGHTS-
