Core Mission
The National Sports Performance Association(NSPA) was founded with one objective: to empower sports performance coaches with the knowledge they need to help their athletes reach their potential by providing world-class education from the industry’s best in-the-trenches coaches. It’s for sports performance coaches who are dedicated and driven to get their athletes better.
Here is our plan…
Without mentioning my biased opinion about having the best coaches involved with the best information let me say this…
The NSPA will be coming out with FOUR main certifications:
– Certified Speed & Agility Coach
– Certified Weightlifting Performance Coach
– Certified Program Design Specialist
– Certified Sports Nutrition Coach (release date October)
All four of these certifications will be digital home study courses.
While live certifications can be great, there is a significant challenge in condensing as much valuable, synergistic information as we feel is needed for something to qualify as a Certification that indicates a true level of proficiency into the confines of a single weekend.
Our goal is to present the best coach and technical information specific to each topic for athletic performance development – and not be limited by time.
That way, if it takes longer to teach a concept – no problem. If you need to go back and review something – it’s there, 24/7, 365. We feel that this is the best approach toward helping you gain true proficiency in the material we cover in the certification course.
Plus, you get to take the online course at your own pace without having to travel.
Now, I completely understand the value of LIVE certifications. The coach will actually have to show that they have mastered the material before they can be certified.
So, here is how the NSPA is different…
We didn’t just want one general certification, where there were just small chapters of each topic. We wanted to go DEEP with information. That’s how we came up with the 4 main certifications. We went in depth into each topic so you can get a better understanding of the why’s and how’s; something you can actually use in real life training with your athletes.
For the coaches that take and pass each of the FOUR CERTIFICATIONS, they will be able to sit and take the final certification: the Master Sports Performance Coach certification.
It looks something like this –
Again, if you become certified in each (Speed & Agility, Weightlifting, Program Design, and Sports Nutrition), you have shown your understanding of all of these topics so you are able to move on to the Master Sports Performance Coach test.
The Master Sports Performance Coach is a live certification test.
The material goes into more advanced athletic development information and is proctored by NSPA Board Members. Think of it like a black belt test. You’ve mastered all of the main topics and can now take it to the next level.
I personally believe that if you coach & train athletes, you need a great grasp and understanding of speed & agility, weightlifting, program design and sports nutrition. It should be the standard knowledge base of all sports performance coaches.
I know not everyone will want to become a Master Coach and go through all of the certifications. They may just want to learn how to get their athletes faster, or discover how to write and develop better training programs, and that’s awesome. The individual certs are perfect for them. With this, we will be able to broaden our impact and help to educate more coaches so more athletes can reach their full potential.
But those that want to go to that next level, and get advanced & specific training information from elite in-the-trenches coaches, the Master Sports Performance Coach path is their way to go. It also allows us to make sure that those coaches who go through the Master Sports Performance Coach certification, are actually ‘mastering’ all the content and can apply it.
I hope that helps you better understand our plan with the NSPA and you will join us on our mission to help raise the game and empower sports performance coaches.
Sincerely,
Patrick Beith
Founder, National Sports Performance Association