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CORE: Coaches Organizing for Rights and Excellence, an ICCE initiative

CORE Global Initiative

Coaches Organizing for Rights and Excellence
An ICCE initiative

What is CORE?

CORE is an official initiative of the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE). Its mission is to unite coaches across all sports into one unified national body, giving them a collective voice, professional rights, and international recognition.

CORE is not just about organising today’s coaches. It is about shaping tomorrow’s coaching culture through education, solidarity, and collective action.

CORE stands for Coaches Organizing for Rights and Excellence.

Explore the three models   |   Discover the CORE Academy Syllabus   |   Contact CORE

Coaches from different sports united under CORE: Unite, Empower, Elevate.

The coach is the “CORE” of sport

The coach is the cornerstone and main pillar of sport. Without coaches, there is no sport.

Coaches develop talent, build character, and sustain the entire sporting ecosystem. Yet, too often, they remain invisible, without contracts, without insurance, without representation, and without a collective voice. CORE exists to change that.

A unified voice at all levels

CORE aims to create a common unified voice for coaches at local, national, and global level, promoting their educational, professional, and legal rights under a global body.

This voice is built from the ground up: starting with individual coaches, organised into national bodies, and connected through the ICCE global network.

Coaches at the decision-making table as natural allies and partners in sport governance.

Three flexible organisational models

CORE offers three flexible models for organising coaches. Each country can choose the model that best fits its legal, cultural, political, and sporting conditions.

1. Independent Unified Association

A separate legal entity, such as an association or federation, with full autonomy, elected leadership, and its own statutes and governance.

Best suited to: countries where coaches are ready to lead and there is a tradition of civil society organisations.
Examples: Greece (POPA), Cyprus, Malta, and Romania.

2. Embedded Office

A Coaches’ Rights & Representation Office within an existing state sport body, such as a ministry, national sports authority, or Olympic committee. This model is quick to establish, low cost, and offers direct access to decision-makers.

Best suited to: countries with a strong state role in sport, or where coaches are not yet ready to form their own legal entity.
Proposed example: Luxembourg (INAPS).

3. Hybrid Model

An independent body with official state recognition, funding, and guaranteed seats on boards. It combines autonomy with institutional power, giving coaches their own voice alongside state support.

Best suited to: countries that want both independence and state backing.
Proposed examples: Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia.

CORE provides ready-to-use tools, including statutes, legal templates, and guides, for all three models. The choice depends on each country’s specific circumstances.

What CORE offers

  • Rights: contracts, insurance, fair pay, representation on federation boards, and participation in ministry consultations.
  • Excellence: continuous education, international certification, and ethical standards.
  • Tools: the CORE Toolkit, a 90-day pilot roadmap, and the Educational Module.
CORE Global Coach’s Charter illustration highlighting international recognition, minimum employment standards, and universal protection.

The CORE Academy Syllabus

The CORE Academy Syllabus is an innovative educational proposal designed to train both current and future coaches in values and skills that are missing from conventional coach education:

  • Solidarity: the power of collectivity over individualism.
  • Collective action: how coaches work together for common goals.
  • Mutual support: practical ways to support fellow coaches.
  • Building sustainable unified national bodies: step by step, for all sports in every country.
Coaches learning about cooperation, unity, solidarity, and coaches’ rights to establish sustainable national coaches’ organisations.

Six modules, four hours

  1. Why coaches remain invisible: the global problem.
  2. The solution: unified national bodies, models, and case studies.
  3. Rights & Excellence: the two pillars.
  4. How to build a unified body: the 90-day roadmap.
  5. Simulation: negotiating with a federation or ministry.
  6. From student to activist: what you can do now.

The syllabus is free of charge, adaptable to any country, and can be integrated into undergraduate, postgraduate, or lifelong learning programmes.

The four CORE committees

CORE operates through four coordinated bodies, each with a clear mission:

Central Steering Committee

Strategic planning, alignment with ICCE, decision-making, and overall guidance.

Task Force 1: Network Expansion

Supports the establishment of new unified national coaching bodies and the expansion of CORE to new countries.

Task Force 2: Institutional & Government Advocacy

Focuses on labour rights, contracts, UNESCO and IOC relations, and World Coaches’ Day.

Task Force 3: Academic and Educational Module

Develops and promotes the CORE Academy Syllabus, university relations, lifelong learning, and the global survey on the status of coaches.

What has been achieved

  • Greece (POPA): 16 years of success, including mandatory insurance, minimum wage, a seat on federation boards, and lifelong learning.
  • Cyprus: a unified body formed under the Cyprus Olympians.
  • Malta: the first unified sports coaches association formally established.
  • Romania: the first unified sports coaches association formally established.

Active discussions are also underway with Luxembourg (INAPS), Albania, Slovakia, Serbia, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and South Africa.

CORE today

A growing global network of coaches and organisations across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, united by one vision: No coach should fight alone.

CORE’s six fundamental pillars: unity and solidarity; contracts and rights; representation; professionalism; lifelong education; and sustainable governance.

The six fundamental pillars

  • Unity & solidarity: collective strength across all sports.
  • Contracts & rights: legal frameworks and employment security.
  • Representation: institutional presence in sports governance.
  • Professionalism: ethical frameworks and accreditation.
  • Lifelong education: continuous academic and practical development.
  • Sustainable governance: 90-day roadmaps for organisational launch.

Learn more and contact CORE

If you are a coach, academic, sports organisation, or policymaker and would like to learn more about CORE, complete the form below.

We will provide key information on the three organisational models and an invitation to the next open meeting. You may also express interest in joining one of the four committees, depending on your experience and interests.

There is no cost and no obligation. Only cooperation.

Your enquiry will be sent directly to Athanasios D. Villiotis, Head of CORE. Please include your country and organisation, if applicable, and tell us what you would like to discuss.

Your details will be used to respond to your enquiry. Read ICCE’s Privacy and Cookie Policy.

Head of CORE

CORE is led by Athanasios D. Villiotis, President of the Hellenic Federation of Sports Coaches and Trainers (POPA) and Head of the ICCE Working Group for Coaches Associations.

“The question is not whether coaches should organise, but when. We say: now.”

CORE: Coaches Organizing for Rights and Excellence
An official initiative of the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE).