Apply to Coach

To volunteer to coach a Juniors or City team (K – 9):

1. Log into your SportsConnect account.
2. Select the “Volunteer” button from the menu on the left side of the screen.
3. Click the “Find Volunteer Roles” button on the upper right side of the screen.
4. Find your daughter’s program/division in the list of volunteer opportunities and click the “Sign up” button next to the role that you are interested in. You can select more than one role at a time if, for example, you want to coach two different teams.
5. Click continue and select the account user that will be volunteering. If your spouse is the primary account user, he/she will need to “Invite a New Account User” to add your information.
6. Complete form and click “Update” at the bottom of the screen. (If you can’t update, it means that one of the required fields has not been completed.)

The deadline for the fall season is June 30. The deadline for the spring season is February 28. Volunteering early helps us start the season on-time and organized.

Assume that we will need you! Age group coordinators will finalize team assignments and reach out to all volunteers a few weeks before the season starts.

Yes. Every adult who volunteers or works with NGS in ANY capacity (referees, board members, coaches, team managers, etc.) must complete several MANDATORY national requirements as part of US Soccer’s Safe Soccer Framework. The requirements are:

• Complete a Mass Youth Soccer (MYSA) Online Adult Registration Annually
•  Pass state and national background checks (National Sex Offender Registry Searches and CORI) (18+)
• Complete SafeSport Abuse Prevention Training (18+)
• Complete the CDC Concussion Training

Detailed instructions and help guides are posted at https://www.mayouthsoccer.org/adult-registration-process/. Coaches are also encouraged to complete grassroots training.

To volunteer to coach a travel team:

1. Log into your SportsConnect account.
2. Select the “Volunteer” button from the menu on the left side of the screen.
3. Click the “Find Volunteer Roles” button on the upper right side of the screen.
4. Find the “Fall / Spring – Travel Program” volunteer opportunities and click the “Sign up” button next to the role that you are interested in. You can select more than one role at a time if, for example, you want to coach two different teams.
5. Click continue and select the account user that will be volunteering. If your spouse is the primary account user, he/she will need to “Invite a New Account User” to add your information.
6. Complete form and click “Update” at the bottom of the screen. (If you can’t update, it means that one of the required fields has not been completed.)

Please sign up to coach by June 12 for the following fall / spring seasons. Volunteering early allows us to announce teams earlier and teams to start the season well-organized.

The following guidelines from the Newton Girls Soccer (NGS) Travel Committee outline the approach to the identification and appointment of coaches for travel soccer teams.

• No travel team will be formed unless a Head Coach can be identified.
• The Travel Committee (consisting of two co-Chairs, the Director of Coaching, the Chair of the NGS Coaches Committee, and the five Age Group Coordinators (one each for the particular age group/grade)) will identify and appoint Head Coaches for each travel team, looking first to the individuals who have volunteered to coach through SportsConnect.
• Once Head Coaches have been identified for all travel teams, those Head Coaches will be responsible for identifying their Assistant Coaches (no more than two ACs per team) and Team Managers. Head and Assistant Coaches can request to the Travel Committee to be appointed as co-Head Coaches and can lead their teams as co-Head Coaches, but the default position of the Travel Committee going into each season will be to appoint one Head Coach per team.
• Assistant Coaches (or co-Head Coaches if requested) are required in order to ensure practices and games are fully covered by licensed coaches. Head or Assistant Coaches can also cover the administrative duties of the Team Manager or a separate Team Manager can be identified.
• The Travel Committee (and specifically the relevant Age Group Coordinator) will support the Head Coaches in their identification of Assistant Coaches by connecting them to individuals who have volunteered through Blue Sombrero, connecting them to the parents of their team’s players, and through other networking efforts to ensure all teams have both a Head Coach and Assistant Coach.
• Head Coaches and Assistant Coaches are expected to make a full year (i.e., Fall and Spring season) commitment.

One of the tasks of the NGS Travel Committee is to choose coaches for the teams that play in the BAYS regional travel program. Fortunately, there are a large number of parents and others who wish to coach our girls’ teams. Unfortunately, there are usually insufficient teams to give every interested adult a chance to be a coach. The Travel Committee has developed an application and selection process to choose among those interested.

Each year, the Travel Committee sends a mailing to all NGS families in which it solicits expressions of interest and application forms from potential coaches. The Travel Committee then votes from among the applicants to assign people to the teams at the various age levels and divisions of play. The Travel Committee wishes to offer the NGS community and potential coaches a sense of the criteria by which applications will be reviewed. This document outlines those criteria.

