...have you volunteered yet?

Everyone plays in AYSO, and everyone has something special to contribute to the program. AYSO volunteers gain satisfaction and growth from their experiences. They make new friends. They learn new skills. They develop creativity. They enrich their lives.

Almost anyone can volunteer. Moms, dads, sisters, brothers, grandparents, even friends. We need women and men, young, middle-aged and "young at heart" folks. AYSO wants volunteers who want to help make our soccer program a fun experience for kids.

The best part is that it is easy to get involved! Talk to your player's coach, reach out to us on social media, email us at [email protected], or call us at 570-412-4072. All you need is the willingness to get involved and the right job is waiting for you!

So many opportunities...

Field Work Day - the is a one and done kind of volunteering opportunity!  This is the day we measure and paint the fields, clean up the complex and basically get the whole site ready for the upcoming season. Believe it or not those fields don't line themselves! It's an easy process and requires no experience on your part. The more sets of hands we have the faster it goes.

Fundraising - we are always looking for new ways to help generate funds to improve our fields, upgrade equipment, and help to make great memories for our players.  Do you love to organize sales or maybe come up with new ways to generate funds?  We'd love to have your help! 

Coaching - we can never have too many coaches!  Keep in mind, you don't have to be a soccer expert or former World Cup champion... you just need to be able to enjoy working with kids, being outside, and having fun!  We can help you out with the tools you need to guide your team through a super fun season!  

Referees - we can NEVER have too many refs! Refereeing is such a great way to lend a hand plus get a bit of exercise in!  No need for experience with this either, we can provide you with the training needed to be able to don the whistle and ref shirt!  We even have junior ref opportunities.  This is a fantastic way for our older players and youth in the community to give back, get some exercise, and have some fun too!

Greetings Volunteers!

 If you are reading this it is because you have interest in volunteering for the upcoming AYSO season. Thank You. However, before we get you out on the field we need to take care of a little administrative overhead. Don't worry, it won't take that much of your time and by completing this process you are protecting yourself legally as well as ensuring the safety of our players and the continued success of our program.

STEP 1 - REGISTER 

AYSO is a national organization that requires all of its volunteers to register annually with their national database regardless of what position or role they are filling. This is very important for two reasons. First, all registered volunteers are background checked by AYSO to ensure regions aren't putting player safety at risk. Second, only registered volunteers are protected under AYSO liability insurance. This means that you cannot be held personally liable if a player is injured during the normal course of play. IF YOU DO NOT REGISTER YOU CAN NOT VOLUNTEER ...THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS.

To get started you need to create an account on this website. If you’ve already registered one or more players you can use the same account you setup during that process. Just click the ‘LOGIN’ button found at the top right of the page and login: 

If you have not previously created an account just click the ‘REGISTER NOW' button found at the top right of the page and follow the on-screen instructions: 

Once your account is created you will receive an email with all the details for handy reference.

NOTE: If you experience problems logging into the website there are troubleshooting steps under the ‘Registration’ menu on the website. 

Now that you are logged in you will be taken to your account home page. It should look like the image below. Click the VOLUNTEER tab and then over to the right click the Find Volunteer Roles button:

 

The web site will walk you through a series of screens to collect the necessary information. It should only take 5-10 minutes.

When you get to the end of the registration process you will be asked to provide an e-signature. This is very important so please make sure you e-sign. The system walks you through it so just take your time and you will be fine. New volunteers will be assigned an 8-digit AYSO ID number so be sure to write this down as you will need it to complete the online training.

NOTE: As long as you e-sign your registration you do not need to print it unless you want a copy for your personal records. Our volunteer coordinator (CVPA) will be notified via email of your registration and can access it online.

STEP 2 - VOLUNTEER CLEARANCES

As of July 1, 2016 all volunteers in the state of Pennsylvania must obtain the following background clearances:

• Pennsylvania State Police Request for Criminal Records Check (Act 34) - FREE
• Department of Public Welfare Child Abuse History Clearance (Act 151) - FREE
• Federal Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) - $27 *

* Only necessary if you have been a Pennsylvania resident for less than 10 consecutive years.

