Coaches

Becoming A Coach

The AYSO Coach teaches children soccer skills and helps them develop a positive attitude, teamwork and good sportsmanship. Coaching is a rewarding experience because you have the opportunity to build a child's self-esteem, help them learn new skills, make friends and have a lot of fun. Coaching your child's team can be one of the most rewarding experiences of all! AYSO will teach you to use unique age-appropriate training through its Certification Classes.

Safe Haven Coach and Concussion Certification
All AYSO Coaches must complete the Safe Haven and Concussion certification. This ensures that the well-being of the child is placed first, the philosophies of AYSO are understood and teaches the coaches risk management to avoid putting themselves in positions hazardous to themselves and the children. It is also part of the requirements to be covered under the Volunteer Protection Act.

Age-Specific Training – 6U / 8U / 10U / 12U
AYSO provides coaching courses that focus on working with player in age-specific divisions to create a fun learning environment. Coaches in 6U, 8U, 10U and 12U must have the age specific coach certification for the age they are coaching. There are no substitutes. Higher level courses will not satisfy the requirement to be certified in a younger division. These courses have no pre-requisite and may be taken individually or in any order. See the chart below for more information.

Intermediate, Advanced and National Coach Certifications
These upper level courses build upon each other, thus a coach with the Advanced Coach certification may also coach teams needing only the Intermediate Coach certification. However, these do not confer the age-specific certification needed to coach 6U-12U. A coach who holds an Intermediate Coach or above certification and wishes to coach in 10U, must also hold a 10U Coach certification. 14U coaches must have at least the Intermediate Coach certification. 16U and 19U coaches must have the Advanced Coach certification. The National Coach certification is for coaches who desire to further advance their skills and offer a greater level of support to their region.

Cross certification from USSF
For coaches who hold a USSF license and a substantial coaching history, cross certification is available. Unfortunately, we do not offer cross certification from NSCAA diplomas, FA levels or other organizations at this time. Coaches with the USSF Youth Modules may apply for U6-U12 certification. Those holding a USSF 'E' license may apply for the Intermediate certificate, and those holding a USSF 'D' license or higher may apply for the Advanced certificate. Applicants must be recommended by the Regional Commissioner and the area and section coach administrators before the application packet is sent to the AYSO National office to be approved by the AYSO National Coach. Please contact your Regional Coach Administrator for more information. The full procedure is described in the AYSO Reciprocity Equivalency Agreement.

We are now recruiting volunteer coaches. Here is AYSO’s Coach Job Description:
Coach Job Description

Please see the four steps below to become a coach.

Heading the Ball

Consistent with the U.S. Soccer mandates on heading the ball, heading is banned for all division players 12U and below in both practices and games.
- Heading for players in 14U is limited to a maximum of thirty (30) minutes per week with no more than 15-20 headers, per player. There is no restriction on heading in matches.
An indirect free kick will be awarded to the opposing team if a player age 10 or younger, deliberately touches the ball with his/her head during a game.
- The indirect free kick is to be taken from the place where the player touched the ball with his/her head.
- As with any Indirect Free Kick, an indirect free kick awarded to the attacking team inside the opposing team’s Goal Area, must be taken on the Goal Area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the player touched the ball with his/her head.
Neither cautions nor send offs shall be issued for persistent infringement or denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity related to the heading infraction.

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Coach Tools

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FOUR STEPS TO BE A COACH

Thank you for becoming a COACH for our kids in AYSO Region 60!

Please follow these four steps to ensure that you will provide a world-class experience for our children.

Submit an AYSO Volunteer Application for MY2019.
Every volunteer (coach, assistant coach, referee, board member, team parent, etc.) submits one National Volunteer Application each year (annually). These applications are delivered to AYSO’s national headquarters for an annual background check, which screens for volunteers’ suitability to work with children for AYSO.
Get trained and certified to be a coach.

to coach 6U: 6U Coaching Course
to coach 8U: 8U Coaching Course
to coach 10U: 10U Coaching Course
to coach 12U: 12U Coaching Course
to coach 14U: Intermediate Coaching Course (must have 12U course and a year coaching 12U) to coach 16U or 19U: Advanced Coaching Course (must have Intermediate certification)

You can take these courses anywhere in the country --

○ Go to AYSOU.org.

○ Use your Blue Sombrero login information to login to AYSOU.org.

○ There are two ways to find available Coach courses:

○ Click “Live Courses” on the red stripe

○ Select a date you’d like to attend to see what courses are being offered.

OR

○ Click on “My Courses” on the red stripe

○ Scroll down to “Instructor Led Courses” and click “Open”

○ Choose “Coach Instructor Led Courses” and click “Open”

THEN

○ Choose the course you need to take (ex. 8U; 10U) and click “Sessions”

○ Find the session you want to enroll in and click on the blue “Register” button

3. Complete AYSO’s Concussion Awareness class (online): You must have submitted your National Volunteer Application before you can access the information.

Go to AYSO’s online training center (AYSO U) with this link: http://www.aysou.org
Enter your log in information from Blue Sombrero.
In AYSO, click on “My Courses” and choose “CDC Concussion Course”.

4. Complete AYSOs Safe Haven training: All coaches must take AYSOs Safe Haven course. We will require you to complete Safe Haven prior to receiving team roster and prior to holding team practice, so please take the course at your earliest convenience. Go to AYSO’s online training center (AYSO U) with this link: http://www.aysou.org Enter your login information from Blue Sombrero. In AYSO, click on “My Courses” and choose “Safe Haven”.

Note to longtime coaches: If you took Safe Haven before 2012, you will need to update your Safe Haven credentials by taking the new version of the class. Looking at your course transcript history (in eAYSO or AYSOU), you will satisfy this requirement if your transcript shows credit for the class entitled, “AYSOs Safe Haven”.

We look forward to having you as a coach this Fall!