Transfer of Levels

Have new items appeared in your Locker transcript?

Your current National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) qualifications in the Coaching Association of Canada’s NCCP database, “The Locker” have been updated. NCCP programming for Football no longer includes Level 1, 2, or 3 and now reflects education for the level of athlete you are coaching. For Football, these programs are called Community Novice Coach, Competition Introduction (Position Coach), Competition Introduction Advanced (Coordinator), and Competition Introduction Master (Head Coach), and Competition Development Coach. If you are a coach with Level 1, 2, or 3 Theory, Technical, or Practical components, you’ll now notice that you have been given credit for the equivalent program provided by Football Canada. These have been identified as “Transferred” in your Locket transcript.

You are being awarded this equivalency so that the NCCP coaching partnership can better serve you and provide you with information and opportunities that are relevant to today’s coaching demands and coaching environment.

Maintaining your coaching status

In order to maintain this new status, all coaches whose Levels-NCCP qualifications have been transferred to the new NCCP must complete Make Ethical Decisions (MED) within five years of the transfer taking effect. As such:

1. Coaches who are granted “Trained Transferred” status must complete, as a minimum, training in MED; or
2. Coaches who are granted “Certified Transferred” status must complete the MED online evaluation.

If you fail to complete the above MED requirement within five years, it will result in a “non-renewed” status on your Locker transcript, and you will need to contact Football Canada to determine your next steps to renew your certification.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have already taken MED, you are not required to take it again.

In addition, recent changes in the NCCP include an emphasis on coaching ethics and recognizing professional development and ongoing training as essential for coaches. As a result of the transition to the new NCCP, all coaches with a CERTIFIED status will be subject to Maintenance of Certification. In order for NCCP coaches to maintain their status, they will be required to obtain professional development (PD) points. For your sport, all NCCP programs require certified coaches to complete PD on a 5 year cycle of January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022. Any PD points acquired between March 30, 2017 and January 1, 2018 will count in the 2018-2022 cycle.

Please visit the CAC’s Maintenance of Certification page, to find more information on professional development opportunities and points.

Who does Maintenance of Certification apply to?

All certified coaches, except those with Levels-NCCP certifications, must maintain their certification status. Some sports require their coaches who have achieved TRAINED status to maintain their status through the Professional Development (PD) program. Click to view the Maintenance of Certification Requirements list by sport.

Why do I need to maintain my certification?

Maintenance of Certification, through proof of PD and active coaching, is viewed as essential to athlete performance and the integrity of the NCCP. The Levels-NCCP was sometimes criticized because a coach could continue to be ‘Certified’ even if they had not coached for several years or did not keep their coaching knowledge up to date.

When did the requirement for Maintenance of Certification start?

The requirement to maintain ‘Certified’ status, through the accumulation of PD points and proof of active coaching, officially started for all sports on January 1, 2014. 

How do I know how many PD points I need to maintain my certification?

You can review the number of points you need to maintain your certification on the Maintenance page of your coaching transcript on the Locker.

Does the number of required PD points vary from sport to sport or from context to context? 

Yes. You can download an overview of the PD requirements by sport by consulting this Maintenance of Certification Requirements list.

How do I earn PD points?

There are many ways to accumulate points. Events that are organized by the CAC, your NSO or P/TSO, or P/TCR will advertise the number of PD points associated with the event.

In general:

  • NCCP training or evaluation events are worth 5 points;
  • Non-NCCP events are worth 1 point for each hour they last, up to a maximum of 3 points;
  • “Active coaching” will give you 1 point per year;
  • Through “Self-directed learning” you can earn a maximum of 3 points per five-year PD cycle.

How do I check how many PD points I have?

Your PD points will appear on your transcript as long as your profile information (name, NCCP#, etc.) has been recorded correctly with the organizer of the event, and your profile is up-to-date on coach.ca. You can check your profile and points by logging into coach.ca and using your NCCP# to check your transcript. Remember that PD points will only appear on your transcript after the data has been entered in the Locker.

Is there a limit to how many points I can accumulate?

No. You only need to earn the required number of points to maintain certification; however, you can accumulate as many PD points as you want. Please note that you cannot carry forward any points into the next cycle. Once the five year cycle ends (or any lesser period depending on your sport), PD points are re-set to 0.

What if I’m certified in two sports?

If you are certified in two sports, accumulated points will apply to both sports. The number of points required to maintain certification will be determined by whichever sport requires the highest number of PD points.

What if I’m certified in two different contexts?

If you are certified in two contexts within a sport, your accumulated PD points will apply to both contexts. The number of points required to maintain certification will be determined by whichever context requires the highest number of PD points.

Can I earn points if I attend a conference or course in a different country?

Yes. You can self-report many different things including university and college courses, first aid training, officials training and conferences in the Self-Report section under ‘Certification’ in your Locker profile. 

Can I earn points if I completed a workshop offered by another organization?

Yes. You can self-report your learning for up to 3 PD points for the length of your maintenance cycle. 

If I attend the same workshop twice in one cycle, will I receive points for each?

Yes, but we encourage you to engage in a wide variety of learning opportunities.

What happens to my NCCP certification if I do not complete the required professional development in the time allowed?

Your transcript would show that your ‘Certified’ status has not been renewed. To be reinstated to ‘Certified’ status, please complete the necessary PD points within your maintenance cycle.

Who do I contact if a PD activity does not appear on my transcript?

The best starting point is the organization that coordinated the event since it is responsible for entering the data. If, for example, you attended a workshop organized by Sport Manitoba, you should start by contacting Sport Manitoba to confirm that the data from the workshop has been entered into the Locker. If it has been entered and it still does not appear on your transcript, you can contact coach@coach.ca.

What does the status ‘Not-Renewed: MED Online Evaluation’ mean?

‘Not-Renewed: MED Online Evaluation’ refers to certified (transferred) coaches not completing their Make Ethical Decisions (MED) Online Evaluation within five years after their transferred date. If you have the certification status of ‘Not-Renewed: MED Online Evaluation’ please complete the MED Online Evaluation. More information is available in the Locker. If you have achieved the necessary Professional Development (PD) points to maintain your certification while completing your MED Online Evaluation, your status will automatically switch to ‘Certified’. If you have not, you will have to complete the required PD Points after completing your MED Online Evaluation to have your certification status switch to ‘Certified’.

I’m not sure if I will be coaching for longer than five years. Should I still be earning points?

If you are not sure, why not accumulate points anyway? PD is a way to improve your coaching knowledge which, in turn, benefits the athletes you coach. Even if you think you might not be coaching five years from now, why not become the most knowledgeable coach you can be for the athletes you work with, for however long you coach? And then if you decide to continue coaching later,  you would not have to scramble to accumulate PD points.

What does Maintenance of Certification Cycle mean?

A Maintenance of Certification Cycle is the period of time over which the PD points must be accumulated in order to maintain Certified status (or in sport Trained status). 
 

Should you have any further questions after having consulted the resource page, you may contact Football Manitoba, your national sport organization or the CAC’s Coach and Partner Services team at 613-235-5000 or coach@coach.ca.

Thank you for investing your time, energy, and passion into the National Coaching Certification Program!