Germany and Türkiye take first step towards a European Coaching Licensing Agreement (ECLA)

The CEV and its European Coaches Commission (ECoC) brought together the German Volleyball Association (DVV) and the Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF) this past October 13 for the first pilot meeting of the European Coaching Licensing Agreement (ECLA).

ECLA aims to make it easier for qualified coaches to work across Europe. Today, a coach moving to another country often has to repeat national coach education from the very first level. Through ECLA, participating National Federations will recognise equivalent qualifications from partner federations, thereby reducing duplication while keeping national systems in place.

“The idea behind ECLA is to give coaches more freedom,” said Jaejung Jung, CEV Development Manager. “Today, coaches who move to another country often have to go through the whole coaching education again, and sometimes even experienced coaches have to start again from the grassroots level. We want them to be able to coach, learn and find new opportunities across Europe without repeating the entire process.”

During the online meeting, education experts from both federations presented their coaching licence pathways and discussed how their levels could be matched. The two Federations agreed to explore whether a shared framework is feasible, looking first at top-level qualifications. If it proves workable, other National Federations could join at a later stage.

“If Türkiye and Germany together build a framework that we are both comfortable with, we can then present it to the next Federations and ask whether it works for them,” said Dieter Heidrich, DVV Chairperson for Education and Science. “Recognising that an existing national level is equivalent to a European level is something we can achieve without much delay. The important thing is to start with a framework.”

“For many years, our Education Board has assessed foreign coaches case by case, comparing their licences with our five levels,” said Dilşad Mirzeoğlu, member of the TVF Education Board. “Shared minimum standards for each tier would give National Federations a clear reference and make this process faster and fairer for coaches.”

The long-term vision discussed is a three-tier reference of Gold, Silver and Bronze, thus setting minimum standards that would give federations a common European benchmark for coaching competences. Under this approach, national licences and national rules would remain unchanged, and participating federations could still apply their own fees or refresher courses for incoming coaches.

“This could also give smaller federations a European reference for how to develop their own national coach licensing systems,” Jung added.

To support the process, the CEV is looking into a platform where coaches can share their certificates directly with a receiving federation, and has offered access to its online learning platform (CEV Campus) for additional courses that National Federations may require.