AYSO National Online Training
Announcement - July 8, 2006
For further information on volunteer training, Region 76 volunteers should contact our Coach Administrator, or Referee Administrator,
From Rick Davis, AYSO National Director of
To all AYSO volunteers and parents:
On July 7, 2006, the AYSO executive membership was notified of an exciting, new program AYSO is unveiling next week. Today, we are letting our other volunteers and parents in on the great news.
AYSO is pleased to announce that the long-anticipated AYSO Online Training & Certification Courses will be available for your use starting on Monday, July 10. Months of brainstorming, planning and discussion with volunteers, commissioners, staff and the National Board of Directors (NBOD) has brought us to the point where we can offer specific courses in a way that all AYSO volunteers can take advantage of education and certification opportunities. Online education will offer convenience, cost savings and the opportunity for volunteers to learn at their own pace.
The AYSO Online Training & Certification Courses are part of the overall education and training model. These opportunities are not intended to replace any other method of training, but will act as a valuable supplement to the training opportunities already available. As a reminder, we have five ways to receive AYSO training and certification: Through local training and certification, Super Camps, Instructor Super Camps, the Section Conferences, and now online training and certification. Online training enhances what is already the best volunteer training and certification program of any youth sports organization in the country. All five training opportunities follow identical curriculum established and approved by AYSO commissions and the NBOD.
Online education is a viable alternative for many of our AYSO volunteers. While many of our volunteers live in highly-populated areas where local instructors are abundant, many others live in far-reaching rural areas that have difficulty securing local instructors. In these areas, online education saves vast amounts of time and money, while providing instruction to volunteers who have difficulty accessing training and certification through other means.
Recently, the NBOD unanimously approved the first three online training courses. They are Safe Haven Certification for Referees, Safe Haven Certification for Coaches and BASIC (Board And Staff Introductory Certification). Starting Monday, these courses will be available online for volunteer use.
To take any of these online courses, volunteers should go to www.aysotraining.org. To access the online courses and receive certification or credit, you must be a registered AYSO volunteer with an AYSO ID number, and have access to a computer with Internet and Flash Player 8. If you do not have an AYSO ID number, the system will direct you on how receive one. (Remember, there will be a delay in receiving your ID number, the system will take time to process your request.) When you first access one of the online courses, the system will recognize if your computer has Flash Player 8 capabilities or not. If not, a "Free Download" icon will appear. Follow the download instructions.
Upon completion (and, in some cases, passing a test), you will be able to print a certificate of successful completion, and your volunteer record will be updated in eAYSO. (eAYSO updates occur weekly.)
More good news: Pending approval by the National Board of Directors, we will add the Treasurer I course July 24, the U-8 Coach course August 1, and both the Basic Referee and U-10 Coach courses August 14. These are target dates, and we'll do everything we possibly can to meet those dates. At the same time, we want to ensure that all the courses are thoroughly reviewed and approved by the AYSO commissions and NBOD before being added to the online course list.
Also in the planning and development stages for implementation later in the year are Safety Director, Registrar, Regional Commissioner Orientation, Intermediate Referee, U-6 Coach, Tournament Director and Parent Orientation. Other courses will be added over a period of time, until all of our courses (approximately 100) will be available, in whole or in part, online. Watch for more announcements as the online program grows.
Be advised that, while some of our online courses are conducted entirely on the Internet, others will be taught partially online and partially in person. For example, some referee training, as well as some coaching courses, will require invaluable on-field coursework to supplement the online education now available.
This is an exciting enhancement to our educational delivery methods. Although several educational institutions have been using online education for many years, AYSO will be taking a big step into this current, accepted form of delivery. Thanks to the volunteers who were instrumental in this process of moving AYSO forward. We are all very excited about this new training and certification tool!!
You now have the opportunity to take full advantage of this training initiative, while using the other methods of training currently available. As with any startup program, we're anxious to hear your thoughts and suggestions, and we look forward to sharing your feedback with the NBOD.