How to Become a Coach

What are the requirements to coach or assistant coach?
AYSO requires head and assistant coaches to be 18 years of age, cleared volunteers (background/Live Scan), have completed required volunteer trainings, hold an age-specific coaching certification, and be committed to upholding AYSO Philosophies.

Have you registered to volunteer?
Registering to volunteer is the first step in your journey to becoming a coach.  Log in, navigate to the volunteer tab and follow the prompts to find the season and division that you want to volunteer for.  We also recommend emailing your interest in coaching to your division commissioner and opening the lines of communication to coordinate the volunteer opportunity.

What trainings do I have to complete?
AYSO requires you to hold an age-specific coaching certification. This means that if you coach in the U6 division, you must hold a U6 certification, etc.  Certifications are not cumulative until the U14 —so for example, coaching U10 only requires a U10 certification (not U6 or U8). However, beginning at U14 and above, prior certifications become prerequisites. The required certifications for each age group are:

U6 - U6 Certification
U8 - U8 Certification
U10 - U10 Certification
U12 - U12 Certification
U14 - Intermediate Certification [12U Certification is a prerequisite]
U16/U19 - Advanced Certification  [Intermediate Certification is a prerequisite]

Training is offered at different times throughout the year through Region 50 and other regions throughout the state.  Online and In-Person trainings can be found at AYSOU which is accessed through your ayso50.org profile.  To access AYSOU, you must first be registered to volunteer.

Coaches must also complete the following volunteer courses:

• Safe Haven
• CDC Concussion Awareness
• Sudden Cardiac Arrest
• SafeSport (external training)

Do I have to upload certificates of my training?
NO! If you complete trainings through AYSOU with your own account that you signed up to volunteer, AYSO will update your volunteer status for the course automatically. When might you want to upload certificates?  If you have complete training (e.g. SafeSport) for another organization, or previously done training under a different AYSO account.  Though in the later example, the question would be do you have duplicate accounts?  If so it is best to email [email protected] and ask for them to be merged.

Does training expire?
The great news is most training and requirements do not expire.  Currently, the only exceptions are Background Check and SafeSport which require yearly renewal.