SCJuv0 – International Diploma in Strength and Conditioning (Juvenile Sport)

Become an expert in conditioning, training and coaching juvenile teams, players or athletes.

The Course in General

This is a special Premier Sports College online course of interest to all managers, coaches, teachers or interested parents. In fact it is a series of interesting courses which are dedicated to developing the essential and critical knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Strength and Conditioning development as it applies to coaching and working with Juvenile athletes, players  or teams (6 to 12 years of age). Each course can be seen as part of the coach education process in coaching young athletes or players but can also be viewed as stand-alone works.

Young athletes and players are not adults. The methods of coaching must reflect their age profile, maturity level and ability to concentrate and absorb both skills and fitness content. Using a watered-down adult approach to coaching juveniles is neither applicable nor valid on the one hand while being impractical, poorly constructive and negative on the other.

As stated above the course consists of a series of independent courses designed to allow coaches, teachers, mentors and parents working with juveniles to become conversant with, educated in and indeed become experts in the training and coaching of juvenile participants and performers in the skill and physical fitness pertaining to sports coaching.

The philosophy underpinning all these courses ensures that coaches and those working to help juveniles places the most important emphasis on skill development because skill must be seen as the most important component in any coaching programme. The other key component of conditioning for juveniles is physical fitness development. This must be seen as the supportive development in the juvenile’s progression in sports conditioning. It is vital to the development of speed and agility in one’s later sporting performance.

However most of the world’s leading experts on coaching children emphasise the global objectives of all who work in juvenile sport which should be the overall development of the young athlete/player and not just their ability to be good at one sport. For this reason coaches need to place the emphasis on strength, function, movement skill and general mobility development because these elements must be seen as the most important components in any juvenile-centred coaching programme. These elements will promote the deevelopment of both skill and speed and agility development for their chosen sport in the long run.

The courses are delivered and presented in as practical a way as possible for the coach. We aim to make them readily available as part of a cost-effective learning process for coaches.

Certification by Premier Sports College as a Strength and Conditioning Coach (Juvenile Sport) is available to those who complete a selection of these courses (Level 2) and for those who successfully completes an assessment which is available to those who wish to undertake it (Level 5). This assessment is written.

The Overall Course

This is a specific Premier Sports College online course which is dedicated to developing the essential and critical knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Strength and Conditioning development as it applies to coaching and working with Juvenile athletes, players  or teams (6 to 12 years of age).

The global objectives of all who work in juvenile sport should be the overall development of the young athlete/player and not just their ability to be good at one sport.

The overall diploma course consists 12 independent courses (including the assessment course) designed to allow coaches, teachers, mentors and parents working with juveniles to become conversant with, educated in and indeed become experts in the training and coaching of juvenile participants and performers in the skill and physical fitness pertaining to sports coaching.

The philosophy underpinning all these courses ensures that coaches and those working to help juvenile teams, athletes or players in individual sports places the most important emphasis on strength, function, skill and general mobility development because these elements must be seen as the most important components in any juvenile-centred coaching programme.

Diploma in Strength and Conditioning (Juvenile Sport)

The full course (Strength and Conditioning – Juvenile Sport) will consist of the following important sub-courses or modules.

Please note: The courses named are all stand-alone courses but are also the obligatory courses needed to be completed to obtain the overall Diploma certificate (Level 5)

SCJuv01 – Understanding Strength and Conditioning for Juveniles

This course aims to provide an understanding of the concept of strength and conditioning training . The module will also seek to outline the reasons why the term “Strength & Conditioning Coach” is a very narrow term and one which can be misleading as the strength & conditioning coach must be a more rounded coach with a sound grounding and qualification in all the elements of physical fitness. In relation to coaching juvenile teams or athletes the term that is more appropriate is Physical, Functional and Skill Development or Conditioning for Juveniles and we should call the coach a Player Development Coach.

