South Park Soccer Association
How to Become a Coach and Maintain Coaching Status
Thanks for your desire to be a volunteer coach with the South Park Soccer Association (SPSA)! All volunteer coaches must obtain the proper clearances per Pennsylvania law. These clearances must be provided to our regional governing body, PA West Soccer, for you to be officially placed on a team as a coach. In addition to the clearances, which are good for a five-year period once received, all coaches must complete an annual SafeSport training per Federal law. The SPSA and PAWest also require that coaches complete a training specific to coaching soccer through the US Soccer digital learning center or PA West Soccer. Below we have laid out all the information you will need to obtain the necessary clearances, documents, and trainings to become a volunteer coach with the SPSA.
Required Clearances, Documents and Trainings:
1.) Child Abuse Certification (PA Dept. of Human Services) (Good for 5-year period)
2.) Criminal History Record Certification (Pennsylvania State Police) (Good for 5-year period)
3.) 3A Notarized Affidavit for Volunteer Exemption or 3B Federal Criminal History Certification (FBI Report) (Good for 5-year period 3A or 3B)
4.) SafeSport Trained (US Center for SafeSport) (Initial training and yearly refresher)
5.) US Soccer Grassroots Coaching License (US Soccer Learning Center) (Initial and ongoing)
Please complete the process below to ensure that you have the proper clearances, documents and trainings!
All background checks must be completed using the provider designated by Pennsylvania per the requirements of the State law. Individuals fall into two categories, paid and volunteer, and each has its own set of required clearances. SPSA coaches are unpaid volunteer positions and need to complete the following steps. All individuals must upload the required documents into the PA West Soccer Online Risk Management System (link to the portal and additional info at the bottom of the page).
How To Obtain Your Background Checks:
Part 1: PA State Police Report
PA State Police Criminal Record Checks can be obtained online by visiting the State Police web site - Click Here.
Part 2: Child Abuse History Report
PA Child Abuse History Clearances may be made online - Click Here
Results may be immediate or can take 7-14 business days to complete.
If results are immediate you may need to log back into the system - retain your username and password for this.
The Clearance Hotline is 877-371-5422.
If you have been a PA resident for 10 years or more:
Part 3a: Volunteer Qualification Affidavit (PDF): Click Here
This document must be notarized. There is a fee for the notarization service that that the SPSA will reimburse you for if you request.
Or, if you have been a PA resident for less than 10 years:
Part 3b: FBI Criminal Background Check
To request an FBI Fingerprint Clearance, you must first register. Click Here
*You will need the following organization code to register for any appointment through IdentoGO: 1KG6ZJ
There is a fee for the FBI Criminal Bakground Check. The SPSA will reimburse you for this upon your request.
Once you have completed parts 1, 2, and 3a or 3b, the resulting documents need to be provided to PA West:
How to Receive Approval - PA West Soccer Online Risk Management System
All PAWest Soccer coaches, referees, and volunteers are required to comply with the Child Protective Services law. Please upload the copies the document 1-3 from above into your record through the follow URL/link only: PA West Soccer Online Risk Management System. Using this system, you'll create an application and upload your documents into your admin record. You'll use your current PAWest login if you have an account in our online registration system; if you don't have an account, you'll need to create one.
PA West Soccer Criminal Background Check Policy
PA West Soccer Zero Tolerance Risk Management Policy
If you need assistance or have questions, please contact the PA West Soccer State Office via email at [email protected] or by phone at 412-856-8011 or the South Park Soccer Association at [email protected].
Part 4: SafeSport Training
US Soccer and PAWest Soccer requires that all coaches complete an online SafeSport training course. The course content includes recognizing child abuse, reporting child abuse, hazing, bullying, and the reporting process. This course is mandated by Federal Law. The SafeSport training certificate is only valid for 1 year. Each coach/manager must take the refresher course if their certificate expires before the end of November BEFORE they can be officially rostered on a team. The refresher course is only about 20 minutes and can be accessed through the SafeSport website that the coach was given to take the initial training and by logging into that site.
If you need to create a SafeSport account and complete the full/intial training please use the following URL and access code: http://safesport.org/authentication/register?token=ee57337f-31f9-421d-b095-82fc8c8c4c41, Access Code: YC3E-6P5G-YYIL-CS2M. You can login and complete the SafeSport refresher here: https://safesport.org/ by using your previous login information.
Please note that the SafeSport training certificate does not need to be uploaded to the PAWest risk management system. However, please provide a copy of the completion certificate and yearly refresher certificate to the SPSA age group commissioner you are working with or the SPSA at [email protected].
Part 5: Coaching Licenses
US Soccer now provides a grassroots coaching initiative that provide education for all US soccer coaches.
All in-house level coaches must complete an online class for the play format that they are coaching in i.e., U5/U6/U8 4v4 model, U10 7v7 model, U12 9v9 model and U13 and above 11v11 model. To sign up to take one of the classes the coach must sign up for an account on the digital learning center. They must first take the free 20 minute online Introductory Module.
All travel coaches must complete the in-person model for the play format that they are coaching in. The in-person courses are now being offered in a blended format. The first part will be two hours in a virtual setting followed by two hours of on field instruction. To check for in-person class availability simply use the following URL: https://www.pawest-soccer.org/coaching/scheduled-courses/. You will also need to sign up for an account at the digital learning center.
The SPSA will also reimburse the coach for the price of each online or in-person class they take upon request.
Please note that the coaching license does not need to be uploaded to the PAWest risk management system. However, please provide a copy of the license issued by US Soccer to the SPSA age group commissioner you are working with or the SPSA at [email protected]
Thank you,
South Park Soccer Association Board of Directors