Getting Started

This website has been created to collate, compare and promote Coach Education systems in Europe. At present, 45 out of the 50 European nations are running their own coach education programs. 23 countries have developed independent coach education programs, whilst 11 have their own programs based on the ITF syllabi and a further 10 are using the courses organized by the ITF for educating coaches.

The key objectives of this site are:

• To facilitate communication between Tennis Europe and member nations in the area of Coach Education (CE)
• To improve the quality of the various national systems through the sharing of information and best practices
• To promote European standards for coach education

The Home page contains actual information about the upcoming coach education events around Europe, a map with an overview of the countries’ statuses related to the ITF Recognition level as well as well as other useful links.

The Coach Education Systems in Europe section contains information about the national coach education systems, including details of the course framework, licensing schemes and tutors’ education. Furthermore, the Comparison Tool enables users to compare the information from any two national associations. This feature provides the possibility to better understand the similarities and differences between the countries as well as to indicate where systems may be improved.

In addition to the above, the website contains relevant coach education documents from the European Union, Tennis Europe Coach Education Conferences, plus a Glossary of Terms and other reference tools.

The comparison tool can also be used to compare the competencies acquired at different national levels, providing further insight to the educational programmes as well as increased understanding of the international certifications. The tool is of course prepared for those in charge of the national coach education systems but is also intended to assist any coach who is interested in working outside of their home country.

We believe that by increasing the access to and knowledge of this information, we will assist all national associations in their continuous endeavour to educate coaches in the best ways possible. Only competent coaches with adequate skills and knowledge are able to attract, retain and develop players in the long run. Despite differences in educational programmes, organizational structure and institutions involved in different countries, the aim is always the same:

To have better coaches, which will develop more and better players.