Part II: Graduate Program Requirements
This section of the Graduate Student Handbook includes a description of graduate program capstone requirements.
Coaching Education Online
Soccer Coaching Education Online
Coaching Education Program (Online) - The Capstone Experience
The MS (Master of Science) in Coaching Education provides students the opportunity to pursue a variety of sport-science-oriented courses that focus on a career path in coaching. Students will complete 30 credit hours of coursework and complete a (non-thesis) Professional Project as their Capstone Experience.
Students will perform this in their final Spring semester (it will not be a course students officially enroll in, but a course that they will automatically be added to (COED 6400 – Coaching Performance Evaluation) and will complete the requirements through the Canvas course.
Candidates for the online MS in Coaching Education will fulfill the requirements of the degree by successfully completing a professional project.
Professional Project
The candidate will have a faculty member from his or her program area to serve as their professional project chair. The faculty member may stipulate certain directions before agreeing to participate and will provide guidance to the candidate throughout the professional project.
The professional project will consist of a Coaching Performance Evaluation from the faculty member serving as the professional project chair, and must include the following:
Coaching Resume – Students will provide an up-to-date coaching resume that highlights a personal statement, coaching experiences, education, and qualifications. The resume must also have the appropriate appearance and is consistent in font style, and the information is clear and concise with appropriate spelling and grammar.
Coaching Philosophy Statement – Students will write a (500-word minimum - 1,000-word maximum) coaching philosophy that allows them to (re)consider their coaching philosophy based on past experiences, current coaching environment, and how the Master's in Coaching Education may have impacted them to think about this. The philosophy statement must be constructed in a typed paragraph form, be well-written and understandable, and include reasons for coaching, coaching values, approach to coaching athletes in training and competition, coaching style(s), and strengths/areas to improve as a coach.
Coaching Session Plan – Students will create a coaching session plan that implements the 4-corner model (technical/tactical, physical, psychological, and social aspects) to improve athletes holistically. The session plan will focus on athlete development within a given session, technically and tactically, physically, psychologically, and socially, with specific focus given to developing a technical and/or tactical component, based on the sport of their choice. The session plan must be planned for a full 60–90-minute coaching session and must include an aim and 3 learning objectives, explanations of how the session aligns with the National Coaching Standards, and health & safety aspects and procedures relative to a contingency plan. Also, the plan must include 5 activities (a warm-up, 3 activities and a cool-down) that are explained in relation to activity organization (including task descriptions, arrangement - with appropriate diagrams), progressions for each activity in the session plan, and a communication plan (that includes coaching points and coach questions) that would relate to appropriate verbal explanation and demonstration of tasks to maximize athlete learning needs. Additionally, once the session plan is complete, the students will need to write a minimum 500-word session rationale that focuses on how the session would impact athlete development relative to the session’s planned activities analyzing the 4-corner model; technical/tactical, physical, psychological, and social components to evaluate how athlete development effectively would occur, through giving explanations of examples related back to the activities and instructional methods.
Coaching Session (Video) – Students will deliver a 10-15-minute micro-coaching session, which will be a segment of the previously created Coaching Session Plan. The coaching session must show the student coaching at least 1 participant and will be performed to allow for faculty to observe coaching methods, in particular, thinking about setting up a positive coaching environment through the chosen coaching methods. During the delivery of the session, the student will need to organize the set-up of the activities appropriately, communicate/instruct the organization of the activity effectively, make sure health and safety are adhered to at all times, communicate coaching points, and progress the activity appropriately (at least one transition between activities). Also, the student will need to demonstrate key components of skills/tactics appropriately, give appropriate feedback to the participant(s), implement 2 'coaching moments' during the activity, use a 'freeze-frame' to coach the participants, implement different coaching methods where appropriate, use at least 1 athlete-centered coaching method (questioning, tactical time-outs, player-led team discussion) to allow participants to "solve a problem", and ensure the activity is time managed correctly. The student will submit this coaching session in video format, making sure it is wide enough to see them working with an individual, and/or the whole team or group of athletes. The video should not be edited and should focus on the student coaching the athletes, making sure the faculty member evaluating the session can understand (verbally and physically) when coaching points occur.
Once the candidate’s submission of the Professional Project – Coaching Portfolio is completed, the faculty member chair will schedule an oral viva presentation (defense). The Oral Viva Presentation allows the faculty chair to evaluate the student’s analysis of their advanced coaching practice. The oral viva (defense) will be a (minimum 15-minute, maximum 20-minute) Presentation that explores 3 key messages the student feels have impacted them the most in the Coaching Education program. Within the 3 key messages, the students will need to examine current coaching issues that may impact future development, principles of effective coaching, and specific coaching models and methods in coaching practice. The students will need to explain how each key message informs their own current/future coaching practice (related to the concepts for each message - use supportive research in this section), related the messages to specific course(s) in which the concept(s) was learned, and give specific coaching examples of how they are/would implement them in current/future coaching practice. The presentation must also include current academic research to support their analysis. If the defense is successful, the faculty chair will approve it, but the faculty chair can reject the oral defense, and can ask the student to make final revisions to this, as well as the Coaching Portfolio.
