How to Become a Coach

A lot of people wonder how to become a coach for a girls travel soccer team.  It’s really not that complicate and it involves just 3 important steps:

1.  Get Your Coaching License

In order to coach girls travel soccer in New Jersey, you need to have a license.  You may obtain any of the following licenses:

• NJYS “F” License (sign up)
• NJYS “E” License (sign up)
• USSF “E” License
• USSF “Grass Roots” or higher (sign up)
• South Jersey Soccer Leagues Level 1 License or higher (sign up)

Important:  Once you obtain a PDF copy of your license, you need to send a copy of it to the club registrar and you need to supply a copy of it to SJGSL by following the instructions on their website.

2.  Complete the US Club Staff Registration

You must complete the detailed staff registration steps which are documented on the US Club Soccer Website.

• Complete your safe sport training and obtain master PDF certificate (after completing all 3 sections).
• Complete your sideine sports doc training and obtain PDF certificate.
• Complete the background screening request
• Forward for background screening results to club registrar and request that a coach’s pass be created.

3.  Submit Expense Reimbursement

There are fees associated with the online training and background screening.  Please pay these fees and then submit a reimbursement request to the club treasurer.  You can find the reimbursement request form on our parent resources page.

Hopefully, this was a good explanation of how to become a coach for a girls travel soccer team.

 

Important:  If you haven’t already done it, you also will need to register as a staff member on our website.  Please visit the Staff Registration page.

 

Learning how to manage team documentation is not as simple as it sounds.  Getting team documentation in order is a daunting task.  There is no easy way to say this.  You are going to regret signing up for this job.

The first thing you need to do is gather player and coach documents

You will need the following items for each player:

• Birth Certificate – PDF file (less than 2 MB) named –-birth.pdf
• US Club Medical Release – PDF file (less than 2 MB) named –-medical.pdf (download the blank form)
• Headshot Photo – JPG or PNG file (less than 2 MB) name –.jpg

Headshot photos should be good resolution photos that have been cropped square.  They should be taken on a light color, neutral background.  Here are some examples:

Next, you will create/update your rosters in Sports Engine (KYCK)

Sports Engine is the system that we use for obtaining player and coaching passes from US Club Soccer.  In order to receive a card, you will need to add a photo, birth certificate and medicate release for each player.  Coaches will need to upload a photo, provide basic contact information and submit to a background check.

You should have received an email from Sports Engine prompting you to log in and setup your account.  If you do not have a Sports Engine account, contact the club registrar.

You need to maintain 2 rosters in Sports Engine:

• Primary Roster
• SJGSL Season Roster

Important: Be sure that each roster shows a fully cleared player /coach (which includes a photo, birth certificate, jersey number & medical release)

Log Into Sports Engine

Then, submit the request to have your players and coaches passes issued

Once you have provided all of required photos and documentation for all of your players and coaches, contact the club registrar and request that passes be created for your team.  Passes will take anywhere from 1-3 weeks for players and 2-4 weeks for coaches.

Important: Once your passes are created, you will need to put the 7 digit pass ID for each player and coach into TeamSnap and into Got Soccer.

Next, create/update your roster in Got Soccer

Got Soccer is the system that SJGSL uses for scheduling and rostering.  You will need to maintain two rosters here:

• Primary Roster
• SJGSL Season Roster

Important: Be sure that each roster shows a fully cleared player / coach (which includes a photo and the US Club 7 digit ID)

In addition to these two rosters, you may also need to maintain tournament rosters here.  Most tournaments use Got Soccer as well.

Log Into Got Soccer

Jump over to TeamSnap and get your roster situated there too.

TeamSnap is the system that the Wildcats use for just about everything. Your players should already all be in TeamSnap, but their photos will not be.  Please upload player photos into TeamSnap.

Important: Be sure that you have supplied the US Club ID on each player and coach on your roster.

Log Into TeamSnap

Store a copy of your official US Club Roster and your player/coach passes

The best place to keep a copy of your official US Club Roster and your player and coach passes is right inside TeamSnap.  Use the media section of the app and store your files there for easy access.

Log Into TeamSnap

 

 

When it comes to preparing for game day, there are basically 4 categories of things you need to take care of:

1. Documentation
2. Money
3. Equipment
4. First Aid Kit

Documentation

There are a few pieces of documentation that you need to PRINT and have with you at all times.  Electronic copies of all of these things should be stored in the Team Documentation folder of your TeamSnap media folder for easy access.  It is recommended that you get a binder or a folder and keep all of this material together.

• US Club Player & Coach Passes – Printed, cut & laminated
• Official SJGSL Roster – Printed
• Player Medical Releases – Printed
• Field Permits for Veteran’s Park and Grice Middle School – Printed

For SJGSL games, you will also need to bring the following:

• 2 copies of the game card printed from Got Soccer

To print your game card from got soccer, you need to visit Got Soccer at www.gotsoccer.com and login with your team credentials.  Once you have entered your team’s main area, do the following:

1. Click on Events in the top menu
2. Select the event that you want to print game cards for (such as “South Jersey Girls Soccer League – FALL 2018”)
3. Click on the Schedule tab
4. Click on the PDF Link to the left of the schedule rows which has the game number (ex: #1814)
5. Print 2 copies of this for each game.

Money

You will usually need to bring money to pay the referees.  This applies to SJGSL games, State Cup, SJ Cup and almost every league.   The fees for referees will vary by league so be sure to find out ahead of time.  Generally, you do not need to pay for referees at tournaments.

In SJGSL, the Total Referee Fees are as follows.  You will pay half of this fee each game (with a few exceptions):

• 7v7 (U8 – U10) – $40 per game –> you pay $20
• 9v9 (U11 – U12) – $90 per game –> you pay $45
• 11v11 (U13 – U14) – $120 per game –> you pay $60
• 11v11 (U15 – U16) – $140 per game –> you pay $70
• 11v11 (U17+) – $160 per game –> you pay $80

In SJGSL, the HOME team can be required to pay the Total Referee Fees in the event that game cannot begin because the game field is not playable according to the referee.

Equipment

The equipment that you bring with you depends on where you are playing.  For home games, you will need to bring additional gear.  Let’s start with AWAY GAMES:

• Portable bench (if none is available at field)
• Ball Pump

For HOME games, you need everything that you need for away games, plus the following:

• 2 Quality Game Balls
• 1 Set of Corner Flags (4 flags)
• Key to unlock goals (or confirmation that they will be unlocked)

First Aid Kit

Every team should have a well-stocked first-aid kit on hand for all activities.  Band aids, antiseptic creams, latex gloves, gauze, etc.. are all things that you need to have on hand.  You can pickup a decent kit at any pharmacy or sporting goods store.