How Ghostthinker Digitally Transformed Coach Training for Over 8 Million Members
A decade of close collaboration dedicated to didactical excellence and sustainable competence development in German football.
From Grassroots to Elite Sports: Social Video Learning
As the largest national sports association in the world, the German Football Association (DFB) plays a pivotal role in coach education—both at the grassroots level and in A-level elite sports. To ensure professionalism across all tiers, the DFB consistently adheres to the highest quality standards in qualification and advanced training.
The Challenge: Scaling Quality, Ensuring Practical Application
To combine first-class qualification with digital innovation, the DFB has partnered with Ghostthinker since 2016, driving a strategic collaboration to redefine modern coach education.
Main challenges to be addressed:
- Practical Transfer: How can we ensure that theoretical knowledge is effectively applied on the football pitch in the long term?
- Interaction & Reflection: How can coaches learn from one another and deeply reflect on their own practice within a digital setting?
- Technological Gap: Traditional software solutions lacked the specific pedagogical and didactical tailoring required for sports education.
- Scalability: How can high-quality coach education be delivered efficiently and on a nationwide scale to a highly diverse target group—from grassroots volunteers to elite professionals?
Our Shared Journey: Shaping the Future of Sports Education
Ghostthinker delivers more than just software—we deliver the future of learning. Since 2016, our sports science expertise and technological innovation have merged into a unique techno-didactical concept, tailor-made for the DFB’s educational ecosystem.
- Strategic Consulting: Joint analysis of educational goals to design a sustainable, tailored pedagogical concept.
- Co-Creation: Development of customized learning experiences based on Ghostthinker’s innovative “Social Video Learning” method, seamlessly aligned with the DFB competency model.
- Implementation & Support: Phased rollout of edubreak®CAMPUS for coach education and continuous professional development (CPD) across all license levels and pre-qualification courses. We provide full instructional design and technical implementation support for all user groups.
- Since 2025, the expansion has also been underway for the training courses and development programs of all 55,000 amateur referees.
- In addition to our formal learning platform, the edubreak®COMMUNITY was also introduced as a space for networking and exchange.
The Result: A Lasting Impact on German Soccer
Improved Practical Application
A More Active Learning Culture
Flexibility in Time and Location
Increased Reach & Scalability
edubreak® as a Pedagogical Enabler
Florian Huber, DFB Team Leader for “Concept Development and Training,” discusses the positive changes in coach training resulting from the use of our edubreak® learning ecosystem and social video learning.
Moving Toward the Future Together: A Collaboration Setting Benchmarks
Looking back, our partnership with the DFB is far more than just a success story—it is the foundation for a new era of digital coach education in sports. We are proud to have played a decisive role in shaping the educational landscape of the world’s largest sports federation as part of our long-term collaboration.
But this is just the beginning: Together, we will continue to push the boundaries of digital learning to make sports education even more connected, impactful, and intuitive. We look forward to supporting the DFB as a strategic companion in the years to come, continuously defining the global standards for modern coach education.
Your next Success Story Starts Here
Let’s work together to analyze your pedagogical, content-related, and technical challenges and develop customized solutions for your specific situation. Schedule your free Edu-Check now.