To be a school teacher obtaining a license is mandatory.
Do coaches for sports (Judo) need a license?
What do instructors need to know?
What’s the difference between Japan and the US?
I would like to share the contents and the difference between the US Safe Sport Training that I obtained as the Youth Development coach and the certificate I acquired in Japan as a Judo instructor.
(1)Japan puts priority in content, US places the same in child safety.
I believe this would be the same or similar for other sports, but you must obtain a license to educate Judo and they are ranked, A, B and C grades where A being the highest.
Last year, I participated in the Grade B training class where the content was mainly focused on what to teach depending on the childs age and their growth. Also for first aid, the focus was on concussions and how to deal with them.
On the other hand, in the training for US SafeSport, it focused the most of its contents on cheating and to preventive measures to avoid child abuse. This is to protect all athletes from cheating and child abuse where many case studies were brought forth to discuss the “what if?” scenarios with Q&A sessions.
It is not a simple comparison, but difference between the “instructors’ view” and the “students’ view” was the largest difference.
(2) In Japan only instructors– in the US all related parties
For Judo in Japan, only instructors (Dojo Instructors, Coaches and Managers for Junior High, High School, Universities and Corporate Teams) need to participate. If you do not accompany a match, you can coach without the license. This license is optional for adult athletes.
In USA Judo, all registered coaches, staff, officers, referees, any members that periodically comes in contact with minors are all required to take this training. What surprised me is that ALL athletes that participate in the Olympic Games must take this training course. Risk management at its highest level!!!
(3) Different per Sport vs Same for all categories for the Olympics
In Japan, training for each sport is dedicated for that sport. I Judo, it’s only applicable for Judo.
All sport has its own method, where in the US, it is common for all types. I believe this is both fair and also avoids the unevenness by letting each sport create their own method. The content not only includes Safety Training, but also how to deal with concussions.
I thought that “concussions” was only for Judo – which surprised me in a good way.
Lastly, the biggest thing I learned is that the instructors need to not just learn what and how to teach, but also need to participate in creating an environment that avoids, bullying, child abuse and harassment which then leads to kids coming to love the sport and maximizing the value of each sport.
I also was given the opportunity to revisit how I work with children by observing how each individual relates with the sport and how I can maximize their time.
This is by far more important than getting stronger or winning!!
The toughest portion was the language… A long session in English was tough and I believe it took me more than double the time for others. This…is also a precious experience 😊
“ Bring happiness to children through Judo” I know that I need to acquire a lot of skills for my dreams, but this whole thing has just started!!
The Training Certificate
