Health & Safety: The Value of the Accredited SCCC Certification
23 January 2017
The health and safety of the athlete has always been and continues to be the top priority of the CSCCa. In January 2012, CSCCa representatives participated in an Inter-Association Task Force meeting, "Preventing Sudden Death in Sport by Addressing Strength and Conditioning Sessions." From this Inter-Association Task Force, an article was developed regarding Best Practices Recommendations for Conditioning Sessions. We strongly encourage all strength and conditioning coaches to review and implement the recommendations in this article, paying special attention to the section entitled Acclimatize Progressively for Utmost Safety, which discusses safe and appropriate work to rest ratios to be utilized during transitional periods in your program design and implementation "including but not limited to return in January, after spring break, return in summer, and return after an injury." Each year a Health and Safety presentation is offered at the CSCCa Annual National Conference. Important information regarding safe and appropriate program design and implementation is provided and all strength and conditioning professionals are strongly encouraged to attend this presentation each year. This session is also made available on the CSCCa website post conference under Health and Safety for review and reference.
Recent events in the athletic community have re-focused attention regarding the importance of colleges, universities, and professional athletic organizations employing strength and conditioning coaches who are highly trained and educated professionals doing everything possible to develop and implement safe and effective strength and conditioning programs for their athletes. As such, the CSCCa believes that employing individuals holding an accredited comprehensive strength and conditioning-specific certification is the best way for institutions to ensure and protect the health and safety of their athletes.
Consequently, the CSCCa gained accreditation for its Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC) Certification Program through the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the credentialing body for the Institute of Credentialing Excellence (ICE). More information regarding the value of the NCCA accreditation, as well as the SCCC Certification process, can be found here.
We strongly encourage all institutions to review their athletic programs to ensure that a minimum of one full-time strength and conditioning coaching position is in place and that all full-time strength and conditioning positions are being filled with individuals who hold an accredited comprehensive strength and conditioning-specific certification. Our athletes deserve nothing less.
