You pick a coach by their face and by what they have raced. Until now, their card only showed a name, a region and a price.
What changes for the coach
- A photo, round, on their card and profile. Without a photo, their initial.
- Achievements in simple lines: the year, the race, the result. The two most recent show on the card, all of them on the profile.
- Diplomas: the title, the issuer, the country, the year, and a proof (a photo or a PDF). The MushMate team opens the proof and verifies the diploma, or rejects it with a written reason; the coach reads the reason and sends a new document.
- The country is asked in the profile: it decides whether a diploma is required.
Everything can be filled in on the website (“Expert space”) as on the phone.
What others see, and what they never see
The musher sees the photo, the achievements and the verified diplomas, with the “Verified diploma” badge. They never see the proof, a pending or rejected diploma, or the reason for a rejection. Those stay between the coach and the MushMate team.
The case of France
In France, the Sports Code (article L212-1) reserves teaching, supervising or coaching a sport for pay to diploma holders. A coach whose country is France therefore only appears in the marketplace with a verified French diploma. Their current athletes still see them: the rule never cuts a coaching relationship, it only concerns discovery. A banner on their profile tells them where they stand.
The list of countries is kept by the MushMate team. Today it only holds France: a country is added only with a text that requires it.
What it does not do
- MushMate verifies a document, it does not certify a coach. The badge says “this diploma exists and was read”, not “this coach is good”.
- Achievements are not verified, and not linked to MushMate races: the coach writes them.
- The rule does not tell a volunteer coach from a paid one. That is a choice for simplicity: in France, without a verified diploma, the card does not appear, volunteer or not.
- A veterinarian is not subject to it: their diploma is another matter.