The chair is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the professional project is successfully completed and should provide further guidance to assist the student to successfully complete the Professional Project, through the Coaching Portfolio and Oral Viva Presentation (at the achievement level of 83% - a B grade).
Soccer Coaching Education degree (Online) - The Capstone Experience
The MS (Master of Science) in Soccer Coaching Education provides students the opportunity to pursue a variety of soccer coaching-specific courses that focus on a career path in coaching. Students will complete 30 credit hours of coursework and complete a (non-thesis) Professional Project as their Capstone Experience, which is performed as part of COED 6100 – Coaching Workshop I (which will occur after the Residency component in your final Spring semester).
Candidates for the online MS in Soccer Coaching Education will fulfill the requirements of the degree by successfully completing a professional project.
Professional Project
The candidate will participate in a 5-day in-person residency at the United Soccer Coaches Convention before participating in a 6-week online course at the conclusion of the Residency.
The faculty member from his or her program area serves as their professional project chair. The faculty member may stipulate certain directions before agreeing to participate and will provide guidance to the candidate throughout the professional project.
The professional project will consist of a Coaching Performance Evaluation from the faculty member serving as the professional project chair, and must include the following:
*Coaching Session Plan – Students will create a coaching session plan that implements the 4-corner model (technical/tactical, physical, psychological, and social aspects) to improve athletes holistically. The session plan will focus on athlete development within a given session topic related to either a technical and/or tactical component. Also, the plan must include 2 activities that are explained in relation to activity organization (including task descriptions, arrangement - with appropriate diagrams), progressions for each activity in the session plan, and a communication plan (that includes coaching points and coach questions) that would relate to appropriate verbal explanation and demonstration of tasks to maximize athlete learning needs.
*to be performed at the in-person Residency
*Coaching Session in-person Delivery – Students will deliver a 25-minute coaching session, which will be a segment of the previously created Coaching Session Plan. The coaching session must show the student coaching at least 1 participant and will be performed to allow for faculty to observe coaching methods, in particular, thinking about setting up a positive coaching environment through the chosen coaching methods. During the delivery of the session, the student will need to organize the set-up of the activities appropriately, communicate/instruct the organization of the activity effectively, make sure health and safety is adhered to at all times, communicate coaching points, and progress the activity appropriately (at least one transition between activities). Also, the student will need to demonstrate key components of skills/tactics appropriately, give appropriate feedback to the participant(s), implement 'coaching moments' during the activity, use a 'freeze-frame' to coach the participants, implement different coaching methods where appropriate, use at least 1 athlete-centered coaching method (questioning, tactical time-outs, player-led team discussion) to allow participants to "solve a problem", and ensure the activity is time managed correctly.
*to be performed at the in-person Residency
Coaching Resume – Students will provide an up-to-date coaching resume that highlights a personal statement, coaching experiences, education, and qualifications. The resume must also have the appropriate appearance and is consistent in font style, and the information is clear and concise with appropriate spelling and grammar.
Coaching Philosophy Statement – Students will write a (500-word minimum - 1,000-word maximum) coaching philosophy that allows them to (re)consider their coaching philosophy based on past experiences, current coaching environment, and how the Master's in Coaching Education may have impacted them to think about this. The philosophy statement must be constructed in a typed paragraph form, be well-written and understandable, and include reasons for coaching, coaching values, approach to coaching athletes in training and competition, coaching style(s), and strengths/areas to improve as a coach.
Once the candidate’s submission of the Professional Project – Coaching Portfolio is completed, the faculty member chair will schedule an oral viva presentation (defense). The Oral Viva Presentation allows the faculty chair to evaluate the student’s analysis of their advanced coaching practice. The oral viva (defense) will be a (minimum 15-minute, maximum 20-minute) Presentation that explores 3 key messages the student feels have impacted them the most in the Coaching Education program. Within the 3 key messages, the students will need to examine current coaching issues that may impact future development, principles of effective coaching, and specific coaching models and methods in coaching practice. The students will need to explain how each key message informs their own current/future coaching practice (related to the concepts for each message - use supportive research in this section), related the messages to specific course(s) in which the concept(s) was learned, and give specific coaching examples of how they are/would implement them in current/future coaching practice. The presentation must also include current academic research to support their analysis. If the defense is successful, the faculty chair will approve it, but the faculty chair can reject the oral defense and can ask the student to make final revisions to this, as well as the Coaching Portfolio.
The chair is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the professional project is successfully completed and should provide further guidance to assist the student to successfully complete the Professional Project, through the Coaching Portfolio and Oral Viva Presentation (at the achievement level of 83% - a B grade).