Welcome to coaching!

Coaches, have the biggest impact on players – teaching soccer, building confidence, and fostering teamwork. They teach kids about soccer, and are also cheerleaders, educators, and team administrators, too. Sound familiar? If you can parent, you can coach! No soccer experience is needed – AYSO will teach you the soccer part, which is often a smaller part of the job than you’d expect.
You don’t have to be a parent to coach. We welcome aunts, uncles, grandparents, older siblings, cousins, trusted friends, and neighbors to coach. We especially encourage women to coach (see Sisterhood of Soccer) – many players have never had a female coach, and representation matters.

What does the coach role entail?

Team Roles

- 6U-8U: Both a Head Coach (HC) and an Assistant Coach (AC) are required as the team splits into two smaller squads for games on side-by-side fields
- 10U-14U:Only a Head Coach (HC) is required but it’s a lot more fun to coach with an Assistant.
- HCs and ACs go through the same trainings (see Training section below). While the Head Coach usually takes the lead on planning practice and deciding game lineups, we leave it to each team to determine how best to structure their partnership. However, HCs are the primary point of contact for the team and certain Region communications will be sent directly to them.

Time Commitment

- Practice: One 1-1.5 hour practice per week depending on age division. Upper Division may have two practices per week.
- Games: One game a week starting at 16min halves for 6U and going to 45min halves for Upper Division. For 10U and up, in Playoffs and Advanced Play you will have more than one game per week.
- Planning: On average up to one hour per week of planning time

How do I become a coach?

Thank you for volunteering to coach! There are three main steps you need to do to become a coach:

1. Register as a Volunteer in InLeague, choose Head or Assistant Coach in your Volunteer Preferences and select which division(s) in which you would like to coach
2. Tell your Division Coach Administrator (DCA) that you would like to coach that season
3. Complete your training – details regarding training can be found here: Coach Training

Key Coach Resources

Check the left hand navigation bar for some great links! Below are AYSO and Region 13 specific resources, as well as other resources that our board and volunteers have found valuable for coaches.

Division Coach Meetings

Coach Manuals and Guides

6U-8U Division Coach Meeting – 6U-8U Slide Deck

10U Division Coach Meeting – 10U Slide Deck

12U Division Coach Meeting – 12U Slide Deck

14U Division Coach Meeting – 14U Slide Deck

AYSO 6U Coach Manual

AYSO 8U Coach Manual

AYSO 10U Coach Manual

AYSO 12U Coach Manual

R13 Handbook

R13 10U-14U Coach Guide (Additional Into)