Requirements of Volunteer Coaching Positions

Volunteer Coaches

All volunteer coaches must submit a letter of intention EVERY YEAR via email to the Acting Athletic Director ([email protected]).  The letter is then approved by the Building Principal and then sent for vote on the school board agenda.  Board Meeting dates are posted in the School Board section of this website.  The meetings are typically the 2nd Monday of every month.

Online Course to be completed EVERY FIVE YEARS

Mandated Reporter Training

Online Courses to be completed EVERY YEAR - these courses are FREE through NFHS Learn and are required, but you may take several other worthwhile courses on the site.

Cardiac Arrest https://nfhslearn.com/courses/sudden-cardiac-arrest

ConcussionWise https://nfhslearn.com/courses/concussion-in-sports-2

HeatWise (Fall Athletic Coaches ONLY)https://nfhslearn.com/courses/heat-illness-prevention-2

Online Courses to be completed by July 1, 2018

Fundamentals of Coaching  http://nfhslearn.com/courses/61026/fundamentals-of-coaching

First Aid, Health and Safety for Coaches   http://nfhslearn.com/courses/26/first-aid-health-and-safety-for-coaches

*NOTE: All coaches currently employed or engaged by a PIAA member school must complete two courses as provided above no later than June 30, 2018.  Coaches hired after July 1, 2016, will have two years from their date of hire to complete this requirement.

Additional Accepted Coursework:

• PIAA will be accepting of college level courses for either the coaching and/or first aid requirements.  (Example courses are Principles of Coaching or Fundamentals of Coaching).  A coach must upload a copy of the transcript indicating satisfactory completion of the course(s) to the PIAA Website for credit.
• PIAA will be accepting of American Red Cross First Aid training for the first aid requirement as long as certification was 2013 or later.  Please upload a copy of card to the website.

• PIAA will be accepting of SafeSchools Training for Coaching Education as long as your school or school district has purchased SafeSchools Training for ALL STAFF.  Listed below are the courses needed to satisfy the Fundamentals of Coaching and First Aid Requirements.
   
  Fundamentals of Coaching Coursework:

• Athletic Liability, Conflict Management: Managing the Angry Parent, Title IX and Gender Equity in Athletics, Hazing, Steroid and PED Awareness in Athletics, Emergency Operations Planning: Building the Plan, Emergency Operations Planning: Implementing the Plan, Sensitivity Awareness, Conflict Management: Learner-to-Learner, Diversity Awareness: Staff-to-Learner, and Online Safety: Cyberbullying
   
  First Aid Coursework:

• First-Aid, Sport Supervision & Safety, Heat Illness Prevention, Learner Drug and Alcohol Abuse, AED, and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
   
  Once completed coaches will receive ONE certificate for all modules completed through SafeSchools (please contact your SafeSchools Account Manager to set this up), this certificate can then be uploaded to their Coaches’ profile for approval by the PIAA.

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For coaches that have not already completed college level courses and are interesting in taking those courses for continuing education, please use the link below for current course offerings:

Link to additional college level coursework which will satisfy this requirement.

DIRECTIONS FOR CREATING A COACH PROFILE AND UPLOADING COURSE REQUIREMENTS TO THE PIAA WEBSITE FOR COACHES:

To use the coaching credentialing system - visit our website:  http://www.piaa.org

Click “login” (the gold box in top right corner of your screen).

Click the “Coaches” tab.

If you have not previously used the coaches’ credentialing portal, you will need to create a new user profile by clicking “Register” and following the steps to create a new user – (Note: school, official, or other logins used in our system are not useable for the purpose of coaching education). 

Once you have created a profile, the Coaching Education System becomes available.

• In the first section, select each school which you are affiliated.  Multiple schools may be selected if affiliated with more than one school.  Simply begin typing the school name, and the system will match all available schools.
• In the second section, “PIAA Education Requirements”, upload certificates of completion or a transcript to support completion of the required coaching and first aid required courses.  Note, if submitting a course other than an NFHS or ASEP approved course, type in the name of the course you are submitting. 

NOTE: One submission must be made for each course requirement.  A single transcript cannot be uploaded once to satisfy the requirement for coaching and first aid.  They must be uploaded separately.

Please do not submit concussion or cardiac coursework in this section.  That information may be upload under section 3 “Optional School Education”, but should not be uploaded under section 2.

• In the third section “Optional School Education”, a school may require coaches to upload additional information at their discretion.  Please check with your athletic administrator to see if you are required to submit any items in this location. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jennifer Grassel, PIAA Assistant Executive Director in the PIAA Office at (717) 697-0374, or (800) 382-1392.