Starting out: without a licence
For a children's or youth team in grassroots football, no licence is generally required. What the club needs is somebody who is reliably there. What the children need is somebody who lets them play.
Three things that matter more at the start than any qualification:
- Reliability. Being there on time twice a week already puts you above average.
- Letting them play. Many small game forms instead of long explanations. Details in the guide to children's training.
- A second person. A co-coach or team manager halves the work. How to involve one is covered in the co-coach guide.
Most clubs require a criminal-record certificate as soon as you work with minors. The club usually applies for it with you.
The stages of coach education
In Germany, the DFB and its 21 regional associations organise coach education as a ladder. Every stage requires the one before it. The structure is similar across Europe, because the top levels follow the UEFA framework — the details are set by each national federation.
| Stage | Target group | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Short courses and certificates | entry level, children's coaches | none |
| DFB C licence | grassroots and performance football | minimum age, club affiliation |
| DFB B licence | ambitious youth and senior football | C licence |
| DFB A licence | higher-level football | B licence |
| DFB elite youth licence | youth academies | B licence |
| Football teacher (Fußball-Lehrer) | professional football | A licence, selection process |
At European level, the DFB B licence corresponds to the UEFA B, the A licence to the UEFA A and the football teacher to the UEFA Pro licence.
Important: designations, hours, fees and dates are set by the regional associations and change regularly. Reliable figures only ever appear on your own association's website.
Stage 1: short courses and certificates
The low-threshold entry point. Regional associations offer short courses of a few hours, plus the children's coach certificate as a structured entry specifically for children's football.
These formats require no prior knowledge, cost little and fit around a job. For most volunteer coaches they are what they actually need.
Stage 2: the C licence
The first full coaching licence and, for many, the only one. It covers training planning, methodology, technical and tactical foundations, children's and youth training and legal basics.
The C licence comes in different profiles depending on the association, for example with a grassroots or a performance focus. Everything else is in the article on the C licence.
Stage 3: the B licence
The step from delivering to developing. The B licence works with match analysis, periodisation, athletics and managing training across a season. It is the requirement for everything beyond. Details in the article on the B licence.
Stage 4: A licence, elite youth licence and football teacher
From here it becomes specialised and demanding.
The A licence is aimed at coaches in higher-level amateur football and in youth development. Places are limited and selection runs through the regional association.
The elite youth licence is the specialisation for youth academies. Anyone who wants to work in an academy will generally need it.
The football teacher is the highest level and the requirement for the professional leagues. The course takes place at the Hennes Weisweiler Academy, runs for about a year full time and has a selection process with far more applicants than places.
What licences do not deliver
A licence makes nobody a good coach. It provides a shared vocabulary, methodological foundations and formal authorisation. What it does not provide:
- Attitude. Whether you let children finish their sentences is in no syllabus.
- Practice. Two years leading a U11 side is worth more than any course.
- A playing idea. You have to develop that yourself — see a shared training philosophy.
The best route is therefore rarely "licence first, team later", but both in parallel.
Other routes into football
Coaching is not the only role. Anyone who wants to work in football has several doors:
- Goalkeeping coach — its own education track, high demand at every club.
- Athletic coach — usually via a sports science degree.
- Scout — identifying and assessing talent.
- Video analyst — a growing field, including in amateur football.
- Sporting director and head of youth — organisation instead of the pitch.
FAQ: frequently asked questions
What to take away
- To start in children's and youth football you do not need a licence, you need reliability.
- The ladder runs from short courses through the C and B licences to the A licence and the football teacher. Every stage requires the one before it.
- DFB B corresponds to UEFA B, DFB A to UEFA A, the football teacher to UEFA Pro.
- Fees, hours and dates are set by the regional associations and change. Always check with your own.
- Licence and practice in parallel beat "course first, team later".
Coach OS takes the planning off your hands so you can concentrate on coaching — with more than 1,244 drills matched to age, group size and focus. Coach OS suggests. The coach decides. Always.