Thank you for volunteering as a YMCA Coach or becoming a Youth Sports Official!

To help you with your season, we’ve provided concise elearning lessons that contain education on the philosophy of YMCA Youth Sports, basic coaching techniques that include practice plans, skills, drills, rules and tactics of the sport, and valuable volunteer resources. We have also partnered with the CDC regarding the safety elements in preventing concussions in youth sports.

As a volunteer at your YMCA, you help shape and support your community and we thank you for your commitment. We value your involvement in the Youth Sports Program and your impact in influencing positive growth and development for young people. I hope you will find these courses educational and helpful for you to be the best Coach, Official, or Volunteer that you can be at your local YMCA. Thank you for your time and commitment.

Dara Meinerth
Specialist, Sports and Recreation
YMCA of the USA

The order in which you take the courses is important as the content of the courses feeds into the next. The courses are numbered in the order in which they are to be taken.

eLearning provides the learner the ability take training at their own pace. Each course has been assigned a suggested time allotment. The time allotment is an estimate as each individual learns at a different pace.

Below is a list and description of the courses to take for Youth Sports Officials and Volunteer Coaches. Please click the title of the course to start the lesson.

*NEW* Please click the following link to take the CDC course titled “Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports.”

This 30 minute elearning lesson is available to coaches, parents, and others helping to keep athletes safe from concussion. It features interviews with leading experts, dynamic graphics and interactive exercises, and compelling storytelling to help you recognize a concussion and know how to respond if you think that your athlete might have a concussion. After completing the training and quiz, coaches and parents can print out a certificate.

These courses require Adobe Flash installed and JavaScript enabled.

Any difficulty accessing the e-learning, please call 1-800-872-9622 to reach the YMCA of the USA Contact Center.

Course Name

Description

Course Length

Core Courses. Please take these courses in the order provided.

1. YMCA Youth Sports Programs

Provides program philosophy and introduces the volunteer to YMCA Youth Sports Programming.

 15 minutes

2. Parent’s Role in Youth Sports Offers the parent education on what bringing their child to a YMCA Youth Sports Program can do for them as parents and for their children for years to come.  30 minutes

3. Volunteers Make the Team

Provides the volunteer an opportunity to learn about their volunteer experience in the YMCA Youth Sports Program as a coach, official or parent in another volunteer role.  It affords the volunteer knowledge that demonstrates how staff at YMCAs appreciates their efforts and how they make programs successful.

 30 minutes

4. Safety and Emergency Action

Provides the learner the YMCA protocol for the importance of safety, responding to an incident, preventing injuries, and protecting oneself in an emergency situation.

 45 minutes

5. Coaching YMCA Youth Sports

Provides the new or experienced coach an overview of coaching YMCA youth sports and how they as coaches influence the development of today’s youth in sports.

 30 minutes

6. Officiating YMCA Youth Sports

Provides the YMCA official the basic rules and regulations of officiating sports such as basketball, soccer, softball/baseball, volleyball and flag football. It also describes how their role plays an impact on child’s development at a YMCA.

 45 minutes

Coaches Courses

Coaching YMCA Basketball

Provides new and experienced coaches the tools, techniques, and skills to coach basketball to children from ages 3 on up.

 45 minutes 

Coaching YMCA Soccer

Provides the new and experienced coach the tools, techniques and skills to coach soccer to children from ages 3 on up.

 45 minutes

Coaching YMCA Baseball/Softball

Provides the new and experienced coach the tools, techniques and skills to coach baseball/softball to children from ages 3 on up.

 45 minutes 

Coaching YMCA Volleyball

Provides the new and experienced coach the tools, techniques and skills to coach volleyball to children from ages 3 on up.

 45 minutes

Coaching YMCA Flag Football

Provides the new and experienced coach the tools, techniques and skills to coach flag football to children from ages 3 on up.

 45 minutes