Coach Training

Age-Specific Training:

AYSO has announced important steps to ensure that every AYSO child has the best possible soccer learning experience. Coaches and assistant coaches in every division in every AYSO Region are required to have AYSO’s age – appropriate training and AYSO Safe Haven® certification when they take the field. The policy was approved and adopted by the National Board of Directors at their July 2009 meeting and is supported by the National Coaching Advisory Commission.

Online courses are available on AYSOU:

  • Go to AYSO U from the Sports Connect “Volunteer” section, click on “Training Library” and view the courses under the “Coaching” category.  
  • Enroll in your age-specific coaching class (eg: 6U Coach – Online)

Note: for our U7 division you’ll want to take the “8U” class.  That will cover you for next year as well.


These are some older Coach Manuals designed for coaches who have attended the age-appropriate coach certification course.  That said, even if you have not attended the age-appropriate coach certification course, you are welcome and encouraged to download and read these manuals.

National Coach Manual (all ages)

U6 Coach Manual

U8 Coach Manual

U10 Coach Manual

U12 Coach Manual

Intermediate Coach Manual

Advanced Coach Manual

Training Schedule for 2021-2022 – Sept 11/12th
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Tentative Location: We do not have a location, however, it is safe to list Mount Pleasant’s Broadway field as a temporary location.  1 Broadway, Hawthorne, NY 10532

We still need one confirmed location preferably on Sept 10 from 8am to 6pm for three classrooms and access to a large grass turf field to host all the courses below on the same day. A gym is also needed for backup use for the coaching course field sessions in case bad weather prohibits use of fields.

If all needed facilities are not entirely possibly for Saturday, Sept 10,  we will need the remaining facilities on Sunday, Sept 11.

The Coach and Referee courses offered and the requirements to attend them are listed below. Please please pass this information on to your registered volunteers accordingly.

Before attending a course, each volunteer must be a registered AYSO volunteer for the current year, must access AYSOU.org and must have completed AYSO’s online Safe Haven and the CDC Concussion courses which are located in the AYSOU.org “Online Courses” section.

Volunteers planning to attend should register as soon as possible for their training course(s) which are already setup in the AYSOU In-Person Courses section. This will help us in planning and ordering course materials needed in time for each course. Due to system limitations, volunteers who have not registered as a volunteer or have not logged into AYSOU at least one time cannot register for a course and cannot receive credit for any course attended until they do so. How to register for one of our In-Person courses in AYSOU is described in detail in the Post Script at the end of this email in case any volunteers need this information.

Please advise all your volunteers planning to attend that they must arrive at least 15 minutes early to check-in and be seated in the classroom before the start of their chosen course(s) and pass its test at the end of the course in order to earn course credit. No exceptions!

It’s recommended that experienced coaches who have already attended their appropriate coaching course(s) should also attend the corresponding Referee course appropriate for the age group they are coaching. Reason: Most coaches don’t know and have not read all the current Laws of the Game as they apply to the age group that they are coaching until they do take and pass the corresponding referee course and test. And after completing a ref course, they can better teach the game to their players.

Saturday, Sept. 10th – [Westchester Location TBD] – Enter and check-in 15 minutes before course start time at the main entrance to the building. Shoes with cleats may not be worn in the building or gym by players nor coaches. All volunteers and players must wear non-scuffing sneakers or shoes in the classrooms and only sneakers in the gym due to school regulations.

Area 3/T Regional Referee Online Companion Course, 8:30am- 2:30pm. Lunch will be provided. Must be at least 10 or 12 years of age and show proof of completion of AYSO’s Safe Haven course AND the Regional Referee (online) course. Both are available in the AYSOU Online Courses section. Notes: Successful completion shall yield candidates ages 12+ years old a Regional Referee Certification. Younger candidates shall receive 8U Official Certification. It’s recommended that a parent of each youth volunteer should preview and/or accompany his or her child during the online Safe Haven course due to some of its content. Questions about this course should be addressed to Kyu Lee – AYSO 3/T Ref Admin <kyurs4@gmail.com>

Area 3/T 6U Coach Course, 9:30am-noon. Eight 6U demonstration players* are needed for the field clinic session from approximately 10:45-11:30am.

Area 3/T 8U Coach Course, 9am-noon. Eight 8U demonstration players* are needed for the field clinic session from approximately 10:15-11:30am.

Area 3/T 10U Coach Course, 1:00pm-5:30pm. Ten 10U demonstration players* are needed for the the field clinic session from approximately 2:45pm to 5:00pm.

Area 3/T 12U Coach Course, 12:30pm-6pm. Twelve 12U demonstration players* are needed for the field clinic session from approximately 3pm to 5:30pm.
The 12U Coach Online Pre-Course, approximately 45 minutes in length, must be completed by each coach volunteer prior to attending the live in-person class; it’s available on AYSOU Online Courses section.

* – Demonstration players are needed for our In-Person coaching courses Each coach attending one of the courses above needs to bring or have a player there for the field session (which may be in a gym if we have bad weather and requires sneakers) so there will be enough players for the field session in each course. Each coach signing up for a course should contact Andy Hongell at ahongell@optonline.net  in advance to register the number of “demonstration players” he/she will have attending their field or gym clinic session. The first coaches to contact Andy about their player(s) will get the available spots. Players may attend the classroom portion of the course with their coach or they may entertain themselves in a classroom reserved for waiting players. We will try to arrange for adult supervision in the players waiting room from approximately 8:30am to 10:45, 11:30 to noon, 12:30 to 3pm and 5 to 6pm. Adult volunteers needed to do this supervision are welcome and should contact Andy also.

If you or your administrators have any questions, please email coach questions to me, ahongell@optonline.net, and Ref questions to Area Ref Admin, Kyu Lee at kyurs4@gmail.com.

Thank you for all you do for your coaches and referees for the benefit of your AYSO youth soccer players and their parents!

Andy Hongell
AYSO Section 3 & Area 3/T
Coach Administrator
ahongell@optonline.net
Text Cell #: 914-552-7609 (I only answer phone calls from names or numbers that I recognize)

How to register for an In-Person course in AYSOU: Registered Volunteers need to login to AYSOU.org (https://aysou.org/Home.aspx) using their same userid and password as they use to log into their home AYSO Region in Sports Connect (formerly Blue Sombrero):

1. On the “Home” red menu bar line, select “In-Person Courses”, and then “Open” for “Coach Instructor Led Courses” or “Referee Instructor Led Courses”.
2.  Next, select “OPEN” for the appropriate 6U, 8U, 10U, 12U Coach or “Regional Referee Online Companion Course”. Then select its “Sessions” button.
3. Locate the entry for our “Area 3/T Super Camp…” Sept 10th courses.
4. Select its blue course title which will display the course date, time, other details that attendees need to know, what they get and actions required of them.
5. Next,  select the “Register” button to the right side of the course title line to register for the course. When done, “Registered” will be displayed in place of “Register” and they you are finished.

Area 3T – Region 139