NFHSLearn for Coaches

State Coaching Requirements

Check with your school administration or state association to confirm your state's requirements to coach.The following courses have been approved by your state association.

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To view the requirements for a different state, please select state from the dropdown:

Resources

High School Today
Articles
NFHS Rules Books

National Certification

The NFHS Coach Certification Program is a national professional credential offered to individuals who are currently coaching or aspire to coach at the interscholastic level. The attainment of this national certification demonstrates the completion of a series of courses offered by the NFHS that will enhance the ability of the coach to better serve the student, the school, the community and the profession of coaching.

The benefits of NFHS National Certification Program include the following
  • Assist in providing a healthy and safe environment for students by minimizing the inherent risks associated with sport participation.
  • Improve the sport experience and skill development of the students who participate.
  • Provide the coach a credential that signifies completion of content covering critical topics that coaches should know.
  • Provide the school district and parents the assurance that the coach has been educated about the legal responsibilities associated with coaching at the interscholastic level.
  • Preserve education-based athletics in schools by using the sport experience.
  • Give the coach a sense of personal and professional pride by being recognized nationally by the NFHS.
  • Enable the coach to stay current in their sport and the profession of coaching.
Accredited Interscholastic Coach Level 1 National Certification
Accredited Interscholastic Coach Requirements
  • Fundamentals of Coaching
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  • Concussion in Sports
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  • First Aid, Health and Safety
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    Completed within the past three years.
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  • View exemptions and equivalent courses
    Exempt individuals
    • Current Athletic Training (certified or licensed in your state)
    • Current Instructor in American Red Cross Sport Safety Training
    • Current Instructor in ASEP Sport First Aid
    Equivalent courses
    • Eligible sport first-aid courses completed within the last three (3) years.
    • NFHS First Aid for Coaches (American Red Cross/USOC)
    • PREPARE (National Center for Sports Safety)
    • ASEP Sport First Aid
    • Sport Safety Training (American Red Cross)
    • Sports Injury Prevention and First Aid (American Red Cross)
    • KMA/KHSAA Sports Safety Course (Kentucky)
    • CARE AND PREVENTION OF ATHLETIC INJURIES (Maryland)
    • MHSAA CAP 1 Module 3 Sports Medicine (Michigan)
    • Fairfax County Sport First Aid (Virginia)
    • American Heart Association HeartSaver First Aid

    College courses will not be accepted unless it resulted in a certification from the American Red Cross in Sports Injury Prevention and First Aid.

    CPR training does not qualify as an eligible first aid course. You must have one of the first aid courses listed above to be eligible for NFHS Coach Certification.

  • One sport-specific course of your choice
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Certified Interscholastic Coach Level 2 National Certification
Certified Interscholastic Coach Requirements
USA Football
Heads Up Football Middle and High School Coach Certification
The NFHS and USA Football Heads Up Football Middle/High School Coach Certification is part of the sport’s most comprehensive high school player safety programs. Made up of four courses, the NFHS-USA Football Heads Up Football Middle/High School Coach Certification teaches concussion recognition & response, heat preparedness & hydration, sudden cardiac arrest, proper equipment fitting and shoulder tackling and blocking and defeating blocking techniques.
Coaches will learn from football experts Rocky Seto and Scott Peters as well as experience implementations of shoulder tackling and blocking through detailed practice and film.

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