HSSCC - National High School Strength Coaches Association

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Unlocking Athletic Potential: The HSSCC Advantage

Elevating High School Strength & Conditioning Nationwide

Why HSSCC? The Difference is Clear

Authenticity You Can Trust

Crafted by high school S&C coaches for high school S&C coaches.

Exclusivity and Relevance

Content tailored exclusively for the high school coaching context.

Flexibility At Its Best

Mobile-friendly, accessible anytime, anywhere.

Community & Collaboration

Join an exclusive discussion group of professional members. Share, learn, and grow together.

Hassle-Free Certification

Say goodbye to on-site testing and traveling. Your journey to certification is now seamless.

Transforming The High School Sports Landscape

By empowering high school strength coaches with the HSSCC, we’re paving the way for superior training programs, ensuring student-athletes reach their full potential nationwide. We’re creating better coaches and shaping the future of high school sports.

What You'll Learn

Unit 1: Uncover the foundations of high school strength and conditioning, including coaching fundamentals, history, strength and conditioning principles, basic functional anatomy and an introduction to exercise physiology.
Unit 2: Explore Long Term Athletic Development and periodization strategies that provide recommendations for coaches to help students improve through structured and progressive training programs while offering different training systems and methods.
Unit 3: Become aware of various aspects of performance preparation, recovery, and regeneration for athletes, including warm-ups, recovery strategies, return-to-play protocols, and more.
Unit 4: See information on strength development and exercise, as well as considerations for female athletes, including ACL injuries, body image, and program design.
Unit 5: Learn about plyometric drills (lower, core, upper), their role in power development, and how to safely incorporate them into a training program.
Unit 6: Assimilate an in-depth discussion of agility development, including its definition, mechanics and drills, programming, and coaching considerations for designing effective agility training programs.
Unit 7: Grasp acceleration mechanics, instruction on teaching sprint mechanics in a team setting, and the associated factors of periodization and programming for speed training.
Unit 8: Gain knowledge about various conditioning protocols applicable in the high school setting, energy systems, testing and assessment, training methods, programming and periodization, and considerations for training high school athletes who may be involved in multiple sports.
Unit 9: Study the importance of testing, analysis, and evaluation in strength and conditioning programs for athletes, guiding how to conduct evaluations, create movement and athletic profiles, and implement corrective exercise programs.
Unit 10: Accomplish the importance of character development and nutrition education for high school student-athletes, tips for implementing these programs, and other important aspects of coaching, such as order and safety, building trust and relationships, and teaching and coaching strategies.
Unit 11: Become well-grounded in the best practices for educators to create successful strength and conditioning courses, including developing a course description, syllabus, and curriculum with learning outcomes and assessments while emphasizing equity, integrity, and respect for all students.
Unit 12: Get guidance on developing effective communication for creating an athletic development program, working with medical teams, parents, administration, staffing, and risk management.

What Coaches Are SayING about THE HSSCC

The HSSCC is the first certification that relates to the everyday high school strength coach. The in-depth write ups and essential information is a great tool to become a better coach and resource to your school and student-athletes.

The HSSCC provides coaches with the tools and knowledge necessary to successfully operate a high-level high school strength and conditioning program. Whether you're a veteran coach or new to the profession, this certification is a no-brainer!

The HSSCC is a certification I believe will raise the standards in our profession as High School Strength and Conditioning Coaches. High School S&C is not an entry level job and should not be treated as such. Being certified in strength and conditioning doesn't guarantee competency but it does provide our profession with a level of integrity.

As a High School Strength and Conditioning coach, there is no other certification that I could recommend over the HSSCC provided by the NHSSCA. It specifically meets the needs of coaches in the public and private setting for High School students and athletes.

Strength and conditioning is very important for the high school athlete. Utilizing the knowledge gained from HSSCC will help our coaches and athletes go a long way towards their sport.

THE NHSSCA gave me a certification that it’s lessons could use immediately. It validated and added to my explaining to the athletes of “why we do what we do.” Highly recommend!

The HSSCC is a great opportunity for those looking to take the next step as a professional. Whether you're a sport coach, physical education teacher, or strength and conditioning coach, the self-paced certification will prepare you to program a holistic, science-based, Long Term Athletic Development program for your athletes.

The HSSCC is in beta phase, with a full-featured release scheduled for December 1, 2024. Watch the video and learn more.

Certification Includes:

Full lifetime access
Over 48-hours of on-demand content
12 Units | 43 Chapters
43 quizzes | 24 Case Studies
High-quality, animated exercises (Coming Dec 1, 2023)
Access on mobile and desktop
Certificate of Completion

HSSCC Requirements

A high school coach with an active NHSSCA Professional Membership.
Student pursuing coaching with an NHSSCA Student Membership.
We support varied S&C roles in Prep, Private, Public Schools, and Training Facilities, regardless of teacher certification, impacting high school athletes.

Staff Packages Available

Get your coaches, staff, or team access to the HSSCC anytime, anywhere, and save.

ABOUT THE CERTIFICATION

Dr Mike Martino

Ph.D., CSCS*D, EBFA-MI, FMS, CBRC, CES

Watch Dr. Mike Martino, Senior Editor of the High School Strength Coach Certification (HSSCC), answer some frequently asked questions.

PRICING INFO

Check out these upcoming prices

Early Bird: $150, June 26 thru Nov 30.
Standard Rate: $199.99 starting Dec 1, 2023.
Staff Bundle (HSSCC + Pro Membership): $250 from June 26 onwards.

Grab these deals while they last!

CERTIFICATION FAQs

When will certification be available and cost?

The HSSCC will cost $199. Those taking the HSSCC will need to be NHSSCA Professional Members. It will be unveiled at NATCON.

Is the certification currently available online and if not, when will it be available?

The HSSCC will be available starting June 22nd at the NHSSCA National Conference.

Does the final certification exam have to be done in person or can it be done online as well?

No need to travel. The entire HSSCC is online and on-demand from the convenience of r desktop, tablet or mobile device.

The HSSCC contains 12 Units Lessons and a total of 43 Chapters. Each chapter contains either a multi-choice quiz, a case study essay or both. These quizzes and case studies will account accumulatively as the ‘final examination’ for the HSSCC.

will I need to be at NatCon to be considered for the certification?

The HSSCC will be introduced at NATCON, but the only requirement for taking the test is being an NHSSCA Professional Member.

Will any CEUs or college credits available for the certification?

Completion of the HSSCC currently will not result in graduate credit. We are working on acquiring CEUs and hope to have them available at the time of the unveiling at NatCon.

Is this certification the first step of multiple tiers to follow?

The initial HSSCC is the first level of certification the NHSSCA will offer. As we grow as an organization, we will build our certification to include multiple levels.

To proceed to the next level, members will need to be level 1 certified.

what parameters are put on the certification (ex, must hold a teaching degree/license, work for a district, seeking an education degree, or work for a health care system that does outreach for high schools.

The roles of HS S&C coaches across the country are extremely varied when you look at Prep Schools, Private Schools, Public Schools, and Private Training Facilities. For example, there are Prep/Private schools that have full-time S&C coaches that do not need teacher certifications. There are Private Facility coaches who are certified teachers. We want to be an inclusive organization that supports any coach that has an impact on high school athletes. Any NHSSCA professional member can become HSSCC.

GOT QUESTIONS?

Please submit your question about, the HSSCC and we will respond within 24-48 hours. Moreover, we will use your submission to create a Frequently Ask Questions section to assist all with similar inquiries.

COY and HOF Nominations OPEN NOW