Becoming A Coach

[TheSheibs]

Soci have a great passion for bowling. That was revived I. The past year after not bowling for 10 years. My mom has coached the team at the school she teaches at and went through the certification process for at least a level 1 instructor. She didn't pursue any higher level due mainly to cost. I have more free time now and want to become active in my community. I figure with all I know about bowling and continue to learn. That it could be fun to coach on a youth league. I'm wondering if it is really worth the money to get any gher certification than level 1 and what the requirements are to coach a youth league. I plan on talking to the manager at the local bowling alley but want to see what active coaches have to say about getting certified and what levels they have as well as the reason for getting the level of certification they currently hold. Thanks.

[kev3inp]

It shouldn't be too hard, I'm pretty sure you can get the lower levels of certification, if you need it, online. There is a new requirement of a background check for youth coaches I just read about in BJ this month. Good luck!

[bowl1820]

Go here to find out what you need to do to become a Cert. coach
http://www.bowl.com/coaching/

Level I
To take the USBC Coaching Level I online course, go to the USBC eLearning site and follow the steps to register and take the course.

Prerequisite: None. Youth must be 13 years of age or older to take this course.
Class fee: $49.00 (includes a PDF of manual in Reference Resources)

Become a Certified Coach
USBC CoachingUSBC Coaching Certification Levels

The USBC Coaching Certification program helps to teach current and aspiring bowling coaches the skills necessary to help them build a strong coaching career. Coaches must attend a certification conference and then pass the online test to gain certification. If a coach is already certified, they must pass the online recertification exam to remain active.

The levels of certification are Level I, Bronze, Silver and Gold.

In addition to our core curriculum, we offer the Fundamentals of Team Coaching and have started a new CEU (Continuing Education Units) program to help coaches continue their education at their convenience.

USBC COACHING ADDS REGISTERED VOLUNTEER PROGRAM TO CERTIFICATION PROCESS

ARLINGTON, Texas - Beginning this fall, coaches seeking certification at any level through the United States Bowling Congress will have to be approved through the Registered Volunteer Program (RVP). The USBC Coaching Certification and Development team also announced that current coaches will need to be approved through RVP as part of their continuing education process.

[TheSheibs]

Yeah. I've looked at their site on it. I am wondering if it is worth it to get any level other than level 1. I am also wondering if it is something required only by the USBC or if all bowling alleys follow the USBC. Can you coach with only the level 1 cert? And do you really have to attend a seminar in order to get the other levels? Plus their website is pretty vague on the details. Only has a discription and nothing else. Seems I really just need to talk to the person at my local bowling alley to find out the actual answers. Just wanted to see what people on here thought about the certification and everything. I mean $300 to get bronze certified. Why is it so much more than the level 1 and why is there a need to attend a seminar when the first level can be obtained online in your home? Seems the USBC is over charging for these certifications.

[billf]

$295 for three day training seminar is not over charging when compared to $49 for the on-line class. The courses thus far have been pretty common sense. Worth it? Depends on what you want to do with it. If all you want to do is volunteer for a youth program then level 1 with RVP certification is enough. Coach high school? Most schools require bronze certification but those are also paid positions. Want to start coaching as a means of income? Better have the certification (Bronze) to justify charging. Level 1 is geared towards youth bowling. Bronze, Silver and Gold are obviously more advanced.
By the way, some of the most fun I have is volunteering with the kids and well worth the time and $25 for the RVP certification.
Search on bowl.com for your area and you may be surprised at how few people are certified to coach or be volunteers. I'm the only RVP participant in my county and the current high school coach the only other certified coach.

[TheSheibs]

Why can't they just offer the bronze, silver, and gold Certs online? If they offer one they could offer them all online. Especially since I am not going to travel across the country just for one of these seminars. I looked at the calendar for them and none of them are in Californai, which is where I am located. That's what cause me to start this thread. I don't think there are any high school around me that have a bowling team. Schools out here are cutting all sports. No football ,baseball, gymnastics, or softball programs at a lot of the schools here. So my only option is youth leagues at the bowling alleys.

Thanks for your input billf.

[billf]

After level 1 a big part of the classes are based on visual observations including video analysis. That is something that is extremely difficult to grade on-line. So are oil analysis, arsenal building, etc.
They have been adding satellite locations beginning this year. As big as California is I'm sure there will be one in the area soon.

It is odd that none of the scheduled seminars were in California this year. I don't know how they (USBC) determine where to have the seminars but I can't imagine Cali being that far down on the list.

[testbowler]

The past year after not bowling for 10 years. My mom has coached the team at the school she teaches at and went through the certification process for at least a level 1 instructor.

Here's a suggestion since your mom did the certification, she should be able answer most of your questions with first hand knowledge of the whole process of getting a certification.

[billf]

Level 1 is easy. Pay $49 on-line and follow the course, take and pass the test. It's very basic knowledge geared towards new, youth bowlers.

[J Anderson]

Why can't they just offer the bronze, silver, and gold Certs online? If they offer one they could offer them all online. Especially since I am not going to travel across the country just for one of these seminars. I looked at the calendar for them and none of them are in Californai, which is where I am located. That's what cause me to start this thread. I don't think there are any high school around me that have a bowling team. Schools out here are cutting all sports. No football ,baseball, gymnastics, or softball programs at a lot of the schools here. So my only option is youth leagues at the bowling alleys.

Thanks for your input billf.

I think a good part of it is conservative nature of the people who run the USBC. Over ten years ago, one of my clients was getting involved in on-line training for the employees of electronics retailers. Employees would be able to go on-line at work and study a brief lesson on the latest offerings from companies like Sony or Panasonic and then take a quiz to prove they had absorbed the info. Retailers jumped at this because they could see the benefit of lower training costs. I don't know how successful the program was because this was all shortly before 9/11/2001. Early in 2002, he was diagnosed with cancer died within a couple months. It turned out that his partner in the business only looked and acted like he had money, he actually had no financial assets to contribute to the business to keep it afloat until the economy bounce back, and the company folded.