“Powerful learning experience” – UEFA Pro Licence course in Finland helped Ricardo Duarte refine his coaching skills

Application for Finland’s 2024-2026 UEFA Pro License course is open until October 15 - you can read more here.

UEFA Pro training focuses especially on the development of the top player and team, international football, the development of the team's style of play, and the special areas of top football playing and coaching. 

Coaches with a valid UEFA A Licence and at least one year of coaching after their UEFA A Licence was issued can apply for the education. The training is especially aimed at top adult football coaches. The official language of the UEFA Pro Licence course is English. Candidates must possess sufficient spoken and written skills in the official course language. Read more. 

Beginning from the new UEFA Pro Licence course that begins in December 2024, the Finnish FA will organize the Licence course annually, instead of the bi-annual system that was in place before. Following what other UEFA member associations have done previously, the main language of the course will also switch from Finnish to English.

– Having a more international UEFA Pro education helps our coaches not only to network with coaches from abroad and pave their own way there, but to bring in foreign coaching talents to Finland too. In addition to that, many clubs in Finlands already have English as their day-to-day coaching language, says Kari Ukkonen, Finnish FA’s coaching education expert.

Coaches on the UEFA Pro Licence course 2022-2024.

Portuguese coach Ricardo Duarte, now the head coach of FC Lahti in Veikkausliiga, participated in the previous UEFA Pro licence course in Finland that took place from 2022 to 2024. Duarte likes the philosophy behind the licence course.

– It was powerful learning experience for me, mostly because of the reality-based environment built across the course. On the course, students are guided to make different reflections on practises and connect them to diverse study topics across the different courses, Duarte says.

Duarte has a prior academic education and has been involved in delivering football courses across Europe. Still, he considers the UEFA Pro licence course a very enriching experience for him.

– For me, it was about thinking about the direction of my career, refining my own coaching process, and finding my own skill as a coach – my style, my way of doing different things. In that way, the course was very important for me, Duarte continues.

Duarte thinks that coaches have to think about themselves as long term students of the game – students of management and leadership style. 

– If you think you know everything as a coach, very quickly you are outdated as a coach. I think that doing the licenses, updating on your own knowledge and approaches is important in order to move in a good direction with your career, Duarte believes.

Of course, Duarte adds, one of the most important things in every UEFA Pro coaching licence course is the interactions and networking opportunities with other top coaches that the licence course provides.

– One of the key ingredients is the connections that you build with some other coaches and also with the mentors and the teachers – all people involved. The discussions on the course are valuable and the relationships you build there can last. 

On Duarte’s course, there were coaches from all over the world, coaching in both men’s and women’s game.

– Such a rich group of students we had there, from different backgrounds, countries and competitive levels. I think it made this journey even more rich and pleasant for me, Duarte concludes.

Application for the UEFA Pro Licence course is open until 15th of October, 2024 - apply here!