Training too strict? This is how the association reacts to criticism from the coaching scene

Training too strict?

Swiss coaches sound the alarm

If you train to become a professional trainer in Switzerland, you have to have a lot of time, money and perseverance. Now there are demands from the coaching scene to simplify access to the highest diploma. This is how the head of training at the association replies.

Published: 07:57

Updated: 8:10 am

Sebastian Wendel and Michael Wegmann

“I feel like I’ll have to do open-heart surgery later.” That’s what a trainer says to Blick, who is currently undergoing several years of training, at the end of which he wants to hold the Uefa Pro license in his hands. Only with this is it allowed to coach one of the 20 Swiss professional clubs.

The trainer mentioned at the beginning is not the only one – voices critical of the training model in Switzerland are increasing behind the scenes. Above all, the admission criteria for the Uefa Pro license. In terms of requirements, these are to be equated with the “numerus clausus” that anyone who wants to start studying medicine has to pass. But, unlike medicine, football is not a matter of life or death.

The case of Hakan Yakin is currently a topic of discussion. FC Schaffhausen can only promote him to head coach if he is admitted to a Uefa Pro course abroad in the coming weeks. Yakin cannot currently register in Switzerland. Yakin has been active in professional football for almost 30 years, was one of the most talented Swiss players of all time – and yet he shouldn’t be able to coach a Challenge League club? For comparison: In ice hockey, the number two sport in this country after football, professional coaches do not need any diplomas.

“Diploma is worth nothing”

“A good 20 years after the first Uefa Pro license course, it’s time to question the model,” says Philip J. Müller, President of the Union of Swiss Football Coaches (USFT). Although around 100 active trainers are fighting over the almost 30 jobs in Switzerland with Uefa-Pro requirements, he advocates easier access to training.

Müller explains: “Despite the great financial and time investment in the professional world outside of football, the diploma is worth nothing. If the course were some kind of further education, knowledge sharing and networking, it would lower the expectations of the graduates. With the current criteria, they assume that they will find a job after their football training – and feel like a loser if it doesn’t work out. Statistically, however, the chances of getting a job are very slim.”

In addition, the clubs would have a larger selection of Swiss coaches and would have to look abroad less quickly in search of the desired profile. Müller: «At the moment the association regulates the Swiss coaching market. The clubs should be able to decide who suits them.”

“Relaxation is not an issue”

The latter is the “problem” in the Yakin case. “I don’t want to comment on individual cases,” says Reto Gertschen, head of the coach training department at the association. Regarding the criticism from the coaching scene that the admission conditions and the training itself are too strict, the former Sion, St. Gallen and YB professional says: “I don’t think so. To be able to access the Uefa Pro course, we require one year more experience than specified by Uefa. Otherwise, our requirements are congruent. A professional trainer learns every day how complex the job is. We could rather convey more material, but due to a lack of resources this is not possible. »

Gertschen says of Müller’s suggestion: “Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. The training is voluntary for everyone. A coach has to assert himself on the market, that’s part of the job. A relaxation of the admission criteria is currently not up for discussion.”

Credit Suisse Super League