Get Involved!

Positive & Enthusiastic volunteers needed to coach with Girls Play Flag Football.

Coaching a youth sports team can be a tremendously rewarding experience, giving you the opportunity to help young players learn the game of football in a fun and safe atmosphere. Additionally the bond created by a parent coaching their child is one that will be cherished and remembered for years to come.

No prior coaching experience necessary - as a Girls Play Flag Football Coach, you will be given all the resources and support you need to help you succeed. Check out our MOJO app outlined below - the best resource to offer new or existing coaches!

Girls Play Flag Football - Coach Description

Coach your child's team of girls, ages 4-18
Coach games and practices 1 day per week
Teach players the fundamentals of the game
Emphasis on sportsmanship, fair play, and full participation
Provide a safe and fun environment for the players
Learn and follow all league rules, policies, and procedures
Give each player equal playing time
Puts the feelings of the players ahead of the coach’s desire to win
Communicate with parents as needed

Qualifications

Successfully pass a background check
Be enthusiastic, organized and dependable
Makes ensuring a positive experience for players a priority over winning
Be patient, especially with the players
Have a working knowledge of the sport

How to Volunteer

During your child's registration you will be asked if you would like to volunteer as a head or assistant coach. At that time if you select you do want to be a coach you will be asked for more information including some personal info that will enable us to complete a background check. Once the background check is passed you will be eligible to coach and will be contacted prior to the season beginning to confirm your spot and provide you with details on the upcoming coaches meeting. Information for background checks can be found on this site, below.

If you have already registered your child, or need to simply register as a coach - please select location above in the team personnel listing. You will be prompted to sign in if you are not already. From there, fill out the information and you are done! To expedite the placing on a roster, please send a quick email containing the players name and location you are looking to volunteer to coach.

Coaching Tips

KNOW THE RULES!

The players and their parents have placed you in a position of leadership, and you have a responsibility to give them your best effort. Additionally, this football experience will play a significant factor in determining whether the players continue participating in football. If you follow the coaching guidelines and general principles below, you should have a great season!

Whether you are an experienced coach or a novice taking the reins of your first team, your main goal should be to create a fun and safe learning environment for your players. Many of the skills your players will practice and play with are just like those of their NFL heroes. Feel free to emphasize this connection to the real-life game!

Remember, FOOTBALL IS AN INSTITUTION FOR LIFE! The lessons we teach our children are paramount to their development, and how they approach the challenges of life. It is our belief, one of the best things we can do for our children, is create adversity and teach lessons to overcome. What better way than football? WIN OR LEARN.

Tackle Tackling Early

Don't let your practices dissolve into a giant pile of rambunctious kids. For both their safety and your sanity, make sure to discourage any tackling or roughness early on. Remind them that they won't help their team in a game by tackling or being rough.

Sportsmanship Rules!

Help your players be good sports. After a game, shake hands or high-five the other team. Applaud good play by both sides. Treat officials with respect. While imitating you, your team won't even recognize the good lesson they’re learning.

Let Them Play Football!

The temptation to be another Don Shula or Bill Walsh will have to wait. This is NFL FLAG. While teaching football skills and strategies is important, keep your lessons as simple as possible. As your team grasps the basics, move on to more advanced ideas. Overloading young players with too much information too early can cause confusion for them and headaches for you.

Have Fun!

We thank you for your volunteer service. NFL FLAG couldn't happen without you. Have a blast with these kids. This season may become a lifetime memory for both you and all your team. Have fun!

TEN COACHING GUIDELINES

A coach should be enthusiastic without being intimidating. They should be sensitive to the children's feelings and genuinely enjoy spending time with them. A coach should be dedicated to serving children and understand that football provides physical and emotional growth for its participants. Remember, NFL FLAG is for the children.

1. A coach needs to realize that they are a teacher, not a drill sergeant. They should help children learn and work to improve their skills. Personal gains are never a consideration. The job does not depend on winning. The best interest of the child transforms into the best interests of the game.

2. The safety and welfare of the children never can be compromised. A coach will consider these factors above all others.

3. Be patient. Don't push children beyond limits in regards to practice. Children have many daily pressures – the football experience should not be one of them. Playing football should be fun.

4. Care more about the players as people than as athletes. The youth football program is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

5. A coach should encourage players to dream and set lofty goals. It is important to remain positive and refrain from discouraging remarks. Negative comments are remembered far more often than positive affirmations.
6. Remember that the rules of the game are designed to protect the participants, as well as to set a standard for competition.

