AYSO Coaching - Certification requirements

In AYSO, Positive Coaching is a core philosophy. We believe that kids best develop as players when they receive positive encouragement and mentoring. Every AYSO coach is a volunteer. Come share the joy of soccer with your own child and the other members of the AYSO family of players and volunteers. We provide all the training you need in a few hours. You provide the fun.


Each coach must be certified at the level they wish to coach. A higher level certification does not qualify you to coach at a lower level. For example, a 10U Coach certification does not allow you to coach 6U or 8U.


The level of coaching certification will determine what training you need to take. For 6U/8U certification, the training is entirely online. For 10U and above, part of the training can be done online, but you must also attend an in-person meeting to complete the certification. Your inLeague volunteer dashboard will keep track of the necessary certifications and link you to AYSOU, the online training platform where you will sign up for courses.


How to Get Certified


  1. Log in to or create an account on our registration portal, inLeague, at ayso70.com.
  2. We recommend adding any players in your family that you intend to register so that you can see the division(s) they would be placed in.
  3. Select 'Volunteer Registration' and volunteer as a head coach or assistant coach.  Select one or more divisions as a preference -- your child's future division will be displayed here.
  4. Select the 'Dashboard' (home) menu item and you should see your volunteer dashboard along with certification, livescan, and background check requirements.
  5. Follow links either from your volunteer dashboard or the graduation cap icon on the navigation menu to AYSOU. 
  6. SafeSport: Follow the link to Safesport and completed the required online training.
  7. AYSOU: Follow the link to AYSOU (powered by eTrainU); inLeague will automatically log you in. Complete the Safe Haven, Sudden Cardiac Arrest, and Concussion training courses.


Background Check


Once you select either a coach or a referee role, your volunteer application is sent to the league for review. Once this occurs, you will receive an invitation from Sterling Volunteers, the company chosen by AYSO to perform background checks. If you have not received the email,  please check your spam folder. You may also find your personalized link on your inLeague family profile. Follow the instructions in the email to create an account with Sterling Volunteers, or (for returning volunteers) log in to your existing account.


Once the account is set up, you will spend a couple of minutes entering the information required to launch the background check. You will notice a $25 fee for the background check. Region 70 pays this fee for approved volunteers, but if you would like to help defray our costs, you may pay this fee by credit card.


You’re finished registering when you get to the "Congrats!" screen. You’ll be notified by Sterling when the background check is complete. Results will be sent directly to AYSO and inLeague will be updated automatically. Please note that, without a valid background check, you cannot access any on-line functions for your team or rosters, even if you are assigned as a coach. Background checks usually take 24-48 hours to complete.