There are sport coaches across the United States dedicated to improving the lives and sporting experiences of their athletes. These coaches put in long hours creating development activities and support systems for others but often do not have opportunities for their own professional development. Pacific Lutheran University and the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) have created a partnership to help address this gap.

The Positive Coaching program through Continuing Education and the Department of Kinesiology at PLU provides an opportunity for those with professional interests in coaching to improve their expertise. It is a unique flexible, online program that takes PCA's online courses and builds upon them with additional activities, theory, and skill development frameworks to dive even deeper into the principles of effective coaching.

Completion of each PLU Positive Coaching course requires successful completion of the associated PCA online course. Access to that course is included in the cost and details will be provided upon registration.

Details (Per Course)

• Cost: $165.00
• Format: Online
• Length: Complete within six weeks
• Credits: 1 graduate-level continuing education credit (900-level)
  • 900-level credit is not applicable to a degree program at PLU but may be accepted by other institutions for elective credit to satisfy admissions requirements for graduate, nursing, or other professional programs or by employers to satisfy continuing education requirements. Please check with your program or employer about this before registering for any classes.

Current Courses

Description for courses can be found here.

Positive Coaching I: Coaching for Winning and Life Lessons (KINS 904)
October 15 – November 30, 2019
February 1 – March 15, 2020

The purpose of this course is to deepen and extend the knowledge based on the principles of Positive Coaching Alliance's (PCA's) Double Goal Coach®. Positive coaching will be defined and the effect on athlete's participation, persistence, effort, performance and sport experience will be explained. Specifically, this course will focus on the following PCA principles: filling emotional tanks, ELM tree of mastery, and honoring the game. In addition, data and research supporting the purpose and efficacy of implementing positive coaching techniques will be explored.  

Positive Coaching II: Culture, Practice, and Games (KINS 905)
February 15 – March 30, 2020

Positive Coaching III: Developing Triple Impact Competitors (KINS 906)
March 1 – April 15, 2020

Positive Coaching IV: Working Well with Parents (KINS 907)
June 1 – July 15, 2020

Positive Coaching V: Working Well with Officials (KINS 908)
November 2020

Who Should Enroll

Coaches, teachers, and other professionals seeking to enhance their coaching knowledge and skills and to learn more about the psychological principles and applications that are part of the Positive Coaching Alliance message and mission.

Registration Information

Classes currently open for registration will appear below with a gold “Add to Cart” button. If the class you are looking for doesn’t have the “Add to Cart” button, check back closer to the start date or submit a “Request for Information” to be notified when registration opens.

Refund Policies

This course operates by the General CE Refund Policies.

Our Partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA)

The Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) is a national organizational dedicated to ensuring a positive sporting experience for athletes of all levels by developing coaches who can use evidence-based psychological principles effectively.  Our Positive Coaching courses are offered in partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance and include the parallel/indicated PCA online course.

For more information, click the Request Information button above.