Pages: 120      Topics: 8      Videos: 15  

Course Fee: €39.95


SCJuv02 – Understanding the Young Athlete/Player

Children go through distinct periods or stages of development as they move from the time they join a sports club until they compete as adults. This course presents the development milestones of the young child from 6 to 12 years of age and points out the critical aspects of development that is important in coaching the child in any sporting activity or game.

The stages of development of players will affect how they act at training and consequently it is important coaches or mentors working with juvenile teams or athletes need to be aware of their needs and their capacities.

This course is presently under construction

Pages: n/a      Topics: n/a      Videos: n/a      Video time: n/a

Course Fee: €39.95


SCJuv03 – Skill Development

This course aims at understanding the concept of skill development as part of the overall conditioning programme. In this course we will identify the different types of skills that young players or athletes need to develop including Fundamental Motor Skills, Functional Pattern Skills as well as both common and some specific sport skills.

Increasingly, sports coaches should be recognising and becoming more aware of a new approach to coaching where the individual needs of the athletes and players are more important than what the team requires. The work of the coach must start with developing the skills of each individual in the group so that they can improve their ability to participate in the fitness, exercise and sports activities. When that is achieved the “coaching emphasis can turn to team cohesion, structure and team game strategies” (Locke, 2014).

There are two additional courses linked with this course and they are sports specific skill coaching for selected sports. More sports will be added later.

Pages:140      Topics: 9      Videos: Minimum of 15      

Course Fee: €49.95


SCJuv04 – Speed and Agility Development

This course will stress the importance of speed and agility in the development of the athlete/player, define and outline the elements of speed for juveniles while providing a clear indication of the the principles of speed development coaching. It will also provide the scientific support for speed when working with young sports people and will show how to develop practical coaching skills enabling the coach to be efficient in preparing and delivering good and purposeful speed training sessions suitable to the needs of the athletes, players or teams he or she coaches or trains.

This course is supported by two highly recommended optional practical courses which looks at

  • 1) speed training of those between 6 and 9 years of age – children who are in the first Window of Opportunity for Rapid Development of Speed
  • 2) for those who are between the ages of 10 and 12 years – athletes or player who are training in the period just before entry to the Second Window of Opportunity for Rapid Development of Speed.

Pages: 110      Topics: 10      Videos: Minimum of 15     

Course Fee: €49.95


SCJuv05 – Fundamental Motor Skill Development

This is a very comprehensive course on the importance of Fundamental Motor Skill (FMS) learning for the young.  FMS are important because they are the “building blocks” or foundation movements for more complex and specialised skills required by children throughout their lives to competently and confidently play different games, sports and recreational activities offered at school and in the local sports club. 

The course sets out to ensure the coach understands both the coaching and learning methods associated with FMS. It enables the coach to develop practical coaching skills to be efficient in preparing and delivering good FMS activities for the young athletes/players in their care. It also provides almost 300 exercises – all of which are defined, explained and illustrated while as many as possible as illustrated by video support.

Pages: 100      Topics: 9      Videos: Minimum 20     

Course Fee: €49.95


SCJuv06 – Functional Skill Development

This course explains the importance of having the ability for one’s body to function correctly and the six major functional patterns young athlete and players need to develop and practice. In order to understand function coaches need to understand how the body moves and how to stretch and strength the body during the growth of the young performers.

During the course the coach will develop practical coaching skills enabling him/her to be efficient in preparing and delivering a solid functional training session suitable to the needs of the athletes, players or teams one coaches or trains. It also provides almost 250 exercises – – all of which are defined, explained and illustrated while as many as possible as illustrated by video support.

Pages: 150      Topics: 12     Videos: Minimum 20    

Course Fee: €49.95


SCJuv07 – Strength Development

This course explains the importance of strength in the development of 6 to 12 years, examines the importance of strength development and illustrates exercises that are recommended to be used with children at the various age-groupings.

