WHEN CERTIFICATION FAILS TO RECOGNIZE COMPETENCE IN SPORT
Abstract
This paper develops a critical reflection on the current system of competency recognition in sports coaching in Portugal, with special focus on martial arts and combat sports.
Based on the analysis of professional certification mechanisms, namely the Recognition of Professional and Academic Competencies (RCPA), structural limitations are identified associated with excessive bureaucratization of recognition processes, dependence on specific reference frameworks, and the growing influence of external entities in the operationalization of professional access.
The text problematizes the dissociation between formal certification and effective competence, arguing that the quality of sports coaching intervention cannot be reduced exclusively to compliance with administrative requirements, and must integrate practical experience, academic training, pedagogical capacity and a consolidated professional track record.
Inconsistencies identified during the transitional period of implementation of the certification system are also discussed, as well as the potential risks of inequality, professional exclusion and indirect concentration of regulatory power resulting from dependence on federative structures for the operationalization of recognition mechanisms.
The paper proposes the need to rethink the current model, promoting more transparent, coherent and adjusted criteria to the reality of sports practice, while reinforcing the role of sport as an instrument of human development.
Keywords:
Martial Arts · Combat Sports · Competency Recognition · Coach Certification · RCPA · Sport Policy · Human Development · Coach Education · Sport Professionalisation
Reference:
Loio, F. (2026). When Certification Fails to Recognize Competence in Sport: A critical reflection on competency recognition in martial arts and combat sports. Open Science Framework.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/V3DE9
📄 Portuguese Version 📄 English Version