Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association

SCCC Certification Process and Requirements

Certification Requirements Summary

The CSCCa offers two levels of certification. The first—Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC)—is available to those individuals who meet the association’s certification eligibility requirements outlined below. The SCCC is the most comprehensive certification of its kind, and involves the following process:

Individuals who were full-time Strength and Conditioning Coaches on either the collegiate or professional level as of September 1, 2000, must complete the following requirements (click the link for more information):

Individuals who were not full-time Strength and Conditioning Coaches on either the collegiate or professional level on or before September 1, 2000, or students studying to become Strength and Conditioning Coaches, must complete the following requirements.

Current CSCCa Membership
Payment of $200 Certification Fee
Completion of a consecutive 8-9 month CSCCa approved internship/practicum, under an SCCC certified head strength and conditioning coach with a minimum of three years full-time experience, or a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC). This includes a $300 Practicum/Internship fee.
Completion of a Bachelor’s Degree
Current CPR Certification
Mid-term and Final Evaluations from mentor, with recommendation to sit for exam.
Passing score of 70% or higher on the CSCCa Written Certification Examination
Passing score on all stations of the CSCCa Practical (Oral) Certification Examination, administered by a board of Master Strength and Conditioning Coaches. This includes explaining and defending an off-season training program designed by the individual for a specified sport.

All certification applications and requirements must be sent to the following address:

Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa)
Re: Certification
PO Box 7100
University Station
Provo, UT 84602

NOTE: These certification restrictions are necessary in order to keep this associations and its certification for full-time Strength and Conditioning Coaches on the collegiate and professional levels only. Even though this policy may seem unfair and exclusionary to some, it serves a valuable purpose. Our goal as an association is to identify, educate, serve, and prepare those individuals who want to be solely full-time Strength and Conditioning Coaches of collegiate and professional athletic programs. We hope to send a message to smaller institutions that a full-time Strength and Conditioning position is extremely important, and should be provided at every institution with an athletic program. The various positions of strength and conditioning coach, sport coach, athletic trainer, physical therapist, teacher/researcher, personal trainer, etc., are each so broad and vast in scope that it is impossible to be effective and competent in more than one of these professions simultaneously. Each of these professions has its own organization and certification, designed specifically to meet its unique needs. With its certification process, the CSCCa is providing a door, through which only those individuals who want to be full-time strength and conditioning coaches on the collegiate and professional level, can pass.

A few Strength and Conditioning coaches have questioned the need to take the CSCCa certification examination (SCCC) if they already have certification from another professional organization. In order to establish unity within, as well as credibility of, this association, it is absolutely necessary for every member to take and support its own certification examination. The CSCCa simply cannot recognize and give credence to the certification from another professional organization when it has a certification of its own, which is far more comprehensive and specific to this unique profession. CSCCa members want to distinguish themselves from all other professions, as well as all other professional organizations. Again, this can only be accomplished by having every strength and conditioning coach within this organization take the CSCCa certification examination. In addition, it is difficult to imagine being a member of a certifying professional organization and not having its certification, while holding some other professional organization’s certification. Finally, the SCCC certification is rapidly becoming the preferred certification by many institutions.

Congratulations to those individuals who became SCCC certified at the 2008 CSCCa National Conference!

View the list of all individuals holding the SCCC certification by year of certification.

MSCC Certification Process and Requirements

Master Strength and Conditioning Coach

MSCC Seal The second level of certification offered by the CSCCa is the Master Strength & Conditioning Coach (MSCC), which is undoubtedly the highest honor that can be achieved as a strength & conditioning coach. It represents professionalism, knowledge, experience, expertise, as well as longevity in the field.

Once an individual has been a full-time, collegiate and/or professional strength & conditioning coach for a minimum of 12 years, he/she is eligible to become a Master Strength & Conditioning Coach (MSCC). Those individuals who, in the past, have served in a dual role as a part-time strength & conditioning coach while simultaneously serving in another capacity (e.g. sport coach, athletic trainer, physical therapist, personal trainer, teacher/researcher, etc.), but who are currently full-time strength & conditioning coaches, will not receive any credit for those years toward the 12 year minimum.

In addition, individuals must first:

Be an active member of the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches association (CSCCa).
Be Strength & Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC) by the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches association (CSCCa).
Complete and submit a Master Strength & Conditioning Coach (MSCC) application form listed below, which includes an employment history which must be verified by the association's National Office (positions as interns, residents, graduate assistants, practicum students, etc. will not be counted as full-time employment*), along with the $125.00 application fee.

Complete the Online MSCC Certification Application Part I Complete (Printable Version of Part I)
MSCC Certification Application PAGE 2 Part II Print out this page, sign and send into the National Office.

Finally, all MSCC candidates must be in attendance at the National Conference and MSCC Dinner and Ceremony to receive this award.

*Again, years in which an individual may have served in a dual role capacity as a part-time strength & conditioning coach while simultaneously serving in another capacity (e.g. sport coach, athletic trainer, physical therapist, personal trainer, teacher/researcher, etc.), will not be counted towards the 12 year requirement, nor will years in which an individual served as an intern, resident, graduate assistant, practicum student, etc.

Those individuals achieving the title of Master Strength & Conditioning Coach (MSCC) will be notified and subsequently recognized at the association's National Conference. They will also be listed on the association's website after induction.

One of the association's goals is to encourage athletic administrators to treat the attainment of the title of Master Strength & Conditioning Coach (MSCC) as the equivalent of an advancement in rank, with comparable increases in status and salary.