Volunteer Training & Certification
All volunteers are required to complete specific training in order to participate in our programs. If you are unsure which you need please contact either our Regional Coach Administrator (RCA@DeerfieldAYSO.org) for Coaching requirements or our Regional Referee Administrator (RRA@DeerfieldAYSO.org) for Refereeing requirements.
(Descriptions of courses are below)
Lastly, ALWAYS re-check this schedule on the day of the course to make sure there have been no changes/cancellations.
Items in RED are changes from original posting
You MUST be PROMPT for all courses - Once a course begins, late arrivals and/or early departures will NOT get credit for attending.
FOR COACHES:
TO REGISTER AND RESERVE A SPACE PLEASE EMAIL: RCA@DeerfieldAYSO.org
Coach Courses
| Course | Date | Location - Region | Contact |
| U6 | July 22 | Skokie - 568 | Nicole Cunnea |
| July 26 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster | |
| August 7 | Deerfield - 1007 | Ed Bohrer | |
| August 9 | Deerfield - 1007 | Ed Bohrer | |
| August 10 | Skokie - 568 | Nicole Cunnea | |
| August 23 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster | |
| August 28 | Winnetka - 425 | Elena Saclarides | |
| U8 | July 24 | Skokie - 568 | Nicole Cunnea |
| July 26 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster | |
| August 7 | Deerfield - 1007 | Ed Bohrer | |
| August 9 | Deerfield - 1007 | Ed Bohrer | |
| August 10 | Skokie - 568 | Nicole Cunnea | |
| August 23 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster | |
| August 28 | Winnetka - 425 | Elena Saclarides | |
| U10 | June 29 | Skokie - 568 | Nicole Cunnea |
| July 27 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster | |
| August 24 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster | |
| September 4 | Winnetka - 425 | Elena Saclarides | |
| U12 | June 8 | Skokie - 568 | Nicole Cunnea |
| July 20 | Skokie - 568 | Nicole Cunnea | |
| July 27 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster | |
| August 24 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster | |
| Intermediate | July 19 & 20 | Skokie - 568 | Dave Stoneback |
| Advanced | NA | ||
| Safe Haven | June 12 | Winnetka - 425 | Elena Saclarides |
| June 18 | Skokie - 568 | Nives Bernardi | |
| June 25 | Skokie - 568 | Nives Bernardi | |
| July 15 | Skokie - 568 | Nives Bernardi | |
| July 26 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster | |
| July 31 | Deerfield - 1007 | Ed Bohrer | |
| August 7 | Skokie - 568 | Nives Bernardi | |
| August 9 | Deerfield - 1007 | Ed Bohrer | |
| August 23 | Glenview - 362 | Al Feaster |
Referee Courses
| Course | Date | Location - Region | Contact |
| U8 Official | July 26 | Glenview - 362 | Tom Severin |
| July 27 | Skokie - 568 | Nives Bernardi | |
| August 16 (w/Safe Haven) | Glenview - 362 | Tom Severin | |
| Basic (Regional) | July 26 | Glenview - 362 | Tom Severin |
| August 16(w/Safe Haven) | Glenview - 362 | Tom Severin | |
| Intermediate | |||
| Advanced | |||
| Other |
FOR MANAGEMENT:
**Area 6-D Spring Clinics are held yearly and encompasses many levels of training locally. At the minimum, Safe Haven and introductory courses for both Coaches & Referees will be presented as well as more advanced ones. As soon as the exact offerings are available it will be posted here.
***Section Conference - Annual meeting for our Section AYSO regions offering over 2 days worth of seminars, clinics training and MORE. Board, Managerial and Administrational certifications. Contact RC1007@DeerfieldAYSO.org for further info and reservations.
To
further it's goal of positive child-development, AYSO offers extensive training
and certification programs
for it's volunteers. The courses are designed to take volunteers through a cycle
from a level of little or no experience to a high experience level.
 | Coach Training involves job-specific instruction for volunteers. In the cases of coaches and referees this training is soccer-specific and age-appropriate. For other administrators, the training is specific to their jobs. |
| Safe Haven Certification
is non soccer-specific.
