ORLANDO, Fla. – Twelve months ago, Sacramento Republic FC’s Paul Buckle and San Antonio FC’s Darren Powell were the first two USL Head Coaches accepted to the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Pro License course.

This past December, both earned the honor, accepting their certification alongside fellow coaches as U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Jill Ellis, Toronto FC’s Greg Vanney, Seattle Sounders FC’s Brian Schmetzer and both Colin Clarke and Steve Cooke, who will lead North Carolina FC and OKC Energy FC into the new USL season this year.

We caught up with both Buckle and Powell at the MLS Combine to talk about the 12-month process to earn the highest level of coaching certification in the United States, what they learned over the course of the experience, and what advice they would give to the next class of USL coaches who are set to take the course this year.

Q: Going in, what were the expectations that you had of what then next 12 months would be like this time last year?

Paul Buckle: For me, I was excited. I was genuinely looking forward to the course, I was thrilled to get on it, first and foremost, because I knew it was predominantly for MLS coaches, and I’m sure Darren would say the same, it was an honor to be accepted. Sacramento funding it for me was fantastic as well, so I was excited, that was the biggest thing for me. The last course I had done was the UEFA Pro which was back in 2010, so it was the first real course I had been on since then, so I was excited.

Darren Powell: Yeah, same as Paul. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn, and learn from different coaches from around the country. At the start of the year, going into it, I had just completed my Technical Director license, so having done that in the developmental phase and then learning how you work with pros was something I was looking forward to, and enjoyed every moment of it.

Q: From the outside, it seems the process is highly collaborative, and that there’s a sense of community within the group. What was it like within the group, especially with some of the coaches you had as classmates like Greg Vanney, Brian Schmetzer and Jill Ellis?

Paul Buckle: I’ve actually found on all of the courses I’ve been on you’re all in the same boat. It doesn’t matter what level you’re working on, you’re all in the same boat, and it does take you out of your comfort zone. I think everybody would agree with me there, you’re in a learning environment where everyone sees it differently, and the great thing about the course was the instructors, they always said ‘there’s not one way, it’s always your way, and this is about learning and adding to what you already have.’ Certainly, the guys that were on there, I’d only seen them on the TV, so to get alongside them, get to know them personally, and now coming to the Combine this time around, I actually know the majority of the people, where before I didn’t because most of my work was done in the U.K. It’s been fantastic, and I’d like to thank all of those coaches for making it such a welcoming experience for me.

Darren Powell: I agree with Paul, what grew over the course of the year as the course evolved was that there were a lot of different scenarios that were presented to us where they were all similar for each coach, so as a coach you learn that not everything is just happening in your environment, it may be happening in someone else’s environment as well. The collaboration, sharing those thoughts, sharing those ideas became pretty impactful for me personally and I’m sure Paul the same. It was impactful to hear the advice and how other coaches handled certain situations. I felt there was a lot of trust in the room, and that was very powerful.