Coaches Corner
Coaches Information
Youth Soccer is all about the youth in the Eel River Valley. We need coaches to help and teach our youth about the game of soccer. Our program caters to polayers ages 4-14. Our U6 program is coed and our U8, U10, U12, and U15 age groups are split up between boys and girls. The U stands for Under each age group. Example: U6 is ages 6 and under. U8 is ages 7 and under and so forth.
You must complete all (4) Four coaching requirements before you will recieve your team roster. You MUST complete all (4) Four coaching requirement before you may hold your first practice. ERVYSL encourages all coaches to complete these requirements no later than June 15th, 2022 to ensure adequate tome for requirements to be cleared (Background check to take up to 4 weeks).
Once teams are formed and you receive your team roster, please notify your players as soon as possible (ASAP) no later than August 1st. This will help reduce the amount of inquiries the league receives. Practice schedules are up to the coaches and will be determined at the beginning of the season (practice sign-ups will be at the coaches meeting) which is still TBD. Thank you for volunteeering! Please read through all requirements thouroughly before clicking on registration links.
Coaches Requirements:
We Value our coaches and we value the safety of our children. On order to be a volunteer coach for ERVYSL, coaces and assistant coaches are required to register with GotSport and to then complete (4) Four mandatory prerequisites, which contribute to the sagety of our players and help equip you, the coach, to be successful. After registering through GotSport, the links to the required steps can be found within your GotSport coach account. You will be able to monitor your progress from "REQUIRED" to "PENDING" to "APPROVED". Your prompt attention to completing these steps by June 15th, 2022 will helo ensure successful player assignments, team formations, and a smooth start to the season!
1. START WITH COACH/ASSISTANT COACH REGISTRATION VIA GOTSPORT: All coaches and assistant coaches will need to create an account and registert for the upcoming season. You will also need to upload a current photo (headshot, shoulders up). Please do not wear hats or sunglasses for photo. After you have registered, your dashboard will show you the status of the requirements and provide links to access. Using your GotSport account to link to the requirements helps to ensure direct notification of the progress. Please check for updates frequently.
2. MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS: BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRE: This is a new requirement starting in 2021. It is an investigative consumer report obtained from a third party consumer reporting agency in connection with your volunteer work or application to perform volunteer work. After registering with GotSport, click on the Background Check button to complete the initial intake and an email will be sent to you with a link to the formal background questionnaire. This must be completed within 14 days of receipt and therefore should be completed as soon as possible in order to permit enough time for it to be processed. Results can take two to four weeks to receive, which makes it critically important for ERVYSL to have coaches registered and approved by early July.
3. LIVESCAN: New coaches to ERVYSL must complete this step in order for the Livescan results to be linked to your GotSport account. Because it may take a few weeks for the results to be confirmed, we encourage you to complete this step by June 15th. **Returning coaches DO NOT need to repeat the Livescan, but will acitivate a refresh of their previous Livescan. Please print a Livescan form from the requirements in your GotSport account and take the form with you to complete your Livescan. The Fortuna Police Department offers Livescan services on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays by appointment only. Please call (707)725-1424 to confirm when you can complete your Livescan at the Fortuna Police Department. You will need your current Photo ID and the Livescan fee of $35.00. Scrapper's Edge at 728 4th Street, Eureka is another location you can go to have Livescan completed. Hours are Monday-Friday 10am-4:30pm. No appointent is necessary. **PLEASE REMEBER TO KEEP YOUR LIVESCAN RECEIPT AND TURN IT INTO ERVYSL FOR REIMBURSEMENT.
4. (Part A.) INTRO TO SAFE AND HEALTHY PLAYING ENVIORNMENTS (formerly HEADS UP CONCUSSION TRAINING). This is for new coaches and includes a refresher for returning coaches. US Soccer's introductory course on preventing, recognizing, and responding to emergency situations. It covers concussion, cardiac arrest, and weather related illness. This course takes about 30 minutes. There is not a certification of completion for this course, so please take a screen shot from your coaching account in the US Soccer Learning Center that shows your name and the "passed" status and upload that to your GotSport account. This is required to be completed every year.
(Part B.) SAFESPORT TRAINING: (90 minutes for new coaches). SAFESPORT REFRESHER (15 minutes for returning coaches). These courses are required through legislation enacted by federal law. In addition to an initial training course, an annual refresher is required. The access code and link are provided through the GotSport coaches account after registration. After completion, download and save a copy of your completion certificate and then upload to your GotSport account. In order for ERVYSL to be in compliance, any adult interacting with amatuer athletes, in this case, a child or minor under the age of 18 participating in acitivities with the Eel River Valley Youth Soccer League, must complete the SafeSport Trainings.
Coach's Code of Conduct In order to ensure that the principles of sportsmanship, fair play, and mutual respect among players, coaches, officials, and spectators characterize the competition promoted by ERVYSL, the following Code of Conduct has been established. Coaches are required to know and abide by our code of conduct in order to coach in our league.
Coaches will receive coaches binders with important rules of the game and Coaches Conduct information at the coaches meeting. Our goal as a league is to get as many kids as possible playing the game of soccer. It starts with the coach. Please read and understand our CODE OF CONDUCT.
Coaches will receive a bag with uniforms, shorts, and socks to be handed out to each player. XS being smaller numbers and XL being larger numbers. Please keep in mind when handing them out your players sizes vs the number they desire. You do not need to collect the uniforms after the end of the season. They are for the players to keep. Your coaches bag will also contain: coaches binder, current roster, soccer balls, a ball net, whistle, roster cards, and practice cones. You may turn your equipment back to the soccer shed after your last game on October 22nd, 2022. Or you can keep the bags and items in them. But please make sure to return your coaches binder! Please make sure all the players on your team arrive to their games 30 minutes before game time and wearning the included uniform socks. Also, make sure your players have the proper safety equipment (shin gaurds) and cleats. Must be soccer cleats. Football and baseball cleats are not allowed and a referee will remove your player from the field.
***Coaching tips......Elect a parent assistant from your team to help watch the benched players while in play. Your parent assistant can also help organize a snack schedule for each game. Depending on the age group, the games are ususally all about the snacks afterward! Please encourage healthy fruit and vegetable snacks and try to avoid items with nuts and seeds to prevent any medical emergencies.
As a coach, you have a responsibility to play each player an equal and fair amount! We are a recreational league for fun and that is what we like to express the most to our players: HAVE FUN!!!
If an incident occurs on the field that does not line up with our code of conduct or the reputation we want to uphold, please contact our Board of Directors immdediately with your concerns! We want to help resolve any conflict that may occur in a highly professional manner.
2022 rules:
Coaches: please refer to the rules provided in the binder you recieved with your player rosters.
Indoor Rules:
Rules of Play Rules of the Game
Helpful links: