Soccer Player Development Course

Designed for aspiring scouts, coaches, and anyone seeking to build a career in soccer talent identification, the Soccer Player Development course from Sports Management Worldwide covers the principles and practice of identifying and developing players at academy level. Over eight weeks, students explore talent identification methodologies, the qualities scouts and coaches prioritise, academy structures across different countries, player pathways from youth teams to the first team, and common scouting biases.

The course is delivered entirely online over eight weeks, centred on weekly live interactive Zoom sessions that keep class sizes limited to fifteen students. It is led by Matt Martin, an academy scout with experience at Nashville SC, Real Salt Lake, Columbus Crew, San Jose Earthquakes, and Valencia CF. Successful graduates receive an SMWW Certificate of Accomplishment, eligibility to join the SMWW scout network, and a resume redesign service that includes references from the course mentor and SMWW founder Dr. Lynn Lashbrook.