COACHES (Information and Training)
Posted by Lee Spooner on 1/5/2026
?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/3624
BASIC RULES FOR OUR YMCA LEAGUE
CLICK HERE FOR OUR 2026 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, January 14th OR Saturday, January 21st at 10
AM
At the fields at the Nir Family YMCA located at 2710
Market Street, Wilmington, NC 28406
Practice session training for U6, U8 and U10:
If you are interested, please email us as we have winter 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 Playerspaces’ 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.
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
U5
through U8 Practice Activities for the Parent Coach
U9
& U10 Practice Activities for the Parent Coach
U11
& U12 Practice Activities for the Parent Coach
US
YOUTH SOCCER PLAYER DEVELOPMENT MODEL
SPORTS ED 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/