7. Never circumvent or take advantage of the rules by teaching deliberate misconduct. A coach who puts his or her opponents' team at risk should not be involved with children.

8. Be the first person to demonstrate good sportsmanship. Take a low profile during the game and allow the kids to be the center of attention.

9. Parents and players place a lot of trust and confidence in the coach. The coach has an important role in molding the athletic experience of the child.
10. A coach can measure success by the respect he gets from his or her players, regardless of victories or defeats. Children who mature socially and physically while participating in sports are the best indication of good coaching.

MOJO FOR COACHES

We are excited to share an incredible resource that we think will really help you this upcoming season.

MOJO is a one-stop coach-in-a-box app that takes the aggravation, stress and chaos out of coaching. The app sets coaches up for success by providing hundreds of activities designed by NFL FLAG and child development experts, with videos produced by Emmy Award-winning teams. And it automatically builds each team’s practice at the tap of a screen — customized to age, skill level and more.

We want all our coaches to download the MOJO app for free. Once you create a profile, you can use MOJO's coaching tools for free, which includes an extensive library of practice activities and plans (if you would like, you can also choose to purchase a MOJO+ subscription to unlock at-home training).

Download MOJO for FREE

We believe this will be a game-changer for our coaches and players. I am personally very excited about the opportunity to use MOJO — it is a fantastic resource for our families.

Check out these additional resources MOJO has to offer:

What Can a Coach Do About a Bully? - Conflict on a team is normal. Bullying is not.
6 Tips for Coaching a Shy Kid - When you want to connect with a child, shyness can be a barrier. But there are ways to break through
4 Ways to Manage THAT Parent on the Sideline - For the parent who just can’t get on board with They Play. I Coach. You Cheer!
Coaching Tips from an Award-Winning Kindergarten Teacher - Coaching is as much about engaging kids as it is about the sport itself.
Coaching Tips from a Master of Improv - “Yes and…” is the coaching point you didn’t know you needed
Yes, You Have Time to Coach - If you have the will to coach, there is always a way
Wanted: More Moms on the Field - It shouldn't be so hard to get more moms on the coaching roster
What Coaches Need to Know About Social and Emotional Learning - And how to build SEL right into your practice plan
Why Empathy Is Your Coaching Superpower - The ability to empathize with a player might be the most important skill you can have as a coach

As well as these helpful MOJO articles from for Parents:

How Your Kids Want You to Behave on the Sidelines - Adult sideline behavior has become such an issue in youth sports that people are turning to science
What to Say on the Car Ride Home - Win or lose, what matters is how you frame it for your kiddos

BACKGROUND CHECK WITH CHECKR

Coaches Background Check Info

Girls Play Flag Football is committed to the safety of our participants. All of our coaches and staff go through thorough background checks. The Background Check program used by Girls Play Flag Football is outlined below:

Background checks are REQUIRED for all Assistant Coaches, Head Coaches and Staff. The organization used by Girls Play Flag Football is Checkr, a background check solution that offers high quality background checks to our leagues. Checkr conducts a national background check service with a national criminal database search, national sex offender check, SSN identity check, and address history, plus a complete re-verification of all criminal hits for guaranteed accuracy on over 900 million national criminal records.

Girls Play Flag Football has partnered with Checkr, and requires that all coaches and on field representatives pass a background check. All Fees associated with the mandatory background checks are paid by Girls Play Flag Football.

Background Checks have been implemented by Girls Play Flag Football for the purpose of:

Promoting a safe, nurturing, and supportive athletic environment in which youth athletes can pursue their athletic goals
Providing an environment where parents of children can feel good about allowing their child to participate in the sport of flag football. Please note; this screening is not intended to serve as a profiling tool nor can screening guarantee that incidents of abuse by coaches will not occur. Background screening is designed as a preventative risk management tool, but does not insure inappropriate behavior will not occur.
Girls Play Flag Football has selected Checkr as our provider for background checks. More information about Checkr is available on their website at checkr.com.

What Coaches can expect from a background check:

We require any coach who has access or direct contact with youth athletes (under the age of 18) during scheduled practices or games to submit information for a background check and to review and acknowledge the Coaches Code of Conduct waiver
Background checks will require an applicant’s full name, social security number and date of birth.
Coaches will be screened for convictions of the following crimes:
1. Felony (best described as but not limited to, any crime punishable by confinement greater than one year)
2. Any crime involving force or threat of force against a person
3. Any crime in which sexual relations is an element, including “victimless” crimes of a sexual nature (including pornography)
4. Any crime involving controlled substances (not paraphernalia or alcohol)
5. Any crime involving cruelty to animals.