Coaching Requirements (Recreation League)

US Club Soccer Eligibility & Compliance for Fall 2024/Spring 2025

All recreation league Head Coach, Co-Coach, and Assistant Coach volunteers must be in compliance with US Club Soccer coaching standards. These standards keep our players, volunteers, and program safe and insured. You will complete the required tasks through GotSport.com. Your dashboard on GotSport is where you see your eligibility/compliance status (Pending, Expired, or Complete).

A volunteer will only be considered eligible to coach and then placed on a team once they have completed all  5 of the following tasks through GotSport:

      1.  Access your GotSport account and upload a profile photo (takes 2 minutes / Complete Once)
      2.  Adverse Eligibility Review (takes 2 minutes / Complete Once)
      3.  Staff Registrant Certification (takes 5 minutes / Renew Annually)
      4.  SafeSport Fall 2024 Training Course (90 minute module OR Refresher 30 minute module / Renew Annually AFTER 7/31) 
      5.  Background Check (2 Part process that take 2-5 minutes each / Renew every 2 years)

Once those tasks are complete–Ta-Da! You did it!!! You are officially considered In Compliance when you open your GotSport Dashboard and under the 24/25 column all*** tasks are labeled “Fulfilled”, 
***ignore the “Membership Registration Payment Status” if it appears in your dashboard as it is not applicable for coaches





Step-by-Step for Becoming a Coach


Registration Process (Before starting compliance process)

Begin by registering as a coach/volunteer through MontclairSoccer.com.

Once logged in, on the left side of the screen click “Volunteer” and then “Find Volunteer Roles”. On the following page scroll to the bottom and click “Show All Available Opportunities”. On the following page (Programs) find FALL 2024 Recreation League and click “View Divisions” to open a dropdown menu and select the division(s) that your player(s) are registered for. Then scroll to the bottom and click “View Selected Opportunities”. On the following page choose your coaching role(s) and then you will be prompted to fill out contact information and submit your registration.



Compliance Process

1. Access GotSport.com account and upload a profile photo (2 mins / Complete Once)

1-3 business days after registering through MontclairSoccer.com you will receive an email from Miasha ([email protected]) with login credentials for a GotSport.com account (you may need to check your spam). Starting Fall 2024 it is a requirement to upload a photo of yourself on your GotSport account which serves as your “coaching pass”.  

https://system.gotsport.com/ is the platform through which you will complete the compliance tasks and review your coaching eligibility status. Once logged in click “Dashboard” on the left side of the page.  Each of the tasks will show a status (Required, Expired, Pending, or Complete). When you click “Details” you will be directed to the instructions for completing each task.


2. Adverse Eligibility Review (takes 2 mins / Complete Once)

Select “Details” then “Submit New Report” to open a very simple form for contact information and a single question verification:

“I certify that I am not suspended, disqualified, on hold or under review by US Club Soccer, the U.S. Center for SafeSport, the U.S. Soccer Federation or any of its Organization Members, or any other organization or program involving minors.”


3. Staff Registrant Annual Certification (takes 5 mins / Renew Annually)

Select “Details” then “Submit New Report” to open a form certifying/acknowledging reading, understanding, and agreeing to comply with US Club Soccer Policies and by-laws.


4. SafeSport (F24-S25) Training Course (90 minute module or all 3 30 minute modules / Renew Annually AFTER 7/31) 

Select “Details” then “Start Course” to open safesporttrained.org. You will be prompted to create an account. Once signed in click the drop down menu at the top right of the screen and select “Catalog”. You may choose to enroll in “SafeSport Trained - U.S. Soccer Federation” which is one 90 minute long course, OR, returning coaches can choose to complete a "Refresher Course" (There are 3 to choose from).

Once you have completed the course, go back to GotSport > Dashboard > Safe Sport “Details” and scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Check Records”. It can take up to 15 seconds to sync the records but it should say “New SafeSport Record Found”. 

If it says “New SafeSport Record Not Found” you will need to go to safesporttrained.org > My Courses > Open the completed course and on the right side you will see a Certificate button. Open the certificate and (I know this is very annoying) you will need to manually type that very long number/letter code into the text box back on GotSport and click “Check Records” again to submit it. If that isn’t working either you can download the Safe Sport certificate and email it to Miasha [email protected].


5. Background Check (2 Parts take 2-5 mins each / Renew every 2 years)

There are 2 parts to the background check, a GotSport form AND a link in an email you will receive after submitting the GotSport form.

Part 1: select “Details” and scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Submit New Report". This will open a form that acts as an application for the check. Once you fill it out and “Submit” you will be prompted to pay for it. Under “Voucher Code” enter muscbackgroundcheck

Part 2: After submitting the form you will receive an email from JDP, US Club Soccer's background screening vendor, to submit your application. Check your spam for the email titled something like “US Club Soccer Background Questionnaire Notification”. OPEN THE LINK IN THE EMAIL to finish/submit the background check application. 

