At a glance
As the Flemish government’s agency for sport, Sport Vlaanderen carries a unique responsibility: it is the only body in Flanders that can certify sports coaches. Every year, about 8,000 coaches complete training programs delivered through its 52 sports federations.
Leading this effort is Sven Marien, Deputy Director of Coach Education at Sport Vlaanderen. Together with his team, he ensures that federations of all sizes can provide consistent, high-quality training.
With Easygenerator, Sport Vlaanderen moved from costly outsourced modules and printed books to a scalable blended learning model. More than 235 authors across 52 sports federations have created over 1,300 courses. This shift saved costs, improved accessibility, and raised the quality of training, giving every coach the opportunity to learn with engaging digital modules and practical in-person sessions.
The challenge of scaling training while keeping it cost-efficient
Before Easygenerator, training at Sport Vlaanderen took longer to create and update. Content was distributed through course books, shipped by courier to locations spread across the country.
Printed books offered well-prepared course materials, but once produced, they could not be changed. If rules or examples needed updating, new print runs had to be scheduled, which added logistical work and extra costs.
“When I started, we still had a vehicle delivering books across the country,” Sven recalls. “That was only 10 or 15 years ago. Today, everything is in one central system, but back then, it was hard to change. Updating content was almost impossible in real time.”
Early experiments with e-learning added a new challenge: cost. Outsourcing to specialized agencies was expensive, with 1 module costing between €16,000 ($18,500) and €20,000 ($23,300). For large federations, this was manageable. For smaller groups like aikido or bowling, the cost was difficult to justify.
“When we saw how commercial companies built e-learning, we realized we couldn’t afford it,” Sven says. “That just wasn’t possible for us as a public sector organization. We needed something simpler, something we could manage ourselves.”
They looked for a solution that could deliver training in a flexible, interactive, and scalable way without consuming an entire year’s budget. That search led them to Easygenerator.
Challenges
- Training thousands of sports coaches with printed books was slow, costly, and hard to update
- High cost of outsourcing e-learning (€16,000 – 20,000 for 1 module)
- Accessibility gaps between large federations (who could afford it) and smaller ones (who couldn’t)
- Limited public sector budgets
Sport Vlaanderen found a new approach to content creation
With limited budgets and a large base of volunteers, Sport Vlaanderen had to rethink its entire approach to creating training materials. Outsourcing to agencies was costly, and printed books were slow to update.
The tipping point came when federations realized they could not keep up with demand for flexible training.
Easygenerator offered a clear alternative: it was budget-friendly, quick to update content, and simple enough for people with no instructional design experience to use. Updates made in Easygenerator are automatically reflected in the LMS, so every learner can access the most recent version.
Federations have always contributed their expertise to course materials. The difference now is that with Easygenerator, they can create and publish digital modules themselves. Combined with their LMS, this gives federations the ability to share their knowledge faster and make it directly available to learners without waiting for external production.
“Suddenly, anyone could create a course and make it engaging, without being an instructional designer,” Sven says. “That’s how we went from a handful of courses to hundreds very quickly.”
This decentralized model also helped strengthen the independence of the federations. Volunteers and professionals were encouraged to build interactive courses, while central administrators ensured quality and alignment across the network. The balance of freedom and oversight allowed Sport Vlaanderen to scale without losing consistency.
Building a blended learning model
Switching to e-learning did not mean removing tutors from the equation. Sport Vlaanderen developed a blended learning model that combined the best of both worlds: flexible e-learning with practical tutor-led sessions. Easygenerator became the base of the digital modules, while federations continued to run in-person training.
“Our learners don’t want to read 300 pages of text anymore,” Sven says. “With e-learning, we can combine video, exercises, and tutor sessions in a way that’s flexible for everyone. Easygenerator gives us the flexibility to do that.”
Tutors embraced this change. Many began using Easygenerator modules in classrooms, projecting exercises for group discussions. Masterclasses from experts are recorded and embedded directly into e-learning courses, ensuring that learners can revisit them whenever needed.
Federations also benefit from central templates created in Easygenerator, which they adapt to their contexts. This ensures relevance while keeping overall standards high.
The blended approach also improved accessibility. Sports coaches with full-time jobs or family commitments could now learn at a time that suited them. Another key difference is that digital modules can be updated instantly, so learners always see the latest version. With books, new editions had to be published before changes reached students, but with Easygenerator updates are available right away.
Results at scale
Today, more than 235 registered authors create content across 52 sports federations. Together, they have produced 1,300+ new courses in just 4 years with Easygenerator. The numbers continue to grow as more federations and volunteers embrace digital tools.
With Easygenerator, updates happen right away. If a rule changes or a federation wants to adapt an example, the change can be made in minutes and shared instantly with learners. Review features also let administrators step in to fix long texts, unclear examples, or other issues without stopping the course.
“The review features help us keep quality high,” Sven explains. “If a course has too much text or weak examples, we can correct it right away. That makes a big difference across so many federations.”
Support also played a role. Sport Vlaanderen could always rely on Easygenerator for extra sessions and quarterly meetings with their Success Manager to stay updated. Regular webinars, guides, and quick responses to questions made it easier to get started. For many volunteers, knowing that help was always available gave them the confidence to create content on their own.
Sven highlights what he considers the biggest win: the steady increase in the number of trainers following structured programs year after year. “The next step is to stay on top of quality as we grow. We are confident in scaling, but we must always ensure the learning remains engaging and effective.”
Results
- Scaled authorship: 235+ authors across 52 sports federations now create training content
- Expanded course library: 1,300+ e-learning modules developed in just 4 years
- Training expanded: around 8,000 sports coaches trained every year with blended learning
- Reduced costs: saved €16,000 – €20,000 per outsourced module by moving content creation in-house, resulting in a significant societal cost saving as a shared service for all sports federations.
- Improved quality control: training across federations is consistent by using shared templates and review features
Looking ahead
Sport Vlaanderen’s commitment to lifelong learning does not stop here. The organization is exploring ways to share training more widely, even across borders. While official course materials will always be provided in Dutch, EasyTranslate can support international exchange by making it easier to share knowledge and best practices with partners abroad.
There are also opportunities to collaborate with other public organizations that face similar challenges.
“If you want to bring information to the public and make it interactive and engaging, this is a great option,” Sven says. “It’s cost-efficient and simple to use, even for people who are not professional instructional designers.”
Looking forward, Sport Vlaanderen plans to keep refining its blended learning model, ensuring federations can maintain both flexibility and quality. The vision is a sustainable learning ecosystem that supports every coach, regardless of sport or budget, and continues to raise the bar for training across the Flemish community, with Easygenerator as a key part of that journey.