The FA · free preview
Sports Science for Coaches
Training load, injuries and return to play, strength and conditioning, nutrition and anti-doping, recovery and the congested fixture list.
£250 (an in-game price — FA runs no standalone sports-science course today; its nearest, the UEFA B Fitness Diploma, is £1,600) · Built on the sports-science knowledge behind the FA medical ladder, CASES and UKSCA accreditation
Free lesson · Training load and periodisation
The specialists behind the numbers — and what this course is
Football has no single licence for sports scientists. Who a club trusts with its players’ bodies is decided by professional-body accreditation laid on top of a degree. You will hire and lead these people, so learn what their letters mean.
| Credential | Who holds it | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| CASES Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist | Sport scientists, physiologists, nutritionists, biomechanists | A sport-science degree plus postgraduate study, then 500 logged hours of supervised practice (2–6 years, 3–4 on average). Valid 5 years, renewed with CPD. |
| UKSCA Accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach (ASCC) | S&C coaches, academy to first team | Four assessments: written exam, two coaching practicals and a case-study viva. CPD keeps it live. |
| HCPC registration | Physiotherapists, practitioner psychologists | The legal right to use those protected titles. |
| SENr | Performance nutritionists | The register CASES runs; club adverts ask for it. |
CASES was called BASES until it received a Royal Charter in May 2024, so an older advert asking for “BASES accreditation” means the same thing. The split of work is simple: you set the football demand (game model, weekly plan, fixtures); the sport scientist and S&C coach tell you what bodies can tolerate and how to prepare them; the medical staff decide who is fit.
Source: Specialist & support roles reference · CASES Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist
The syllabus: 5 modules, 20 lessons
- 1
Training load and periodisation
- The specialists behind the numbers — and what this course is free preview
- What a match asks of a body
- Measuring load: what they did and how they took it
- Periodisation and the match week
- 2
Common injuries and return to play
- The injury picture and the first 72 hours
- The ACL: the long road back
- Hamstrings: sprinting is the risk and the vaccine
- Ankles, groins and the conditions to recognise
- 3
Strength and conditioning
- Your strength and conditioning coach
- Fitness testing that means something
- Strength and power for footballers
- Speed, change of direction and agility
- 4
Nutrition, hydration and anti-doping
- Fuelling for the work required
- Recovery nutrition and hydration
- Supplements: food first, the last 5%
- Anti-doping: strict liability
- 5
Recovery and congested fixtures
- The recovery hierarchy and sleep
- Cold water immersion and other modalities
- Travel fatigue and jet lag
- Managing a congested fixture list