Certification Requirements for the 2024-25 Season: By the end of the 2024-25 season, all coaches must hold a current certification or be actively progressing toward their Level 100 certification. Coaches are not required to have a current L100 going into the 2024-25 season, nor is it required that they complete their L100 by the end of it. However, coaches who do not have an L100 certification going into the 2024-25 season must earn one by the end of the 2025-26 season.
Here are the steps for an uncertified coach going into the 2024-25 season
- Fall 2024
- Purchase U.S. Ski & Snowboard Coach Membership
- Complete Membership requirements (SafeSport training & Background Check)
- Completion of this step brings Coach Membership to “Current” status
- Enroll in Sport Education Academy (SEA) at the Silver or Gold Tier subscription
- Complete Safety requirements on SEA.
- Complete Fundamentals modules on SEA.
- Completion of this step brings L100 Certification to “Certification in Progress” status
- Review Sport-Specific modules on SEA.
- Coach for a season – apply what you have learned. During the season, attend local (optional) on-snow coach education clinics.
- Spring 2025 OR early in the 25-26 season
- [Upgrade SEA subscription to Gold if not done yet]
- Attend (and pass) the L100 assessment. Completion of this step brings L100 Certification to “Active” status.
A coach holding a current certification will still be considered “current” going into next season. However, to maintain that certification, a coach must complete the following on an annual basis:
- Renew U.S. Ski & Snowboard Coach Membership
- Enroll in the Sport Education Academy (SEA) at the Gold Tier
- Earn 10 Continuing Education (CE) credits each year to maintain “Active” certification status, where 2 credits equal 1 hour of engagement with learning materials.
- Please note that U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sport Education conferences and other special events may be the exception to this credit value system, and the CE credit value of these exceptions will be indicated in the registration process.
If a coach fails to earn their 10 annual CE credits, their U.S. Ski & Snowboard Coach Certification will be “Inactive” until they do. Once they have earned those credits, their Certification will return to “Active” status.
Badges will be provided to certified coaches indicating their level of certification
Click on images to enlarge
In summary:
Coach Developers and National Faculty
We will be creating two groups of instructors and assessors to better deliver content and train and certify coaches. The existing Coach Developers will receive training materials to provide the content covered in the Fundamental and Sport Training modules directly to the coaches in their clubs and regions. This will allow coaches to gain a better understanding of the material and master the skills in a more effective manner then was done previously. The select group of National Faculty will then be holding “Assessment Sessions” on the topics covered in the Sport Training modules to determine certification status. We hope this approach will provide coaches with the opportunity to gain a thorough understanding of the content and feel confident about being assessed on it. We believe this will raise the quality and credibility of the certification levels and status.
Rollout
Because we got a late start on the revisions to the program, and it turns out the revisions are more extensive than we first thought, there will be a delay to the complete implementation of the US Ski and Snowboard Sport Education Academy in 2024. We will launch the program in September 2024. Because of this delay, we will reduce the price of the silver and gold tier subscriptions to $40 and $80 for the 2024 – 25 season.
Your Support and Feedback
The key to successfully implementing a new program is the feedback and interaction from all members of the organization involved in the program. We know we aren’t going to get this perfect straight out of the start gate. That is why we really need your feedback, thoughts, and ideas. We ask for your understanding and help in coming up with solutions and fixing problems to improve the program continually. Several of you have already provided us with ideas on how we should proceed, and we will roll those into the next wave of revisions. We appreciate your passion, commitment, and honesty as we build the new US Ski and Snowboard Sport Education program together.
For more information on the changes in the Sport Education Department, please review the documents below or contact our team directly.
About the Author: David McCann