Email Miasha [email protected] if you have a special circumstance such as needing the international review background check because those take longer.

FAQs

“I would like to help buuuuuuuut…” 

You may be interested in volunteering but feel a bit apprehensive– you are not alone! Here are common hesitations and how we can support you to make it work…

… “I don’t know anything about soccer”
No problem! We can connect you with training like the Grassroots Soccer program that our referees take to learn the game and rules. We also have resources for practices that are basically lesson plans, great for teaching the players as well as learning strategies as a coach.
Not to mention, in the Recreation league there is almost 100% certainty each team will have at least a few players who have never played before! Learning the basics as a coach will definitely help you connect and support players who are learning the basics themselves.

… “I’ve never coached before”
If you love soccer and feel excited about games but less confident when it comes to coaching practices, know you will have access to a library of practice lesson plans, videos of  activity/game ideas that keep players engaged, and plenty of coaching resources to get you started without any prior experience.

… “I’m just nervous about the first week(s)”
We know it can be intimidating to hold the attention of a large group of small silly humans for the first time. If you are excited to coach but would also like a little coaching back-up getting started, we can send one of our Pro Coach Staff to help you run the first practice(s) or game(s) –like coaching training wheels! 
Staff Coaches can serve as assistant coaches and help you by setting up the field, keeping track of time, prompt introductions/name games, setting up activities/games/explaining the rules (while you get to do the coaching and directing during the activities), and help redirect wandering attention of players back to you. If you’d like a helper the first week(s) email Miasha [email protected]

… “I don’t want to coach on my own”
We will never leave a coach without support who wants support! Teams are made either with one Head Coach and an Assistant Coach or two, OR a team can have a pair or trio of Co-Coaches. New coaches are generally paired with volunteers who have coaching experience unless there are two or three new coaches who ***reciprocally*** request to coach together.

*** starting Fall 20204 we will only honor coaching requests once the coach has completed the compliance process– this includes requests to work with other coaches as a duo or trio. Both coaches (or all 3 coaches) must request to work together *reciprocally* and must all be in compliance before they will be placed on a team together. This means that your players may end up on different teams if coaching compliance is not completed by ALL COACHES before rosters go out. If you did not add your co-coaching request to your registration, email it to Miasha [email protected] and have your desired coaching partner(s) do the same.

… “I’d prefer to coach alone”
If you’d like to be a Head Coach and don’t particularly need Assistant Coaches that is totally fine, just make a note of that in your registration or email [email protected]

… “I have scheduling conflicts”
Whether you have a work schedule that makes holding a weekly practice a challenge or have extended travel plans, MUSC Pro Staff Coaches are available to fill in whenever needed. E-mail Miasha [email protected] to coordinate a Pro Coach fill-in, just like a substitute teacher.

…”I have a trip planned”... 
The more notice you can give for us to coordinate your fill-in coaches, especially during popular travel weeks/ends, the better! If you need a fill-in for a week or two, we will try to coordinate one coach to cover all the practices for consistency and to simplify communication.

Please note, coaches are never allowed to “cancel” a game because they will be away or a large part of their team will be away. Coaches must reach out to us and we will connect with the team you are scheduled to play. Even if only a few players will be available from each team we will figure out a way to hold a game, scrimmage, fun activities, or we can combine teams that weekend. We NEVER want you opposing team standing out at a field with nothing to do because no one reached out to us to coordinate a plan for them. 

… “I work week nights and can’t hold practices”...
If your team’s coaches can't  hold regular practices (or just need extra help), a designated MUSC Staff Coach can serve as an “Assistant” coach and run practices for the whole season or just as needed.

… “I work weekends and can’t coach games Saturdays”...
If your team’s coaches can’t coach games Saturdays, a designated MUSC Staff Coach can serve as an Assistant Coach and coach games Saturdays for the whole season or just as needed.

… “I will have lots of last minute schedule conflicts”
We know that when players are on travel teams they can get very limited notice when schedules change, and we also have a bunch of parent volunteers who might be doctors or have a profession with last minute schedule changes– these are totally fine! 
We will pair you with Co-Coaches or Assistant Coaches who understand and are comfortable running the show on when you aren’t around. We can also plan for Pro Staff Coaches to be available just in case. Make sure to email Miasha [email protected] if this applies to you.

… “I have players in two different age groups and I am concerned their schedules will over lap and I won’t be able to coach both teams on Saturdays”
If you are coaching in multiple divisions we will coordinate with you in the beginning of the season to work out your schedule so you can be at all games!