1st4sport Level 3 Certificate in the Treatment and Management of Injury in Football (L3TMI)

Overview

The L3TMI is awarded by 1st4sport Qualifications and has been developed in partnership with The Football Association’s (The FA) Medical and Exercise Science Department and FA Learning. The L3TMI is accredited at Level 3 on the National Qualifications Framework. For further information on the accredited status of the L3TMI, please log on to the QCA-accredited qualifications website at www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk.

If you are an adult (over 18 years of age) with a background in sports therapy and want to build on your existing knowledge of injury treatment, then the L3TMI is designed for you.

Although the L3TMI has been developed with specific reference to injuries within a football environment, its content can be applied to other field-based sports as a generic sport-related injury qualification.

You are required to have achieved the Level 2 Certificate in the Treatment and Management of Injury in Football (L2TMI) and hold a current Emergency Aid Certificate (or equivalent). If you are working directly with children, you may be required by your national governing body or employer to have been positively vetted by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

• It will provide you with a focused understanding of how to provide injury treatment and management in a sporting environment, and knowledge that can usefully support the provision of support for players in a voluntary or semi-professional club environment.
• If you are studying generic sports qualifications such as BTECs, A Levels, HNDs or degrees, it will give you knowledge and application skills that will support and enhance your learning.
• If you are an existing practitioner, it can be used as part of a comprehensive programme of sport qualifications, including Continuous Professional Development.
• It is one of the few accredited injury-based qualifications that can be applied across a variety of field-based sports.

What can I use the L3TMI for?

• To gain paid or unpaid employment as a football therapist for an amateur or semi-professional football club.
• As preparation for working towards individual units of the National Occupational Standards for Sports Therapy (at this time there are no NVQs accredited in sports therapy).
• To progress on to The FA Treatment and Management of Injury Diploma. For more information on this, please telephone The FA’s Medical and Exercise Science Department on 020-7745 4900.

Your learning programme will develop your understanding of:

• the code of ethics for therapy
• the anatomy and kinesiology of the lower and upper limbs
• how to evaluate the kind of injuries commonly sustained while playing sport
• how to manage and treat common sports injuries.

How will my learning programme be structured?

Learning programmes are usually designed by the approved centre that delivers the qualification. They may, therefore, vary in length and format. Depending on your needs, delivery centres can offer intensive courses or a series of learning events over a period of weeks. Whatever the timescale, all learning programmes should include the following phases:

• An induction to the qualification and your programme of learning and assessment.
• A learning programme that meets your needs, focusing on in-depth theory and practice in the treatment and management of injury.
• A programme of assessment spread across the course, including observations of your application of injury treatment/management in a simulated environment by an appropriately qualified assessor.

At the end of the programme, you will be provided with formal feedback on your performance and an action plan for your further development.

Assessment

The L3TMI assessment will require you to:

• undertake a 25-minute simulated practical injury treatment/management scenario, during which you will be observed. This will include additional oral questions on your knowledge and understanding
• sit a 45-minute written theory paper covering the knowledge and understanding requirements of the qualification.

You will also be required to have evidence of having attending The FA’s workshop ‘Child Protection and Best Practice’ prior to certification. Many approved centres run this workshop as part of the L3TMI learning programme. Please contact your approved centre for more details.

Approved centres offering this qualification determine their own fees and they will vary from centre to centre. The fees charged should entitle you to a programme of learning and assessment, registration and certification for the qualification, a 1st4sport Qualifications Learner Pack and appropriate learning resource. For further information on the costs of courses, please contact an approved centre.

The qualification is delivered by 1st4sport Qualifications’ approved centres, not all of whom offer open courses to members of the public. Your first port of call to access a course should be to enquire at your local college or sports club. Alternatively, you could contact the partners of this qualification.

For information on where to access a learning programme for the L3TMI or for information on FA Learning, please log on to the FA Learning website at www.thefa.com/falearning or call the FA Learning hotline on 0870-8500 424.