Training Load Management

Certificate in Soccer Training Load Management

The ISSPF online Soccer Load Management course exposes you to the specific methods and processes used by elite level coaches to plan and monitor the training load of players and teams.

Flexible AccessStudy anytime, at your pace
100% OnlineAccess from anywhere
16 hrs learningGuided learning
Internationally accredited & endorsedCPD-certified courseCertificate of AchievementExpert-led · 100% online

This Course Enables You To:

  • Player Testing & Monitoring
  • Injury Reduction Strategies
  •  Applications of Load Management
  • Weekly microcycle, planning & performance
  • External Load Monitoring
  • Testing & Monitoring: Training & Games
  • Subjective Effort Assessment
  • Competitive training microcycle

Course Details

How do you achieve and manage the balance between physical and tactical  training? Where does a fitness coaches work end and where does the work of the soccer coach start?

The Certificate in Soccer Load Management is to provide coaches at all levels of the game, with the knowledge, research, practical examples and specific training load methods that they can easily apply to their own team environment.

This course is suitable for:

  • Individuals tasked with the responsibility for the & coaching of soccer teams at all levels.
  • Individuals with an interest in developing their knowledge and skills in training methodology, and the physical coaching & development of individual players and teams.

The course is comprised of the following:

  • 16 study hours
  • Tutor assessed assignment
  • Certificate of Achievement
Who is this course designed for?

This course has been designed for beginner to advanced level coaches who work at varying levels of the game from non-professional, semi-pro up to elite level.

How long is the course?

This is a 16 hour course providing elite level techniques and strategies that you can apply to your own team environment to improve the fitness and performance of your players.

Is my progress logged through the course?

After each lecture there is a short multiple-choice test designed to cement your learning. You can access your test results at anytime through your course progress area.

Can I stop/pause a presentation part way through?

Yes, the course is completely flexible. You can go back to a module at anytime and continue from where you left off.

Can I take the modules in any order?

No. The course follows a set structure that must be studied in numerical order. You can only access the next module once you have completed the previous module test.

What is the duration of the course?

You can access the course 24/7 for 6 months, which gives you plenty of time to complete the lectures, tests and assignment.

Will I get a certificate to show that I have passed the course?

Yes, you will receive a pass certificate provided you have attained the minimum pass grade of 75%.

If you have any further questions, please Contact Us.

This online course has been developed with some of the most respected practitioners and academics within the game. The focus of the course is as follows:
  • Highlighting the reasons we should monitor and assess training load in soccer
  • Introduction to the practical application of modern training load monitoring & assessment tools
  • Providing an understanding of the need to monitor players training load & minimize training ‘spikes’
  • Helping you to understand the balance between soccer related fitness, freshness & fatigue
  • Assisting in preparing players for the physical, technical & tactical demands in a safe, progressive manner
Official Accreditation By ISSPF

This course is fully accredited by ISSPF & ensures the study hours will contribute to the achievement of a formal accreditation & ISSPF continued professional development.

UEFA Federations

Official Accreditation By Latvian Football Federation (UEFA)

The Latvian Football Federation (LFF) fully accredits ISSPF online courses. Completion of these courses contributes to formal LFF accreditation and professional development. ISSPF courses are also recognized for UEFA PRO to C course revalidation and Professional Diploma refreshment.

Official Accreditation By Slovenian FA (NSZ) (UEFA)

The Slovenian FA (NSZ) fully accredits ISSPF online courses. Completion of these courses contributes to formal NSZ accreditation and professional development. ISSPF courses are also recognized for UEFA PRO to C course revalidation and Professional Diploma refreshment.

Official Accreditation By Iceland FA (KSI) (UEFA)

The Iceland FA (KSI) fully accredits ISSPF online courses. Completion of these courses contributes to formal KSI accreditation and professional development. ISSPF courses are also recognized for UEFA PRO to C course revalidation and Professional Diploma refreshment.

Official Accreditation By Lithuanian Football Federation (UEFA)

The Lithuania FF (LFF) fully accredits ISSPF online courses. Completion of these courses contributes to formal LFF accreditation and professional development. ISSPF courses are also recognized for UEFA PRO to C course revalidation and Professional Diploma refreshment.

CONCACAF Federation

Accredited by British Virgin Islands Football Association (BVIFA), CONCACAF

This online course holds full accreditation from the BVIFA, guaranteeing that study hours count toward formal accreditation and BVIFA's professional development. Additionally, it's accepted for BVIFA-CONCACAF course revalidation.

Official Course Endorsement

Endorsed By Scottish Football Association (SFA)

This course has been endorsed by the SFA as part of the revalidation process.

Endorsed By Bournemouth University (BU)

This course is fully endorsed by the Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, England, UK.

Endorsed By East Tennessee State University (ETSU)

This course is fully endorsed by the ETSU, Tennessee, USA.

Endorsed By Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)

This course is fully endorsed by the UiTM, Malaysia.

Endorsed By Wrexham University

This course is fully endorsed by the Wrexham University, Wrexham, Wales, UK.

Official Course Endorsement By Estonia Football Association (UEFA)

The Estonia FA (EJL) endorses ISSPF online courses. Completion of these courses contributes to professional development. ISSPF courses can be used for UEFA PRO to C course revalidation and Professional Diploma refreshment.

Official Accreditation By Football Association of Finland (UEFA)

The FA of Finland (FAF) accredits ISSPF online courses as part of their UEFA coaching program & course revalidation. Completion of these courses contributes to formal FAF accreditation refreshment and professional development.

Course Modules

01Soccer Player Testing & Monitoring

Delivered by Prof. Darren Paul

In this lecture you’ll explore soccer specific player testing & monitoring strategies based around real evidence. Then we’ll take a further look at coach & player considerations when it comes to monitoring, while considering the different monitoring & testing protocols possible.

02Injury Reduction Strategies in Soccer

Delivered by Dr. Patrick Orme

In this lecture you’ll discover key injury reduction strategies used within professional soccer clubs. You will then understand the link between the physical stimulus required to keep players healthy and available to train, while learning key soccer process planning and scheduling.

03Applications of Training Load Management

Delivered by Dr. Vasilios Kalapotharakos

In this lecture you’ll take a deeper look at the considerations and applications of training and monitoring in soccer along with the theoretical models surrounding training load management. By the end of this lecture, you will have a deeper understanding of the internal and external methods used to monitor training load in soccer players

04Weekly microcycle, planning & performance

Delivered by Dr. Dawid Golinski

In this lecture, we deep dive into the load monitoring methods used within the game. We will explore weekly training microcycles and specific soccer strategies for planning and performance. By the end of this lecture you will understand how you can model and implement them within your team.

05External Load Monitoring in Soccer

Delivered by Dr. Xinji Ji

In the lecture, we will examine in detail, the role of external load monitoring processes in professional soccer. You will understand GPS tracking systems and how you can implement elite level processes within your own team environment.

06Testing & Monitoring: Training & Games

Delivered by Dr. Berni Guerrero
berni guerro

Following this lecture you will understand the difference between testing and monitoring in soccer, while looking at the internal and external methodologies used by elite clubs. You’ll then explore the practical application of testing and monitoring and learn how you can implement it within your own team environment.

07Soccer Specific Monitoring: Subjective Effort Assessment

Delivered by Dr. Dawid Golinski

This lecture further examines the subjective load analysis and discusses the RPE (Rate of Perceived Effort) assessment from a soccer specific process. We will discuss, in detail, the monitoring tools approach along with wellness monitoring and microcycle planning. During this lecture we will  integrate some of the recent literature around the acute versus chronic workload principle.

08Competitive Soccer Training Microcycle

Delivered by Dr. Adam Owen

This final course lecture brings the appliance of science into an applied setting with a detailed case study example in elite soccer. As the flow of the course concludes, we will examine soccer specific training load management within a high-performance setting & philosophy. We will also look at specific indicators of injury reduction and risk factors from a player and coach centred perspective.

