U.S. Soccer Education
Iowa Soccer, U.S. Soccer’s designated State Association, is responsible for providing coach education opportunities to coaches at all levels of play across the state.
Pathway
U.S. Soccer national and state-level coaching education pathways and courses are designed to positively impact the development of grassroots coaches across the country by making education more accessible and developmentally appropriate for grassroots coaches.

the learning center
The U.S. Soccer Learning Center serves as the online educational platform where coaches can register for courses, take online classes, create session plans and more. It’s also your home for course announcements, registration, payment, assignments, communication, and collaboration. Visit the U.S. Soccer Learning Center to view a complete list of online courses and in-person courses.
request a course
Contact

Gareth Smith
Chief Technical Officer
gsmith@iowasoccer.org
515-252-6363
course resources
- All Iowa Soccer-hosted U.S. Soccer courses are set up and administered through U.S. Soccer’s Learning Center.
- Registration for U.S. Soccer Courses will close 1-7 days prior to the start of the course.
- Due to pre-course requirements, all participants must register online. Walk-up registrations will no longer be allowed.
- Pre-course requirements
- Prior to registration for your first grassroots soccer module you will need to complete the U.S. Soccer ‘introduction to grassroots soccer’ module. If this module is not completed, you will receive a message that you are not eligible to register for a U.S. Soccer course.
Candidates must be at least 14 years old to attend a State level coaching course and 16 years old to attend a U.S. Soccer course.
At this time, Grassroots coaching licenses do not expire.
We do not issue replacement certificates, however, we can confirm your license level via email. If you have a profile in the U.S. Soccer Learning Center, you can access your license information online.
Yes, each course must be attended in its entirety.
Any waivers regarding licenses or certifications must be directly approved by U.S. Soccer.
According to the U.S. Soccer Coaching Education Department, no waivers are allowed as of January 2013. Candidates who wish to obtain a U.S. Soccer coaching license must start at the Grassroots License course. Any exceptions must be directly approved by U.S. Soccer.
All of our courses are playing format and age-specific.
+ If you do not have any previous coaching licenses or certificates, use the following guidelines:If you are coaching a 6U/12U team, we recommend you start with the U.S. Soccer Grassroots in-person or online course based on the playing format you coach (i.e. 4v4, 7v7, 9v9).
+ If you are coaching a 13U or older team, we recommend you start with the U.S. Soccer Grassroots in-person or online course based on the playing format you coach (i.e. 11v11).
+ If you are coaching a Select team, we recommend you start with the U.S. Soccer Grassroots in-person or online course based on the playing format you coach (i.e. 4v4, 7v7, 9v9, 11v11), followed by the U.S. Soccer D License Course.
An individual must hold a soccer coaching license or a certificate of completion issued by a course or training program that is currently approved by the Iowa Soccer Association. The Iowa Soccer office maintains a list of all licenses, courses, and programs that are approved for this purpose.