How to Become a Santa Monica AYSO Coach

AYSO National rules say that each coach must be certified AT THE LEVEL HE OR SHE INTENDS TO COACH IN.  This makes sense, right?  We want to make sure our kids are being coached by people who have taken the time to learn how to teach soccer!

For that reason, all assistant coaches must also take the coaching clinics, in case they need to cover for the team coach.  And these clinics are open to team managers as well.  It’s fun and educational!

Getting certified is easy; it will only take a few hours of your time. It will give you a chance to connect with your fellow SM AYSO coaches and administrators. And it may even help make you a better coach!

The clinics are designed to be quick, easy, and fun to take – even for those with no prior soccer experience at all.  And for those former Premier League players who have turned to AYSO coaching in their retirement, come learn what is age-appropriate for your team.   Training does make a difference and everyone can learn something, right?

If you have NEVER signed up to become a coach, follow these instructions:

  1. Register with AYSO National as a Volunteer.
    All adult volunteers are required to register annually with AYSO via their website. You will be registering as a NEW volunteer.
  2. Complete Safe Haven online training.
  3. Complete Concussion Awareness online training.
  4. Complete Sudden Cardiac Arrest online training
  5. Complete SafeSport online training
  6. Register with Santa Monica AYSO Region 20 via InLeague as a Coach.
    If you are a parent of an active player, select Coach during your volunteer selection.  If you are a Community Volunteer and do not have a child playing AYSO, create your InLeague Profile here.  This allows us to assign you to a team & schedule practices & games.  You will be asked to provide information that will assist us in this effort, including practice night & division preferences, shirt sizes, training clinic dates, contact info & more.  You may update your preferences at any time by returning to your InLeague profile using this link.   This is separate from registering on eAYSO, the national site above.
  7. Sign up for a Coach Certification class. 
    For any eAYSO training class (coach, ref, etc…), you can search and sign up for these clinics on the eAYSO National website. If you need to complete your coach certification and cannot attend the SM AYSO clinics, you will need to attend a clinic at a neighboring region, such as Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills or West LA. We’d rather you take our clinics so you can meet fellow coaches and hear about SM AYSO specific coaching guidelines or issues, but if there is no other alternative, then sign-up for one of the other Region’s clinics. So long as you complete the clinic, your AYSO record will be automatically updated. Dates of our Region’s coach training clinics will be on the Region’s webpage as well as via the eAYSO link above. Additionally, you will receive information electronically as well (so long as you indicate your desire to coach as described above).

If you have PREVIOUSLY signed up to become a coach, follow these instructions:

  1. Update your registration with AYSO National.
    All adult volunteers are required to register annually with AYSO via the InLeague website. You will be registering as a RETURNING volunteer.
  2. Register with Santa Monica AYSO Region 20 via InLeague as a Coach.
    If you are a parent of an active player, select Coach during your volunteer selection.  If you are a Community Volunteer and do not have a child playing AYSO, create your InLeague Profile here.  This allows us to assign you to a team & schedule practices & games.  You will be asked to provide information that will assist us in this effort, including practice night & division preferences, shirt sizes, training clinic dates, contact info & more.  You may update your preferences at any time by returning to your InLeague profile using this link.   This is separate from registering on eAYSO, the national site above.
  3. Sign up for a Coach Certification class. 
    For any eAYSO training class (coach, ref, etc…), you can search and sign up for these clinics on the eAYSO National website. If you need to complete your coach certification and cannot attend the SM AYSO clinics, you will need to attend a clinic at a neighboring region, such as Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills or West LA. We’d rather you take our clinics so you can meet fellow coaches and hear about SM AYSO specific coaching guidelines or issues, but if there is no other alternative, then sign-up for one of the other Region’s clinics. So long as you complete the clinic, your AYSO record will be automatically updated. Dates of our Region’s coach training clinics will be on the Region’s webpage as well as via the eAYSO link above. Additionally, you will receive information electronically as well (so long as you indicate your desire to coach as described above).

Again, you do not have to be a soccer expert to come and learn how to teach kids to play the game. We will teach you.

It is highly recommended that you seek certification as early as possible.  Certified coaches will receive priority over “pending coaches” when teams are assigned in July.

We’re always interested in making our program better.  Please contact us with any suggestions you have.

Thank you for volunteering. The kids appreciate it.