Safe Haven is a child and volunteer protection program that was the first of its kind in youth sports. The child protection aspect is intended to stop child abuse, educate or remove its perpetrators, and screen out predators before they get into the program. It includes proactive steps which provide a medium for positive, healthy child development, precluding the outbreak of child abuse in a weak, unfocused, nonempowering environment. Volunteer protection comes in to play as a result of volunteer training, certification and continuing education. The Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 provides certain legal protections for volunteers who have been trained and certified, and act in accordance with a written job description. Safe Haven has these three elements, giving volunteers the highest degree of protection available under the law. |
Coach
Training & Certification
| The U6, U8, and U10 Courses prepare new and inexperienced coaches for those age groups playing short-sided games. These courses last approximately 2-3 hours each. |
| The U12 is a 4-5 hour course for coaches who wish to coach at the U12 level or whose regions do not play short-sided games at the younger levels. |
| The Intermediate Coach Course (ICC) is 15 hours over 2 days. It helps coaches learn how to teach the game, rather than just skills. Requires prior completion of the U12 Course. |
| The Advanced Coach Course (ACC) involves 18 hours of instruction over 2.5 days for Intermediate Coaches. It teaches the coaching skills of observation and analysis, as well as how to deal with older players. Requires prior completion of the ICC Course. |
| The Coach Safe Haven Certification Course (CSH) completes the instructional requirements for all coaches. This courses last approximately 2.5-3 hours |
Referee
Training & Certification
AYSO offers training at 6 levels for referees (plus an assistant referee course) and 2 levels for referee assessors:
| The Referee Course is a 3-4 hour course designed for new refs who will be doing short-sided games at the U6 or U8 levels. |
| The Regional Referee Course is a 7 hour course for new and less experienced referees at the U10 level. |
| The Area Referee Course is a 2 day course for Regional Refs and teaches techniques needed to referee at the U12 level. |
| The Section Referee Course is also a 2 day course for Area Refs and is designed for those referring at the U14 level. |
| The National 2 Referee Course is for Section refs and involves 3 days and applies to the U16 level. |
| The National 1 Referee Course, also a 3 day course for National 2 refs, deals with issues appropriate to the U19 level. |
| The Referee Safe Haven Certification Course is approximately 1 hour in length. It is a stand-alone course, but may also be integrated into the Referee and Regional Referee Courses. |
Referees achieve certain levels by taking the appropriate course, passing the test and fulfilling the other requirements as follows:
| Number of Games & Time in Grade | Assessment | Service Requirement | Physical Test | |
| Referee | none | none | none | none |
| Regional Ref | none | none | none | none |
| Area Ref | 25 (5 at U12); 1 year as Regional Ref | none, but observation in U12 game is required | 3 service units* | none |
| Section Ref | 50 (10 at U14), 5 as assistant
ref at U14; 1 year as Area Ref |
one each as ref and assistant ref in U14 game | 5 additional service units | pass |
| National-2 Ref | 75 (20 at U16), 15 as assistant ref (10 at U16); 1 year as Section Ref | one each as ref and assistant ref in U16 game | 5 additional service units | pass |
| National-1 Ref | 100 (25 at U19), 25 as assistant ref (10 at U19); 2 years as National 2 Ref | 2 as ref and 1 as assistant ref in U19 game | 5 additional service units | pass |
*Service Units include observation and mentoring of other refs, assessing refs for upgrade, instructing, and serving on a ref staff at any level. This requirement is waived for referees under 18.
Assessor
Training
The Assessor Courses teach volunteers how to observe referees during games and grade them on whether or not they handle games well enough to advance to a higher level of referee certification. There are 2 assessor levels, each with it's own course:
| Grade 2 Assessors learn the basic skills of conducting upgrade assessments. They are qualified to conduct assessments for upgrade to Section referee. |
| Grade 1 Assessors learn advanced skills and are qualified to do assessments for upgrade to National 2 or National 1 referee. |
There is an additional level of Grade 3 Mentor. Referees attain this grade by taking the Mentoring class from the Area Referee Course. Grade 3 Mentors can mentor newer referees and, if authorized, conduct Area upgrade observations.
Instructor Training
The new AYSO Instructor Program makes it simpler for a region to deliver entry level training courses to it's coaches and referees. There are 5 levels of Instructor:
| Grade 5
Instructors are qualified to teach the U6, U8, and U10 Coaching Courses, the
U12 Youth Coaching Course, the Assistant Referee, Referee, and Regional
Referee Courses, as well as BASIC (Regional Board training) and the Annual
Regional Update. Grade 5 Instructors qualify by taking a 5 hour course. Safe Haven Coach Certification may also be taught by Grade 5 Instructors who have previously taken that course and Safe Haven Referee Certification may be taught if that course was already taken. |
| Grade 4, 3, 2,
and 1 Instructors are specialists. They choose one of four areas (coach,
ref, management, master instructor) and teach the higher level courses in
their chosen field. There are corresponding training courses for each grades
4 and 3. Grades 1 & 2 are granted by AYSO National after the instructors
are mentored in upper level courses. Instructors can have more than one specialty by taking the appropriate discipline-specific modules. |
Management
Training & Certification
AYSO provides training and certification for all Regional Board and Area Staff members. This takes place in workshops held at the annual Section Meeting in February or March and other locations