Only$199Buy now

What you get with your enrolment:

  • 16-Hours Soccer Load Management Training
  • Tutor Assessed Assignments
  • Certificate of Achievement
  • 30 day money-back guarantee

Frequently asked questions

Who is this Soccer Training Load Management course for?
  • Individuals tasked with the responsibility for the training & coaching aspects of athletes or team sports
  • Individuals with an interest in developing their knowledge in the training & development of individual athletes or team sports
Is this course suitable for me?

Need info

Why is this Soccer Training Load Management course important?

Need info

What skills will I improve if I take this Soccer Training Load Management course?
  • Highlights the reasons we should monitor and assess training load in soccer
  • Highlights the practical application of modern training load monitoring & assessment tools
  • Provides an understanding of the need to monitor players training load & minimize training ‘spikes’
  • Helps you to understand the balance between soccer related fitness, freshness & fatigue
  • Assists in preparing players for the physical, technical & tactical demands in a safeprogressive manner
  • May help us to reduce the risk for non-contact muscle injuries, through a better understanding of planning & preparation
How will this course help me?

Need info

How can this course assist me to progress?

ISSPF courses are not only recommended by universities and federations around the world, but they are delivered by some of the leading practitioners in the game which will provide some cutting edge methods and industry overview on dealing with specific aspects of performance coaching and development largely including physical training in a team sport environment. ISSPF are working at accrediting all their courses through academic and footballing institutes in order to provide additional academic currency to the learner.

Reviews from professional coaches

Steve McClaren
Steve McClarenManchester Utd
"This is by far the most innovative style of learning that I've seen in this digital era. The breadth of topics covered, combined with the level of detail and insights makes this a must learning environment for any coach who is working or wants to get into the game and progress to the highest levels."

Manchester Utd, Middlesborough, FC Twente, Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, England

Ringo Wu
Ringo WuAFC ‘B’ Coaching Certificate
ISSPF have managed to provide our soccer coaching staff within our college team with a 1st class opportunity to learn & apply some key performance coaching aspects. The opportunity to personally develop & track the staff’s progress through their assisted e-learning process is very impressive. I highly recommend the content as a must for all individuals tasked with the development of soccer players across all levels of the game."

Head of Physical Education & Sport, Nanwai Kings College Soccer Team, Jinkai District, Jiangsu, China

Kari Ukkonen
Kari UkkonenUEFA Professional License
Working with ISSPF as an educational partner has allowed us here at the Football Association the chance to provide CPD and continue to educate our coaches across a wide range of learning levels from our UEFA foundation levels through our UEFA Professional Licence. Offering our candidates, the chance to use both the ISSPF platform & specific soccer courses, is a huge advantage to us as an education provided within the game

Head of Coach Education, Football Association of Finland, UEFA, Helsinki, Finland

Vin Blaine
Vin BlaineCONCACAF
An experienced director with a demonstrated history of working in the soccer industry & having developed across a range of sports psychology, match analysis, player development, and sports management – I feel the opportunity to integrate the e-learning facility available from ISSPF into as a federation, club or individual self-development level is of huge benefit. As a FIFA & CONCACAF Instructor & Director of Football I have rarely seen an educational tool as good as this to positively influence individuals across a range of key soccer topics.
Leo Lucas da Silva
Leo Lucas da SilvaLevel-2 License
Using the ISSPF learning facility has opened my eyes to the detail and incredible knowledge provided from an elite faculty of elite coach developers and soccer science educators. As an individual who continually wants to progress my coaching pathway, I think this might be the best solution to increase my awareness of all elements of the game. The large amount of content and lectures available has already, and will continue to improve me. Gaining the Foundation Certificate in Soccer Science & Performance was extremely to me.

Youth Academy Coach, Botafogo de Futebol, Brazil

Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex FergusonManchester United
Sports science, without question is the biggest, most important change in my lifetime. It has moved the game onto another level that maybe we never dreamt of all those years ago. Sports science has brought a whole new dimension to the game.

