Institute for Athletic Coach Education

The Institute for Athletic Coach Education (IACE) at BU Wheelock focuses attention on the need for education and training for youth sport coaches. At IACE, youth sports are considered a vehicle for helping young people develop into productive members of society, with the guidance of a significant adult mentor who is most often a coach. We aim to provide present and future youth sport coaches with learning opportunities and resources to help them better understand their role and fulfill their responsibilities as leaders and educators in the community. Our mission is:

To serve as a resource for coaches, coach educators and trainers, sport organizations, and other community organizations as they seek to fulfill their responsibilities in the coaching of children and youth in sports and physical activity
To collaborate with youth development organizations to assist them in the design and delivery of sustainable professional development processes appropriate for the coaches of young people in the communities that they serve
To educate and train these coaches to assume service leadership roles in their organization by ensuring learning opportunities for young people to grow and develop as athletes, students, and leaders in their community, through their participation in sports and physical activity
To foster organizational growth by supporting coaches and physical activity leaders to improve their ability to:
- Structure and lead transformational experiences for young people
- Develop leadership qualities in the young people they coach
- Enhance their own self-image as leaders in their communities
- Conduct their work within an ethical framework of behavior appropriate for the young participants that they coach/lead/serve
- Integrate the core values of their organization into their work as coaches of young people
To demonstrate leadership in the larger Boston community by engaging in outreach initiatives that:
- Lead to systemic change in the support and delivery of youth development programs through sport and physical activity
- Offer other educational and leadership development opportunities through the vehicle of sport and physical activity leading to an increase in the quantity and quality of volunteers available to the greater Boston community

To learn more about IACE, contact Director John McCarthy by emailing coaching@bu.edu.