How to Coach AYSO

Coaching AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) is a rewarding way to teach children soccer skills and help them develop a healthy positive attitude, teamwork and good sportsmanship. Becoming a coach and guiding young boys and girls as they improve their skills, build their self-esteem and discover a sense of belonging can be one of the best experiences of your life.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Learn the philosophy of the AYSO program. Every child from ages 4 ½ to 19 is welcome and valuable to the team and each one gets plenty of playing time because the rules require that every team member plays at least half of every game. Coaches use only positive reinforcement when dealing with players during practice and in the games.

2. Assess your own aptitude for coaching and your availability to commit several hours each week to developing your own skills, running practices, leading parent meetings and games. An AYSO coach must have boundless enthusiasm and patience, a genuine love for children of every ability level and a willingness to accept the premise that enjoying soccer and the fun of playing are far more important than winning games.

3. Fill out and submit a Volunteer Registration Form, available from your local league or from the national organization's website listed in the Resource Section. The most common way to get into AYSO coaching is to volunteer to coach when you register your own child to play. The coaches are typically parents of players.

4. Sign up for a mandatory coaching certification course to learn skills, drills and strategy. The basic course for each level from U-6 (under age 6) through U-12 is a "stand alone" course, meaning that you can take any of these courses without having taken a prior course. They range from two to five hours of instruction, depending on the age level covered. The intermediate and advanced courses for levels U-14 through U-18 require completion of the basic course as a prerequisite.

5. Evaluate and rate each player during "assessment days" to make sure that each team has the same number of very skilled, somewhat skilled and novice players. This process ensures that each team is evenly matched with comparable players

6. Continue to increase your knowledge and coaching skills. Read coaching manuals, observe and talk to more experienced AYSO coaches and pay attention to feedback from your players.

7. Recruit other parents to help, and be sure that all your assistants understand and share the AYSO philosophy to make each practice and game an enjoyable experience for all players.

Tips & Warnings

• A good AYSO coach makes practice fun and interesting for all players by developing short drills that keep everyone involved, giving frequent short breaks and giving positive reinforcement to each player.
• Recruiting other parents to help during practice allows you to concentrate on individual players and small groups at a time, without sacrificing supervision of the rest of the team.
• Each coach is assigned a team that includes his own child.
• Never lose your temper or yell in a negative way at any player anywhere, anytime. An outburst or a temper tantrum is the quickest way to become an ex-AYSO coach.
• There are no paid coaches, trainers or assistants because it's a recreational organization.

Resources

• General AYSO information, forms and FAQ's
• Books and training manuals on coaching youth soccer

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