GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Gators Soccer team posted a stellar 3.47 grade point average for the spring 2024 semester. Two others with the team – Assistant Coaches Adam Godwin and Austin O’Connor – were also hitting the books and finding success to benefit the Gator team.
Both Godwin and O’Connor were putting in late nights as they pursued Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) licenses. To put their work in UF academic terms, O’Connor successfully finished his UEFA C license in the spring 2024 semester while Godwin worked through the spring and summer A terms to earn his UEFA B license.
An email and a nudge from Godwin started O’Connor on this journey.
“I got an email from David Goff. He’s from Wales, but he runs a lot of the licensing here in the States for the International UEFA courses. I sent it to Adam and asked ‘Hey, what should I do?’. Adam said ‘You should figure out a way to do it,'” said O’Connor. “It was during a time in the spring when I was extremely busy, but he (Godwin) was very supportive. So, I finished it in April but started it around the end of January.”
Godwin’s course took about nine months, ending this past July when he took a trip to Wales to complete the final part of his UEFA B license.
Obtaining their new licenses from UEFA is a huge advancement to their coaching careers and will allow Godwin and O’Connor to help grow as coaches and help their athletes grow with the sport.
“Soccer is an ever-changing sport,” said O’Connor. “I think the game looks a lot different now than it did 15-20 years ago and there’s reasons why. It is important to continue to learn and grow.”
“I want to be the best coach I could possibly be for my players. I sometimes look back at the kids I coached in 2015, and I think, I wish I was as good a coach then as I am now. And I’ll look back in 2030 and wish I was a good a coach for the 2024 Gators as I am now. The goal is continual improvement,” said Godwin
UEFA is not the only entity that coaches are able to obtain licenses through, including FIFA, U.S. Soccer, USSF and other common soccer organizations. However, the UEFA coaching pathway is considered to be the top of level of coaching licenses as it is respected on a larger international scale compared to the others.
“There’s a lot of different coaching courses out there, but UEFA is pretty largely considered to be the gold standard of these things,” said Godwin. “But what’s been historically difficult…
Both Godwin and O’Connor were putting in late nights as they pursued Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) licenses. To put their work in UF academic terms, O’Connor successfully finished his UEFA C license in the spring 2024 semester while Godwin worked through the spring and summer A terms to earn his UEFA B license.
An email and a nudge from Godwin started O’Connor on this journey.
“I got an email from David Goff. He’s from Wales, but he runs a lot of the licensing here in the States for the International UEFA courses. I sent it to Adam and asked ‘Hey, what should I do?’. Adam said ‘You should figure out a way to do it,'” said O’Connor. “It was during a time in the spring when I was extremely busy, but he (Godwin) was very supportive. So, I finished it in April but started it around the end of January.”
Godwin’s course took about nine months, ending this past July when he took a trip to Wales to complete the final part of his UEFA B license.
Obtaining their new licenses from UEFA is a huge advancement to their coaching careers and will allow Godwin and O’Connor to help grow as coaches and help their athletes grow with the sport.
“Soccer is an ever-changing sport,” said O’Connor. “I think the game looks a lot different now than it did 15-20 years ago and there’s reasons why. It is important to continue to learn and grow.”
“I want to be the best coach I could possibly be for my players. I sometimes look back at the kids I coached in 2015, and I think, I wish I was as good a coach then as I am now. And I’ll look back in 2030 and wish I was a good a coach for the 2024 Gators as I am now. The goal is continual improvement,” said Godwin
UEFA is not the only entity that coaches are able to obtain licenses through, including FIFA, U.S. Soccer, USSF and other common soccer organizations. However, the UEFA coaching pathway is considered to be the top of level of coaching licenses as it is respected on a larger international scale compared to the others.
“There’s a lot of different coaching courses out there, but UEFA is pretty largely considered to be the gold standard of these things,” said Godwin. “But what’s been historically difficult…
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