Elliott Ward, Issac Osbourne, Leon Best, Michael Doyle, Marcus Hall, Andy Marshall, Guillaume Beuzelin and Clinton Morrison who scored twice for Crystal Palace in a charity game on Sunday, have all started on their level three coaching qualifications.
Said Ward to the CT: "It takes a long time to get qualified with all your badges so it makes sense to start now while we are young.
"I think it takes six years in all to get fully qualified and if I can be at that stage by the time I finish playing then it will set me up nicely to go into management if that's what I decide to do.
"It gives me another option at the end of my career and is something I am enjoying doing at the moment.
"We have all started our Level Three and it has been really good so far, although the worst part for me is the bit in the classroom with all the writing up of notes and stuff. I suppose it is a bit like being back at school, although not quite as bad as that. The other difficult bit is a training session and having to explain to your team mates what you want them to do. But I am sure it will get easier the more we do it."