Coaches are key volunteers, needed even before the region can start its season. There are a number of reasons why people might consider volunteering to become a coach for AYSO:

• Family Time
  One reason we like having our kids in sports is so we can spend time with them outdoors. What better way to truly spend time with your child than to be there coach. It's a great way to make memories that'll last a lifetime.
• Convenience
  Practice times are based on coach convenience. If you are the coach, then practice times are based on being convenient for YOU.
• Set an example
  Life can be so serious lately. Be a role model for the youth, show them how to have fun, how to be a good sport and a good person.
• Volunteer points
  There are many versions of points systems, volunteer quotas, etc. Being a coach satisfies your volunteer goals in AYSO.
• Friendship
  Being coach is being part of the team. Not only are you involved with the kids, but your team includes the parents of the kids as well. It's a great way to make new friends in the community.
• Leadership
  Being a coach for a handful of young children actually helps you feel more confident in your work and in your everyday life. Their trust and respect impacts you as much as the you impact the kids.
• Volunteer Service Hours
  In some cases, coaches benefit because many employers have programs to benefit volunteering.
• For the kids
  We can't run a successful season without soccer teams. We can't have soccer teams without coaches. By being a coach, you are not only helping one team, you are helping the whole program have a successful experience.

Whatever the reason, we always welcome more coaches to help our program go smoother.

There are a few steps every person needs to do before they can coach for AYSO:

1. Figure out at which coach level you wish to begin.
2. Register as a coach. This involves logging in, finding and selecting the coach role, and completing the needed information.
3. Get trained. Courses for the younger ages are available online for your convenience, As the age level goes up, courses require some in-person field work. All are free.

Coach certifications are age-appropriate. Even though the 10u course is more advanced, it is not appropriate for 6u players.

Coaches can be trained at different levels as they gain experience and knowledge within the program. The coaching certifications are built so they expand on previous levels, but also so that they can be taken without having prior certifications. In other words, it is a little bit better when taking 8u coach training if you have experience at 6u. All the way up through 12u, recommending some experience with 10u.

Any course up through 12u can be taken as a first time coach. Intermediate Coach and higher have the requirement of experience at the earlier levels.

As a new coach, you would usually consider the coach level appropriate for the age that you are planning to coach. Note that 6u Coach training also covers teams in the 5u division, and 8u Coach training covers teams in the 7u division.

Training is the same for Coach (sometimes called Head Coach or Team Coach) as for Assistant Coach. The difference is in the responsibilities.

The Coach:

• works with the region to establish practice schedule
• receives most of the communication from the registration system as well as the scheduling system
• helps to identify assistant coaches, team parents, referees
• works with assistant coaches on how they can best be used (you help defenders while I work with goalkeeper, or if run Wednesday practices, I'll do Mondays)
• needs to be a minimum age of 18 years old
• doesn't need to know anything about soccer at all, the course teaches you everything you need to know to coach a team of young kids

The Assistant Coach:

• works with the coach to establish how best to be useful
• might be asked to help with one aspect of practices, or might be asked to run one practice while the coach runs the other
• helps to manage team parents, referees, families
• should be ready during game time if the coach is unable to show up, or if the game needs a second coach (6u, 7u)
• needs to be a minimum age of 18 years old
• doesn't need to know anything about soccer at all, the course teaches you everything you need to know to coach a team of young kids

There are advantages to being Coach, and there are advantages to being Assistant Coach. Depending on volunteer counts, you might be asked if you would do one rather than the other. You can sign up for both, which indicates you are good to be where we need you more.

As with most volunteer roles, registering to be a coach does not guarantee you will be a coach. It is an indication that you are interested and willing. There will be discussions to confirm and verify as we are planning the season.

Following are the steps in order to register. Once finished, you should be set to get screened and trained and prepare for a great season!

Registration is easy if you follow these steps. But in case you prefer, here is a registration video walkthrough.

1. Log into our www.ayso213.org website.
   If you don't yet have an account, you can create one. (The volunteer needs their own account, which might not be the same as the main account holder.)
2. Click on Volunteer from the left menu.
3. Click on the blue [Find Volunteer Roles] or [+Volunteer] button.
• If you have a player tied to the account, it will show volunteer opportunities for their division(s).
• If you wish to coach a different division than the player is registered in, or you don't have a player tied to your account,
  Scroll to the bottom and click [Show All Available Opportunities].
  Find the program and division(s) you want, and click the [x]checkbox.
  At the bottom, click [View Selected Opportunities].
  You will now see the volunteer opportunities for those divisions(s).
4. In the division you want, find the role (Head Coach, Assistant Coach) and click [Select], and then Sign up Registered User.
   If your spouse, child, or person other than the account owner will volunteer, choose Sign up a new users.
   Click the blue [Continue] at the bottom.
5. Enter any desired information. Any fields with a [ * ] are required fields.
   If you see something that looks like an error, please email [email protected] to let us know.
6. Click the blue [Continue] at the bottom.

*Instructions for use on mobile may vary slightly.

*All volunteers need to take care of basic Volunteer certifications and screening. Most of these only need to be done once, so you might already have some of them done. Visit our [Becoming a Volunteer] page for info and help on these.

For a beginning coach, some courses such as 6u and 8u coach are more available as online courses, while other levels such as 10u and 12u will either be in-person, or have an online portion followed by an in-person session. For all of them, AYSOU is where to start.

To get to AYSOU:

• Log in to the www.ayso213.org website.
• Click Volunteer from the left menu.
• If you have already volunteered for a role, you should see the [AYSOU] button at the top right. Click on that option. It should sign you in automatically.
• Click on Training Library from the left in AYSOU to view or enroll in online training.
• Click on Training Event from the left in AYSOU to view In-person courses, or portions of courses.
  *TIP: Click the [x] next to Region 213 in the Regions filter to remove it, and instead enter your zip code and a distance (I suggest 100km) under Location.
• Click on My Training from the left in AYSOU to continue courses you've started or to view courses you've completed.

*For in-person courses, you can take them anywhere, they don't have to be done by AYSO Irvine.

For any questions please email our Regional Coach Admin at [email protected].