The Travel Committee recognizes that the criteria listed below are somewhat subjective. As a general statement, the Travel Committee believes that prospective coaches should be judged on good character, ability to motivate the girls and make soccer fun, licensing and other training, teaching ability, experience, knowledge, demonstrated success in supporting the goals of NGS or other sporting programs with similar values, organizational skills and commitment. We also want to encourage parents and other adults who might be reluctant to participate in the program to do so and thereby improve their own coaching skills. We point out that different members of the Travel Committee may value the various criteria to different degrees. Also, criteria are likely to be weighted differently for different age groups and levels of play. Ultimately, the choice of coaches represents the cumulative judgment of the Travel Committee members, as applied in a democratic process.

Beyond these general points, specific criteria to be evaluated by the Travel Committee are as follows:

• Demonstrated commitment to improving coaching skills, as represented by completion of MYSA licensing courses and attendance at coaches' clinics.
• Feedback from knowledgeable observers (other coaches, referees, NGS Board members) during practice and game conditions.
• Feedback from parents and players.
• Participation in other coaching experience.
• Commitment to attending practices and games for the vast majority of the season.
• Demonstrated respect for the dignity and feelings of the players (including, but not limited to, ensuring that each girl receives a fair share of playing time during each game.)
• Demonstrated adherence to the rules of the game and the spirit of fair play.
• Demonstrated respect for the authority of the referee.
• Demonstrated emotional self-control, and management of player parents, during games.
• Demonstrated ability to meet the administrative requirements of NGS and BAYS (e.g., rosters, pass cards, score reporting).
• Gender (preference to women as role models for the girls).

 

In the case of the more competitive travel teams, mainly those playing in Division 1 and 2, there are additional criteria:

• A commitment to meet a higher level of expectation with regard to player training, specifically two practices per week. (This provision does not apply to high school teams.)
• A commitment to participation in one or more tournaments in each season.
• A commitment to coaching in the BAYS playoff games and the MTOC tournament if the team has a record that would lead to these games.
• An ability to deal with the competitive pressures of parents, players, and coaches, both on the team being coached and those of opposing teams.

 

Finally, to be chosen as a coach:

• The daughter’s skill level must be within range of the skill ability of the division of play of the given team.
• The individual must complete all MYSA Requirements including a CORI check.

Yes. Every adult who volunteers or works with NGS in ANY capacity (referees, board members, coaches, team managers, etc.) must complete several MANDATORY national requirements as part of US Soccer’s Safe Soccer Framework. The requirements are:

• Complete a Mass Youth Soccer (MYSA) Online Adult Registration Annually
•  Pass state and national background checks (National Sex Offender Registry Searches and CORI) (18+)
• Complete SafeSport Abuse Prevention Training (18+)
• Complete the CDC Concussion Training

Detailed instructions and help guides are posted at https://www.mayouthsoccer.org/adult-registration-process/. Coaches are also encouraged to complete grassroots training.

We are happy to answer your questions! Please reach out to one of our travel program directors or age group coordinators.

Newton Girls Soccer is always looking for high school girls interested in becoming an assistant coach for our City teams in grades 2-6. The league is also looking for a limited number of girls to help as assistant coaches with the younger age groups in our BAYS Travel Program. If you are a 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grader, you are eligible to volunteer as a coach or assistant coach with NGS. The job is a rewarding one: It will allow you to work with the soccer skills you have learned and now use so effectively as a player, and will give you a chance to instruct our younger players, providing them and you with an outstanding soccer experience. As a coach, you will also serve as a role model for these younger players.

Newton Girls Soccer is also looking for 9th through 12th grade girls interested in helping with coaching our kindergarten and 1st grade teams. The K/1 curriculum focuses heavily on teaching skills and technique. As an assistant coach, you would work with the NGS Pro Trainers, highlight all the things the players are doing well, and help create a FUN learning environment. There are two 1st Grade 75 min sessions at 8.30am and 10.00am, and one Kindergarten 60 min session at 11.30am on Saturday mornings. You would be assigned to two or three sessions each Saturday, and you would be expected to be available for about 75% of the sessions.

To volunteer, please contact Director of Coaching Shaun McBrien by mid-August for the fall season and mid-March for the spring season. NGS will provide a small coaching stipend to high school aged coaches.