ADVANCED COACHING

The OFC/NZF C Licence is the entry point into the advanced coaching pathway for Youth and Senior Football team coaches. The course equips coaches with the tools and knowledge needed to support players on aspiring pathways.

Using New Zealand Football’s coaching process, coaches learn how to identify a ‘football problem’ from a game, and design, deliver, and evaluate a training session that addresses it. Our Game Training methodology provides the framework for session design, while we explore techniques such as using game constraints and coaching interventions to improve player understanding.

The course also covers key topics like physical preparation for play, developing your coaching identity, and how vision and philosophy shape effective coaching. However, the core focus remains on practical, effective session delivery.

The C Licence course is delivered over four days in person, blending practical and theory-based learning, with additional online modules before and after the course. The licence is awarded following a post-course assessment, where coaches plan, conduct, and evaluate a session in their own environment with mentor support.

The OFC/NZF B Licence is designed for coaches working with senior and older youth players, and is open to coaches who have held a C Licence for at least one year. The course aims to challenge and support aspiring coaches with the tools and knowledge needed to better support their players.

At the heart of the B Licence is the Professional Coaches Model (PCM). Coaches are challenged to deepen their understanding and skills across five key areas: Football Knowledge, Football Training, Match Requirements, Knowing Yourself as a Coach, and Vision and Philosophy. We continue to use New Zealand Football’s Coaching Process and Game Training Methodology as the foundation for designing meaningful sessions that support all four corners of player development.

The in-person component of the course is delivered in two parts, each lasting five days. Between these blocks, coaches complete a series of distance learning tasks, designed to challenge and grow their skills across the PCM framework. These tasks are completed in each coach’s own environment over the course of a ‘season,’ with support from a mentor.

The OFC/NZF B Licence is awarded by demonstrating competency in the course tasks and through a final assessment — planning, conducting, and evaluating a session within your own coaching context.

The OFC/NZF Pro Diploma is designed for coaches holding an A Licence who are working in international, professional club, or high-performance environments. This intensive course focuses on how coaches shape and lead their environments through effective leadership.

Throughout the programme, coaches are exposed to best practices not only in football but also in other sports and non-sport industries where high performance is critical.

The course includes four face-to-face workshops, each lasting five days, delivered over a 14-month period. Between these workshops, coaches complete a comprehensive series of distance learning tasks.

Upon completion of the course, each coach must submit a detailed report based on their personal leadership journey and a visit to a high-performance environment. This report, along with a final interview, forms part of the overall assessment of the coach’s competency.