How do coaches spend their summer vacation--or at least a weekend of it? Pounding up and down a sweltering field and learning how to "teach from the game" in the USSF E Certificate Coaching Course.

Len Oliver, DC Stoddert Soccer Director of Coaching, and Craig Jones of the VYSA State staff, put 40 coaches--half of them from our club -- through 18 hours of soccer instruction in DC Stoddert’s biannual course.

The DC Stoddert Board has mandated that all coaches, both Open and Travel, have official certification, so "this is a gratifying trend," observed Oliver, who has now trained close to 4,000  coaches from 73 countries. "The word is out, with even experienced coaches admitting  that the course had helped them with their coaching."
 
Sample comments from the attending DC Stoddert  coaches underscore his point:
 
    "The E-license course this weekend was  first-class. As a (formerly) practicing attorney I was involved  with 
       many CLE seminars. Not only was this course done  at the top levels, it did something extraordinary: it  showed 
      that  understanding how to coach soccer was important beyond  expectations.

Maybe it should be said this way:  ’If you think raising your kids is important ..., then you make sure  they’re exposed to  potentially satisfying activities.    Soccer is the only  activity where just volunteering isn’t  enough--      coaches must still meet
standards. 
--Ron Jolles, DC Stoddert Coach
 
     
I’ve taken  the course because three of my kids are in Stoddert teams and I’d
like to  reengage in the sport, and  I’d  like to help out on their teams -- especially as two  of  our three
coaches are moving out of the country this  summer -- from a more knowledgeable  perspective.
The immediate outcome of this course is that I have  a sense of what I’d like
to work with my kids on during the  off-    season, so they come back in the
fall with  gusto.  I’ll also be assisting the coaches wherever they need  it,  
 possibly gradually transitioning to a coaching assignment in  the future. 
 --Amit  Malhotra, DC Stoddert Coach

Great class.  Tough to keep  any groups attention for that long but you managed to do it.  Thanks for  the 
energy and enthusiasm.  
Bill Bachman,  Springfield Youth Club