What do I need to do to be a coach?
In addition to passing a background check, you will need to take the division specific training. It is recommended that you take the divisions younger than you as well to have a fuller foundation.
All Divisions
5U/6U
8U
10U
12U
14U
Must be 12U Certified
Online - Intermediate Coach
In Person - Intermediate Coach Classroom (6 Hours)
In Person - Intermediate Coach Evaluation
19U
Must be 12U Certified
Must be Intermediate Coach Certified
Online - Advanced Coach
In Person - Advanced Coach Classroom
In Person - Advanced Coach Evaluation
EPIC Coach
I want to be on Coach X team. I want to have my child on Player Y team. Can you do that?
With over 1100 players, we cannot accommodate placing any athlete with a particular coach or player. We strive to have Balanced Teams, so we build teams fairly and as balanced as possible. Siblings who are the same birth year and gender (typically twins) can be on the same team.
All players are placed on the same team as their parent/guardian/grandparent is Head Coaching.
My athlete has extra needs and did really good with Coach X. Can you put my athlete on that team?
We are glad that you had a great experience with Coach X. Unfortunately, each year, we create new teams and do not make any special accommodations concerning player placement (again, 1100 requests is too many for a volunteer to handle). Our coaches are all trained following PIE - Positive, Instructional, and Encouraging and run practices using Say -> Show -> Do.
Can my athlete play up/down from their assigned division?
No. Many divisions have long waitlists to get people into that division. We cannot allow players of a different division to take positions of athletes in those divisions. Additionally, with the focus on Player Development, we believe there is great learning AND teaching that happens in people’s assigned division.
Additionally, there are some divisions (like 14U) that have restrictions that players must be old enough to head the ball. This is a health and safety issue that is non-negotiable.
We realize that athletes have different levels of talent. Even still, we will not move your athlete up a division because of that.
My athlete’s birthdate is in December/January, and you make an exception for me?
No. We have to have a hard cutoff date. We are unable to make any accommodations for this situation.
My athlete’s team keeps losing all the time. Why are the teams not balanced?
AYSO is a volunteer organization that relies on volunteers to Coach, Referee, and participate on the board. We do not get enough volunteers to be able to hold evaluation days (which take many volunteers and training of those volunteers to keep the evaluations fair and equal). Therefore, we balance teams with criteria that we have available to us - Age, Years Experience, T-shirt size, and now Height. Teams are balanced on all of those criteria so that teams have evenly divided athletes in age, experience and size. Is this perfect? No. But we have seen that for 98% of the teams, they are very well balanced across the Region.
Interplay balancing of teams is not possible, as we only have information for our region.
We have tried to have coaches do evaluations in the past, and the results have been inconsistent. The Coach Administrator balances the Teams every Summer to assure we have Balanced teams based on the information we have at that time.
How do I get my athlete off the waiting list?
The only way for players to get off the waitlist is if we have Head Coaches. Head Coach athletes skip the line and get their players off the waitlist IF they commit to coaching for BOTH the Fall and Spring.
My athlete can only/cannot practice on a particular day of the week. Can you place them on a team that does/doesn’t practice on that day?
No. Teams are formed blindly to assure an unbiased ranking of players and teams. Coaches have their players on their team. Head Coaches are the only ones who are able to select which day practice is. The only way to get a day that you want to practice is by being a Head Coach.
My athlete is in multiple sports/activities. Can you accommodate these?
No. Just like all of the other activities your athlete is in, we cannot accommodate any requests. Volunteering as Head Coach is the only way to guarantee practice times/days. Games are scheduled based on field availability and team availability. Head Coaches can work with the Scheduler for reasonable accommodations (e.g., only games between 9am - 2pm)
You would get more volunteers if you do special requests. Why don’t you?
We have seen that we do not get more volunteers for doing special treatment. For volunteers who are Coaching multiple teams, on the Board, and Refereeing games, we make extra accommodations to support their volunteerism with AYSO (e.g., so they can coach both teams, Referee a game, and then walk the fields encouraging coaches/referees).
Can spouses coach the same team?
No, we do not allow spouse pairings to coach the same team.