Every coach, five steps.
Then the whistle.
Ninety-six volunteer coaches, most of them parents, and not one of them on a field until the five steps are done. The steps are public, the count per age group is public, and the annual re-training date is on the calendar.
The five steps
The form below: who you are, which age group, whether you have coached before. Five minutes.
Through the governing body's screening provider, on their secure form, with your consent. We see "cleared" and a date, nothing else. Every two years.
The governing body's online course, about 90 minutes. Every year, before the season.
A free online course on recognising a head injury and what to do. Every year.
One evening at the park: the club's rules, the two-adult rule, how a practice runs, where the first-aid kits are.
These are the club's own steps, written from the governing body's published requirements for this sample. A real club's steps are set by its governing body, its insurer and its state; this page reports a practice, it does not advise one.
Two adults, always
Two cleared adults at every practice and game. A coach is never alone with a player: not in a car, not in a changing room, not after practice waiting for a late parent. If a second adult cannot be there, practice is cancelled — and the club would rather cancel.
What a coach gets. A season's worth of practice plans by age, a kit bag with balls, cones and a first-aid kit, a licensed coach's course paid for by the club, and a club shirt. What a coach gives: two hours a week and a Saturday morning, for ten weeks.
Every year, again. The abuse-prevention course and the concussion course expire each season; the background check every two years. The re-training date is on the club calendar in August, and a coach whose training has lapsed is off the sheet until it is done — the count on this page drops by one, in public.
Who is cleared
How the count works
Every age group needs two cleared adults per team: a head coach and an assistant. "Cleared" means all five steps done and dated on the club's roster; the number here is read from that roster, not typed in. When a coach clears, the count goes up; when a course lapses, it goes down.
Short a coach? A team with one cleared adult practises only when a cleared parent from another team can stand in. If nobody can, that practice is cancelled and the families get the text. That is why the club asks in August, not September.
No names of children appear anywhere on this site, and no coach is named here either: the sheet is counts, so nobody can work out who is waiting on a check.
Apply to coach
Demonstration form: it sends nothing and stores nothing. It shows what a real application checks first.
What happens after you press send
A confirmation with the orientation dates, and a link from the screening provider to its own secure consent form. The club never sees what you type there; it gets "cleared" and a date.
Links to the abuse-prevention course and the concussion course. Both are free, both take an evening, both have to be done before the first practice.
One evening at the park in late August: the two-adult rule, how a practice runs, where the first-aid kits are, and the practice plans for your age group.
The coaching coordinator matches you to a team once all five steps are dated. The count on this page goes up by one, and a family gets a coach.
Under 18? Ask about the junior referee course instead; referees are paid, and the course counts toward a coaching licence later.