If adequately programmed strength training has shown considerable positive effects with regards to pre-adolescents. A study quoted by Dr. Drabik in his wonderful book, “Children & Sports Training” shows a 40% increase in strength for boys and girls (aged 10 – 11) following a nine-week strength-training programme. In terms of danger or contraindication, the greatest concern lies in ligament or bone damage. Elastic, young skeletons and connective tissue can be injured if loads are excessive. That follows the mantra that with young athletes and player, loads must be kept low and proper form strictly followed. In this course we make recommendations on the use of jumping, hopping, pushing and pulling exercises to develop the strength of the young sport participants

This course is under construction

Pages: n/a      Topics: n/a     Videos: n/a    

Course Fee: €49.95


SCJuv08 – Mobility and Flexibility Development

This course explains the importance of flexibility and mobility development of 6 to 12 years, examines the dangers of static stretching for children and illustrates exercises that are recommended to be used with children at the various age-groupings.

The key ingredient to working with pre-adolescent and early adolescent athletes is providing global stimulation from a movement perspective. Younger athletes must experience and eventually perfect a variety of motor skills in order to ensure both future athletic success and injury prevention. Developing basic coordination through movement stimulus is a must, with the eventual goal of developing sport-specific coordination in the teenage years. Coordination itself, however, is a global system made up of several synergistic elements and not necessarily a singularly defined ability. The use of mobility and dynamic flexibility exercising is seen as the way forward with the juvenile performer

This course is under construction

Pages: 100      Topics: 10      Videos: Minimum 20     

Course Fee: €49.95


SCJuv09 – Stamina/Endurance Development

This course explains the importance of stamina or endurance development of 6 to 12 years, examines the dangers of stamina training for children and illustrates how best to develop certain forms of stamina as recommended to be used with children at the various age-groupings.

Endurance can be defined quite simply as one’s ability to withstand fatigue or the ability to control the functional aptitude of movement in lieu of external stress (Grasso, 2004). The latter definition lends itself well to the concept of athletic development and training young athletes. This course delivers one clear message that the key ingredient to producing a successful training programme for children is the ability to recognize that quality of execution is profoundly more important than quantity. Coaches need to concentrate on how correctly drills and exercises are being performed. Poor execution results in habitual patterns that are difficult to break and could result in injury. In relation to endurance training this course will emphasise that proper mechanics should never be compromised for higher volumes or intensities. This is the child coaching approach.

This course is under construction

Pages: n/a     Topics: n/a      Videos: n/a   

Course Fee: €49.95


SCJuv10 – The Training Session for 6 to 12 Year Old

This course explains the importance of planning, organisation and delivering of competent, efficient and enjoyable training session for children from Under 6 to Under 12 teams, athletes or players in individual sports.

Time is devoted both to the planning and delivery of training sessions. Children and not young adults and consequently their trining session must be centred on their needs as young performers. The length of attention span is the key to dividing the session in interesting and enjoyable activities while the ordering is of less importance that working with teenage and adult athletes or teams.

This course is under construction

Pages: n/a      Topics: n/a      Videos: n/a      Video time: n/a

Course Fee: €39.95


 

SCJuv12 – Written Assessment

This course is devoted to examining the skills the coach needs to be a better coach to children from the ages of 6 to 12 years of age. It sets out to list, define, explain and present the important coaching skills or techniques that those who work in the area of coaching underage teams or athletes need to develop.

This course is under construction

Course Fee: €39.95


OPTIONAL COURSES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DIPLOMA COURSE

The list of additional optional courses will appear in this area of college website very soon.


Course Videos

From May 1st 2016 we will be adding videos to each course. Some video will be a summary talk on a topic while others will be additional parallel talks by leading experts in the specific field and finally many videos will be demonstrating exercises, drills or skills relating to the course or topic.

Each topic in every course will have a video summary.

Course Fees

The prices for all these courses are special introductory prices and will be upgraded May 2016 when videos are added.

Purchase note:

Before purchasing please go to the home page and on the top right hand side please select your location from the drop box proved so that course fees will appear in Euro, Sterling or Dollars depending on your location or needs.

Pay and Enrol

Fee for SCJuv0 – International Diploma in Strength and Conditioning (Juvenile Sport): $509.00