Club Soccer Coaching

Coaching Requirements for Club Soccer (Class III / Class I)

All potential coaches must fill out an Coaching Application or file a letter of intent to coach by March 1st. The Gold Country Board of Directors at the March board meeting will approve coaches. Each team must have a coach & assistant coach that are NOT associated with any other Metro team.

All coaches must be a certified level 8 or higher referee. One coach for each team MUST be certified prior to turning in the Team Application by the end of May. The 2nd MUST be certified prior to turning in team registration packets in Mid-July.

All coaches must be in good standing with the league.

Class 3 Metro Coaches (must have "E" license)

1. Minimum 3 years as head or assistant coach at Class 3 or 4 level, or equivalent.
2. Have a proven track record as an effective and successful coach or assistant.
3. Complete continuing education requirement of attending camps, workshops or clinics every two years.

Class 1 (must have "D" license)

1. Minimum 3 years as head coach with part being at the Metro level or equivalent.
2. Have a proven track record as an effective and successful coach or assistant.
3. Complete continuing education requirement of attending camps, workshops or clinics every two years.

Getting Started in Club Soccer Coaching

Familiarize yourself with the our bylaws and rules plus the pertinent documents on two sites, the "Metro" section of www.d6soccer.org and the "Administration" section of www.calnorth.org (this will also have field locations & standings/stats).

Once you have been approved to coach and have a team selected from tryouts, you will turn in a preliminary roster the last weekend in May, which needs to have 11 players, you and an assistant coach listed. You need to have an E license, and a ref license. Your assistant needs an F license and a ref license. You & your assistant can not be associated with any other Metro team. The team registration fee is $30. Some years this is paid by the club. Note: District VI just requires that one of you have a referee license, so just one needs to be turned in by May 30. However, you'll need all certifications by the time you turn in your complete team paperwork in the middle of June.

You'll get information about ref clinics and coaching clinics up here from our meetings, emails & website. If you want to go to Sac, watch the D6 website for information.

You handle player registration for your players. The fee is $90/player for GCYSL registration & $100/player for GCU. One team check should be written to GCYSL & one team check to GCU. This needs to occur the 2nd week in June. You can still add players until mid-July though. However, if you've already sent your team packets to the district, you'll need to do player adds & possibly drops. You will be required to have a binder with your goldenrod (team roster), your signed registration forms & a copy of the referee license for you or your assistant coach. You'll also keep your player cards in this. You need this at all times you're dealing with the team.

Tournaments - You don't have to sign up for tournaments at all. It is recommended though that you do a couple. Also be prepared to bring a ref to the tournament (that's one of the reasons they make you get a license). You'd be better off bribing someone associated with your team to get a ref license. Sometimes you can pay the tournament coordinator to get a ref for you, but that's always a hassle.

There is one mandatory tournament: the seeding tournament the last weekend in July. You might or might not get advance warning on this, based on how organized your Age Group Coordinator is. However, plan on it regardless, because it's mandatory. You have to go even if you only have 7 players. No player cards are required.

For the voluntary tournaments, it's good to sign up for more than you want, because you won't be accepted to some. Although you have to mail a check in with the application, they don't cash it until tournament time. You need to send in the applications on May 1, if you want to make sure you have a chance. They will let you know 1 month in advance of the tournament whether you're in or not. If you get rejected, they mail the check back. If you get accepted to too many, you can decline to attend (as long as you do it writing within a fairly quick timeframe). So you have time to collect the money from parents before your check gets cashed. The last weekend in October is a free weekend. You can sign up for tournaments then without a hassle. There are also tournaments scheduled for weekends during the season. You can go to those, but you're responsible for rescheduling your regularly scheduled game. You have to line up refs, fields, notify the league, etc. The District Cup is the 1st weekend in December. Most teams choose to sign up for that. So count on it, and put it on your team schedule. Otherwise your team will dissipate on you.

For seeding, when you turn in your roster, you'll put your history and the team's history down. Your Age Group Coordinator will seed you accordingly by the first week in July. The seeding tournament is a chance for them to check that the seeding's correct.

For games, it's your responsibility to contact the team you're playing and get or give directions to the field. This is very important during the rainy season to keep the teams informed on whether games will be played or canceled. If Gold Country cancels, it's your responsibility to work with the other team, and then our referee coordinator, to arrange a makeup time. Our metro coordinator must also be informed, as well as your Age Group Coordinator. For played home games, you have to mail in the game card within 48 hours. You get it from the ref. You mail it to your Age Group Coordinator. For all games, you're responsible for calling in or emailing the score within 48 hours. Your Age Group Coordinator will have information on how to do that. There will be a meeting in Sacramento for all coaches in the summer, going over all of this.

You have to buy the league uniform. They're available from Samba. You work directly with them. You need to have the order in by June, or you run the risk of not having your uniform in time. Xara doesn't do numbers (which you have to have on uniforms), so Samba usually knows someone who'll put numbers on your uniforms. Names aren't recommended per CYSA. You can't have any advertising on the uniforms (also CYSA).

Other Club Soccer Resources

Club Soccer Practice and Training Schedule

Club Policies and Bylaws

Coaching Application

Metro Registration Form