Aberdeen, Manchester United

Oriol Gonzales
Oriol GonzalesUEFA Professional License
Living abroad to work as a soccer coach has its difficulties in terms of coach education provision due to travel and time commitments. Being able to access the ISSPF platform has allowed me not only to maximise my spare time from a self-development perspective, but we have also been able to gain certifications & qualifications as a club across all elements of the game. From our senior squad staff to the academy staff, ISSPF is a fundamental education tool for our club development strategy.”

Head Coach & Technical Director, Angkor Tigers FC, Asian Champions League, Cambodian Superleague, Cambodia

Jingze Quan
Jingze QuanAFC ‘B’ Coaching Certificate
Being able to develop the coaching staff throughout the club here in Eagles River FC is a large part of my role within the club. Having come across ISSPF and now using the e-learning platform for our English-speaking Chinese coaching, and medical staff we have been able to improve our focus and upgrade some key elements within the organisation. As a large grassroots club here within the province, we feel using ISSPF as an educational partnership is of huge benefit”

Director of Youth Development Coaching, Eagles River FC, Yanbian, Jilin, China

Woody Jacobs
Woody JacobsSAFA Level 1 Diploma
Working as both Assistant Manager with elite players of our national team, I have been able to directly take a lot of content and thought provoking ideas from the content on view within ISSPF and use them to the benefit of our national players. Furthermore, I am delighted to say that we are now integrating the ISSPF online courses into our coach development program to uplift the whole coaching education aspects of our nation.

Assistant Manager & Coach Developer, Namibian National Soccer Association, Namibia

Susan Lockyear
Susan LockyearFFA Advanced Coaching License
As the game develops within the professional women’s game & also filters down within the girl’s academy programs across the world, we are proud to be at the forefront of driving the developmental aspects of the game in this area. To be able to link as an educational partnership with ISSPF is a huge part of our federation soccer development strategy, and as we can now offer a range of online content, certification qualifications and courses from a range of leading professionals – we have already seen a direct enhancement across our coaching content and performance department delivery.

Head Coach & Technical Director, Canberra State County FA, Australia

Lorenzo Francini
Lorenzo FranciniMSc
As a fitness coach and sport scientist working at the elite level of the female game, I feel that ISSPF and their integration of both applied and academic quality is something that will be of huge importance for people within our industry. ISSPF have manage to accumulate a faculty of leaders across soccer science, medical & coaching science that will enable them to educate people from a very insightful and practitioning way.

Head of Performance, AC Milan, Women’s Division, Italy

Peter McDonnell
Peter McDonnellUEFA A License
The layers of content within ISSPF is in a league of it's on when considering CPD options for coaches of all levels. Having explored many avenues through my own coaching journey, the detail embedded in the courses really lends itself to closing the gap between the integrated knowledge across the fields of Sports Science and the actual application of the skills on the field. Being able to learn from many experts, across a global faculty, affords me the ability to step into their professional world and soak in the abundant knowledge they have, all in my own time.

Assistant Soccer Coach – The University of Maine

Claudio Donatelli
Claudio Donatelli
ISSPF have been able to seamlessly provide all individuals with an interest in team sports and specifically soccer with the chance to learn from some of the best people in their key research areas. Developing throughout my career as a fitness & conditioning expert and applying the scientific principles of training at the elite level of the soccer, I feel being able to use the e-learning strategy within ISSPF challenges and adds further credibility to my working practices. I highly recommend individuals from all learning levels to tap into the fantastic resource available here.

Performance & Fitness Coach Italian National Team

Tony Merola
Tony MerolaUEFA A License
Never before have I seen a unique set of soccer specific performance & coaching specialists under one banner and available 24 hours a day 7 days a week to learn within the comfort of my own home. Being part of the educational partnership program with ISSPF has opened up a new & time efficient way for both myself as Technical Director, and my club coaching and fitness staff to up skill and develop as coaches.

Boys ECNL Director – Tulsa Soccer Club, USA

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