You can register and complete all clearances online by following the links in the Volunteer | Clearances menu on this website. The Federal CHRI clearance requires fingerprinting in addition to the online registration. The UPS store in Lewisburg (185 AJK Blvd, Lewisburg, PA) can provide this service to you.

After you complete each clearance you will have the option of receiving your results via a downloadable PDF file. You must download the PDF’s to your computer because you will need to email them to the AYSO National Office at [email protected]. For fastest processing by the national office please send only one email with all of your clearance PDF’s attached. Include your eAYSO ID in your email.  The National Office will update your volunteer record once they receive your clearances and the board will be notified of your eligibility.

IMPORTANT: If the National office does not receive your clearances they will not update your volunteer record and you will not be eligible to volunteer.

NOTE: All clearances are valid for 5 years from date of issue. If you already have clearances that are less than five years old they will most likely satisfy the AYSO requirement. Go ahead and submit them to the national office as instructed above. Also, if you are volunteering for multiple roles (coach, ref, board member) you only need to submit one set of clearances and they will cover you for all of your volunteer roles.

STEP 3 - TRAINING

We know what you're thinking....ugh...training. Never fear. Almost all of the required training can be completed online at your own pace in less than an hour. Plus, you don't have to do it all at once. As long as you get it done before practices start you are good to go. AYSO provides a fantastic set of basic online courses to help you easily and conveniently get the training you need.

Training Requirements - Use the matrix below to determine the training you must complete:

 

ROLE	U6 COACH	U8 COACH	U10 COACH	U12 COACH	U15 COACH	BASIC REFEREE	BOARD MEMBER
COURSE
Safe Haven Course MT02 *	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED
U6 Coach Course C002 *	REQUIRED	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
U8 Coach Course C003 *	N/A	REQUIRED	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
U10 Coach Course C004 *	N/A	N/A	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	N/A	N/A
U10/U12 Coach Field Work	N/A	N/A	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	N/A	N/A
Intermediate Coach	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	REQUIRED	N/A	N/A
Basic Referee Course R002 *	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	REQUIRED	N/A
Basic Referee Field Work	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	REQUIRED	N/A
CDC Concussion Awareness *	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED	REQUIRED

* COURSE IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.AYSOU.ORG

So what are these courses? Below is a brief description.

Safe Haven...this one-time 30 minute online training session focuses on safety and appropriate behavior with children as well as other on- and off-field issues. It includes proactive steps that promote a positive, healthy environment for children. AYSO Safe Haven training is required for all AYSO volunteers however you only need to take this course once.

Coach Training Courses...for U6 and U8 AYSO provides complete coach training online in about an hour. For U10/U12 there is a U10 online course that will teach you the basics and a two hour companion "field work" course that will need to be completed in-person to cover the offside rule and other topics introduced at these divisions. The field work can be done at our local field in less than an hour typically. Age-appropriate coach training is required for all coaches and assistant coaches.

Basic Referee...AYSO provides a 60-90 minute, self-paced basic referee primer course online. There is also a companion field work session that will need to be completed in-person to make sure volunteers understand the laws, positioning, game flow/control, etc.

CDC Concussion Awareness...It is online, self-paced and fairly short. It should take about 10-15 minutes.

All online training mentioned above can be completed by visiting www.aysou.org. You will need your AYSO ID (you wrote it down didn’t you?) in order to login to this site but once logged in the courses are easily identifiable. If you don't know what your AYSO ID is you can login to your account on this website where it will be displayed on your home page. If that isn’t working for you just contact our CVPA (contact info is under the ‘Volunteers’ menu).

Once you complete a course your volunteer record will be updated immediately to reflect your course credit.

A couple of final thoughts about training. AYSO strongly believes in educating its volunteers so they know what is expected of them and can feel confident in whatever aspect of our program they are involved with. We owe it to our players and their families to provide the best youth sports experience possible. Many youth sports leagues do not properly vet or train their volunteers and that can lead to negative experiences for our players and confusion and frustration amongst the volunteers and parents. Player safety is AYSO's primary concern so please complete the required registration, clearances and training.

THANK YOU FOR STEPPING UP AND VOLUNTEERING. IN TODAY'S WORLD WHERE EVERYONE IS BUSY, IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THAT SOME STILL TAKE EXTRA TIME TO WORK WITH THEIR KIDS.