ICCE Member Spotlight: German Olympic Sports Confederation

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) is the umbrella organisation of German sport, representing organised sport in Germany and serving as the National Olympic Committee for Germany. With 103 member organisations representing 29.3 million memberships across around 86,000 sports clubs and 139 sports, the DOSB supports both grassroots and high-performance sport and works to strengthen sport’s contribution to society.

About German Olympic Sports Confederation

Education and qualification are central to the DOSB’s work. Through its licence system, the DOSB and its member organisations provide a shared quality framework for coaches, instructors, youth leaders and club managers, with sport-specific and cross-sport pathways through C, B and A licence levels.

At the highest level, the DOSB Coaches Academy in Cologne provides Diploma Coach education for professional coaches working in high-performance sport.

The DOSB’s education system combines common standards with a decentralised approach that allows individual federations to adapt learning to their specific sports and contexts. The system includes more than one million licensed coaches and instructors, the majority of whom are volunteers, while education and continuing education pathways reach more than 150,000 participants each year.

Alignment with ICCE

The DOSB shares ICCE’s commitment to advancing sport coaching and recognising the important role coaches play in creating positive sporting experiences, supporting athlete development, participation and performance.

The organisation views coaches as key people within the sport system who translate standards, values and ideas into everyday practice. Its approach to coach education focuses on developing the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and reflective abilities coaches need to respond effectively and responsibly to different coaching situations.

This competence-oriented approach reflects ICCE’s wider commitment to strengthening coaching quality and supporting coaches throughout their development.

ICCE Membership Impact

“For the DOSB, ICCE membership provides a space for international exchange and mutual learning.”

— German Olympic Sports Confederation

Through ICCE membership, the DOSB connects with organisations and experts from across the international coaching ecosystem, including national and international federations, coaching associations, academies and universities.

ICCE frameworks and initiatives, including international frameworks on coaching and coach development, coaching degree standards, the Global Coach Conference and Global Coaches House, provide valuable reference points for the DOSB’s work and allow the organisation to connect developments in Germany with international discussions and examples of practice.

Featured Initiative

The DOSB Competence Model has developed from the long-term focus on competence-oriented coach education within the DOSB licence system.

The model starts with the real demands coaches face in practice and considers what they need to act responsibly and effectively in different situations. As a practical orientation framework, it helps sports federations review and develop their education programmes by connecting typical coaching situations with learning outcomes, learning tasks and assessment formats.

The initiative is also closely connected to digital and blended learning. A community of almost 4,000 people from DOSB member organisations supports the exchange of ideas and experiences through a social learning network.

The focus is on ensuring that digital education supports reflection, interaction, practical application and the transfer of learning into coaching practice, rather than simply transferring existing content into a digital format.