As I look at how I can better coach grappling I’ve found that there’s a lot of different certifications, courses, and materials. For a private gym, none of them are really necessary; that is, we’re not required to maintain an NCEP certification or something to legally operate.
Here’s a list of relevant organizations/sports with links for what I’ve found for classes for me. This is essentially a more detailed list than my post on Coaching Criteria Recommendations. Notably, I found a lot of stuff by searching what WIAA (Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association) and other high school sports orgs use.
- NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) – CIC and AIC Certifications
- Fundamentals of Coaching ($35)
- Teaching Sports Skills ($35)
- Coaching Wrestling ($50)
- First Aid, Health, and Safety ($35)
- Human Kinetics Coach Education Center – ASEP Certification
- Coaching Principles ($60)
- Sport First Aid ($40)
- Coaching Youth Wrestling ($19.95)
- Coaching Wrestling Principles ($50)
- USA Wrestling – NCEP Certification
- Copper ($50)
- Bronze ($80)
- Silver
- Gold
- USA Judo
- 3D Institute – Required for Silver and Gold under USA Wrestling
- 3D Coaching Essentials Course ($20)
- 3Dimensional Coaching ($125)
- 3Dimensional Coaching Course For College Credit ($550)
So, yeah, just for coaching certifications there are at least three options for wrestling coaching that I could find between USA Wrestling, ASEP, and NHFS. That’s not to mention that colleges like UW Whitewater also offer certifications covering ASEP. If I had a ton of time and money to drop on these I’d probably do all of them to compare them each, but the reality is I don’t have a strong reason to get NFHS or ASEP certified at this point. Their courses seem great and cover stuff that even the NGB courses don’t, but honestly, the NGB courses and some supplemental first aid stuff from Red Cross seems sufficient for now. Still, it’s good to know these other ones exist if I want to get more into pedagogy.
Grappling In Wisconsin 