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Rochester Area Sports Commission Becomes Umbrella Organization for Area Youth Sports Associations

Rochester Area Sports Commission Becomes Umbrella Organization for Area Youth Sports Associations

Recently the Rochester Area Sports Commission has agreed to partner with Trusted Coaches to be the umbrella organization that helps to administer Trusted Coaches training for area youth sports associations.  Read about this partnership program below.

“Many young kids are competing in athletics year-round, often jumping season to season in multiple sports.

Youth sports provides a great opportunity to teach the skills of the game and life skills such as teamwork, responsibility, accountability and much more. An aspect that may get overlooked in all of this: Who is coaching these teams?

In today’s environment, you have to know much more than just the X’s and O’s of the game to be a coach. What happens if one of the kids suffers an injury or gets hit in the head with a ball? Does the coach know how to identify a concussion? Not to mention, what is the coach’s character and does he or she have a criminal background? These are all things parents should think about because a coach is a major influence in an athlete’s life.

Developed by the Minnesota Youth Athletic Services and the Wisconsin Sports Services, Trusted Coaches was created as a response to youth athletic associations’ need to train their coaches and protect young athletes. The program allows organizations to make sure their coaches are fit to coach by offering essential training in first-aid and concussion instruction as well as requiring coaches to complete a Positive Coaching Alliance course and a nationwide criminal background check. All of this is delivered exclusively online, which allows the coach to go through the program at their leisure. Once a coach goes through the program, their membership is good for three years, meaning additional screening and training would not be necessary each year.

The Rochester Amateur Sports Commission is serving in an administrative support role for RYBA and RCYBA for their Trusted Coaches accounts. Our staff recognizes the need to make sure all coaches are screened and are fit to be on the sidelines of any sporting event as a coach and mentor for the young athletes in our community.

With RYBA and RCYBA partnering with us, it brings the cost down for each coach to go through the program. Understandably, many of our volunteer coaches coach multiple sports. For these multi-sport coaches, the membership crosses over, and the cost for that coach can be split between each organization.

If you are part of a youth organization, or if you have a child who competes in a youth league, ask what is being done as far as screening and training. There are many different programs available, but we believe that Trusted Coaches is one that is able to benefit every youth organization, not just baseball and basketball.”

This article was originally posted in the Rochester Post Bulletin.  Read the article here: www.postbulletin.com