Welcome to our League.  We are a 100% volunteer coaching league and many of the staff you see started as parent coaches or a player in our league at some point.  We are here to support our coaches and ensure all our kids have a great time playing sports in our program.  Below find coaching links, calendars and several training links.

SOCCER COACH APPLICATION:

https://ymcasenc.volunteermatters.org/volunteer/sign-up/4105 

BASIC RULES FOR OUR YMCA LEAGUE

CLICK HERE FOR OUR 2026-27 RULE MODIFICATIONS

Official FIFA/IFAB Laws of the Game 

NEW COACHES MEETINGS 

We would love to meet you, show you a few tricks to our system and give you some pointers for your practice.  As we know many of us have busy schedules, we wanted to offer several different options.  Any coach is welcome to stop in and get a coach's shirt if you need one, they are not required but do help the first few weeks as players get to know you.

For those returning from a prior season, things will run like what you have seen in the past.  Each site will have a site lead, and we will provide goals, balls, pennies and cones for your practice sessions.  We will be on-site to assist in any issues that arise.  

Official Coaches Meetings:

Saturday, August 22nd OR Saturday, August 29th at 10 AM  

At the fields at the Nir Family YMCA located at 2710 Market Street, Wilmington, NC 28406

Practice session training for 10Y and below:

If you are interested, please email us as we have summer small group evening training going on right now that you can join in and observe.

Fields at the Nir Family YMCA and the Midtown YMCA

Coaches Meeting Packet:    CLICK HERE FOR COACHES PACKET

Training Sessions:  By Appointment  

We have several training opportunities as we train staff, work with our teams.  Please email us if you would like to schedule a training session or we can come out and work with your team during the season.

Email [email protected] to book a session.

PLAYERSPACE TRAINING AND DIRECTIONS

Here is the PlayerSpace coach help page with basic training.  

Please visit:  https://www.playerspace.net/coachs-corner

COACH TRAINING 

Staff are on-site at league practices.  We provide balls, cones, pennies and have first aid.  Coaches should get to know their site leads, they are a valuable asset throughout the season.

GOAL SAFETY

SHAPING TOMORROW'S LEADERS:  YMCA Youth Sports Series

Now presented as nine short videos, the content is  designed to help caregivers, coaches, and officials work together to create the best possible experience for athletes participating in youth sports at the Y. Together, these videos show how the YMCA creates safe, welcoming, and character, building sports environments for all participants. 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaWyof7P8NvdvfUxvgXMp6dqhrK652LSq 

YMCA COACHES TRAINING

RECOMMENDED NEW COACH YMCA Training:  http://training.ymca.net

-YMCA Youth Sports Programs                                       (15 min.)

-Coaching YMCA Youth Sports Program                         (45 min.)

-Volunteers make the team.                                             (30 min.)

-Safety and Emergency Action                                         (45 min.)

-Coaching YMCA Flag Football                                        (60 min.)

US YOUTH SOCCER WEEKLY PRACTICE 

4U through 7U Practice Activities for the Parent Coach 

8U & 9U Practice Activities for the Parent Coach 

10U & Up Practice Activities for the Parent Coach 

US YOUTH SOCCER PLAYER DEVELOPMENT MODEL

SPORTS ED PRACTICE MODULES

4/5U PRACTICE MODULES

6/7U PRACTICE MODULES

8/9U PRACTICE MODULES

10U PRACTICE MODULES

TAKING THE NEXT STEP IN YOUR COACHING EDUCATION

US Youth Soccer has youth coaching courses available, and we will reimburse you (in the form of a registration credit) for any courses you complete while you are a coach for us. 

(Up to $50 a year, rewarded as a registration credit.)

Account and some courses are free, so we encourage you to check this out: https://usysuniversity.org/courses

Create and account:  https://usysuniversity.org/sign-up/region 

We are in the Sothern Region and our NC Youth Soccer League Partner is the Wilmington Hammerheads.  (You will see these in the drop down menu.)

SNACKS

Make the call for a healthy team! Coaches across the country are helping players perform their best by following three healthy principles.

Drink Right:    Choose water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages

Move More:     Boost movement and physical activity

Snack Smart:  Fuel up on fruits and vegetables 

FREE CPR CLASS

The links below are free to take the class, you only pay if you want the 2-year certification.  This is not required for coaches as all YMCA staff are trained.

https://cprheartcenter.com/classes/cpr-certification/

https://www.aedcpr.com/free-classes/

OFFICIAL LEAGUE AGE DETERMINATION RULE

For the Fall 2026 & Spring 2027 seasons age is based on a child's age as of 08/01/2026.  This guideline is set by the US Youth Soccer Association.  A player must be 4 on 09/1/2026 for the Fall 2026 Season.  We allow players in our league to play up one division in 6U through 11U.  Players are NOT allowed to play down a division.  This is to keep our divisions fair and equal play.  The rule that allows you to play up a division is so that friends may play together that may be off by a few months or if you would just like a little more competitive play.  After 11U we move to Middle School and High School Divisions (We do not allow players to play up into these divisions.)    

We do not make exceptions to these rules, only way to be fair if we allow one, we must allow all and divisions/play get out out of balance.

Girls may play on boys teams as we are coed league, we call it boys as divisions like 9U and up is only 4% girls.

*Due to age change in age determination in Fall 2027, if we have a player that played on a team this last Spring falls 2 divisions out of alignment, they will be grandfathered in if within previous age determination rule.  Grandfathering is good through 11U.  Must have played in our Spring 2026 League.