Talent Identification and Scouting
A free short course by Sportal Corporate — not a credit-bearing university award.
2h 19m of video7 videos12 written lessons
How players are found, judged and developed — talent identification principles, observation and reporting, pathways, data recruitment and bias.
The course covers talent identification and development as a system, then what scouts actually look for, with a working scout's own account of the job. It moves to observation in practice and how a report is written, the role of data in modern recruitment, and technology and the future of scouting. A final lesson examines bias in selection decisions — relative age effects among them — and why so much talent is missed.
It is written for scouts and recruitment staff, academy and age-group coaches, analysts moving into recruitment, and sports science students. Seven video lessons are released one at a time, with written notes, key terms and an exercise. Pass the ten-question quiz at 80% for a verifiable certificate.
Start learning
Free, self-paced, no payment. Work through the lessons, pass the quiz, and get a certificate you can verify by QR code.
Start free course →You will sign in with Google to save your progress. Already have a Sportal account? The same button signs you in.
What you will learn
19 lessons · 2h 19m- 1How this course works
- 2Video 1 — Talent identification and development8m
- 3Notes — Talent identification and development
- 4Video 2 — What scouts actually look for7m
- 5Notes — What scouts actually look for
- 6Video 3 — A scout's own account2m
- 7Notes — A scout's own account
- 8Video 4 — Observation in practice12m
- 9Notes — Observation in practice
- 10Video 5 — Data in recruitment3m
- 11Notes — Data in recruitment
- 12Video 6 — Technology and the future of scouting18m
- 13Notes — Technology and the future of scouting
- 14Video 7 — Bias in selection decisions1h 29m
- 15Notes — Bias in selection decisions
- 16Key terms
- 17Key takeaways
- 18Applied output — A scouting framework and three sample reports
- 19Exercise — Scout one player, then check your bias
Lessons unlock one at a time. Finish them all, score 80% on the quiz, and your certificate is issued automatically.