Volunteer

VOLUNTEER INFORMATION

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with AYSO 780!

AYSO is an all-volunteer organization. The coaches who guide teams through practices and during games, the referees who tirelessly officiate games going from one field to the next, the board members who organize the region’s events all the way from planning registrations to setting the schedule and making sure game days run smoothly, are all volunteers. Nobody gets paid one dime to participate in AYSO. Nationwide, more than 220,000 parents, relatives and friends sacrifice their time and effort to make sure that all of the children receive a great AYSO experience.

Because of this volunteer foundation, AYSO ensures that the costs are as low as possible.

AYSO has developed special job-specific training that helps volunteers who may have little to no soccer experience familiarize themselves with the knowledge and skills necessary to become effective coaches and referees, as well as offering unique administrative and management training.

All this ensures that each program abides by AYSO’s Six Philosophies, offers a great AYSO experience and continues to grow and offer AYSO to more children.

It only takes a few hours to become a qualified introductory-level coach or referee. If you are willing to commit to even more time, there are many small but important jobs you can help with. Even a few hours here or there can make a big difference not only to your team but to the entire region.

NEXT STEPS

Verify Your Compliance

After you have completed your Volunteer Application it is important for you to verify your compliance with the AYSO background check, safety courses, and training courses.

Background Check (Risk Status)
You may receive an email from Sterling Volunteers to start your background check. If you do, click the link in their email. However, it will prompt you to create a new account. DO NOT CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A STERLING VOLUNTEERS ACCOUNT. Instead, open a new tab and visit: https://app.sterlingvolunteers.com/en to log in and continue your background check.

If you need to start your background check because you missed the first email, or your background check has expired visit your Volunteer (My Roles & Certificates) page, check the box next to Risk Status, then click Renew & Update. The Background Check Screening Form will be displayed, no you cannot make any changes here, click Submit. You should then be sent an email from Sterling Volunteers.

AYSO Safety & Training Courses
To verify that you are up to date with your courses visit your My Account page then click Volunteer Opportunities. You will be presented with your My Roles & Certificates page. Under your role a module with your compliance status.

Need to get compliant?
You must be compliant with all five items before the season starts.
If you have misplaced your welcome email from Sterling Volunteers click the check box next to Risk Status, then click the Renew & Update button to be sent a new link.
The Concussion Awareness, Sudden Cardiac Arrest, and AYSOs Safe Haven courses are all on www.aysou.org. There are instructions below for accessing those courses.
Your Coaching License must be at or above the level of coach you are volunteering for. The license for Playground, Schoolyard, 6U, and 8U can all be obtained online via www.aysou.org. The license for 10U and above has online and in person courses. Contact [email protected] for more information.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS

REQUIREMENTS (COACHES, REFEREES, TEAM MANAGERS, BOARD MEMBERS)

1) Volunteer Application
Every volunteer (coach, referee, board member, team parent, etc.) must submit a Volunteer Application each year through our Sports Connect portal.

2) Live Scan (Begins January 2022)
Live Scan fingerprinting is an ink-less electronic fingerprinting that scans your fingerprints directly into the computer to do to determine who a person is so that a background check can be done. AYSO 780 will provide more information on the process to take to get a Live Scan completed for our region. More news to come soon.

3) Sterling Background Check
The application is delivered to AYSO National Headquarters and to Sterling Background Checks. Sterling provides all volunteers with for an annual background check which screens for volunteers’ suitability to work with our participants. Once the results of the background check are received by National and by Region 780, the volunteer will be evaluated for the volunteer positions selected.

ONLINE COURSE REQUIREMENTS
In addition to the annual Volunteer Application and Background Check, there are certain training requirements that must be completed by all volunteers.

1) Safe Haven
All volunteers must complete the AYSO Safe Haven course before they are allowed to participate in any region activities. This course can be completed online through AYSO's learning platform, AYSOU, under the "Online Courses" tab. All volunteers are required to complete this prior to receiving team contact information and prior to holding team practice, so please complete the course at your earliest convenience.

2) CDC Concussion Awareness
The Concussion Awareness training can be completed online through the AYSOU platform. Once you have successfully completed the course, your certification record will be updated.

3) Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)
The Sudden Cardiac Arrest training can be completed online through the AYSOU platform. Once you have successfully completed the course, your certification record will be updated.

4) Safesport Course (Not on AYSOU / Instructions Below)
A comprehensive overview of facts, principles, and strategies to help you provide safe and positive sport environments. Units include:

Sexual Misconduct Awareness and Education
Mandatory Reporting
Physical and Emotional Misconduct (including bullying, hazing, and harassment)

Accessing and Completing Safesport:
1 | Log into your Sports Connect account
2 | On your Dashboard, select the Volunteer tab on the left side of the screen
3 | Check the box next to Safesport
4 | Click Renew & Update
5 | A prompt will pop-up. Click the link to get Started
6 | You will need to create a Safesport account. During the process when you see the question for "Membership ID", leave this blank.
7 | Once the account has been created, go to "My Courses" and select "Safesport Trained- U.S. Soccer Federation."
8 | Complete the course

To access the online courses, please log into AYSOU and search for these courses under "SAFE HAVEN." Info on how to access AYSOU can be found below.