Coaching Policies
The official GYS By-Laws are the final word on rules and procedures for Glendora Youth Soccer. Coaching Policies provide additional information and clarification where the By-Laws are more general in nature.


Coaches ID Procedures

The following Coaches ID Procedure was adopted at the 7/14/2010 GYS Board Meeting:

Why Coaches Wear IDs on Lanyards
GYS policy states that a team may have two coaches who are actively coaching during the game. One coach may be on each side of the field, on the sideline, in the designated coaching area (sometimes called the "techincal area". Others may cheer, but no one else is allowed to coach the team during the game. An active coach is identified by wearing his or her GYS Coach ID on a lanyard around his or her neck.

Coach IDs Also Provide Security For Our Kids
To receive a Coach ID, a Coach or Assistant Coach must be fingerprinted by the Glendora PD. This helps us to protect the children that participate in GYS. Requiring each coach to obtain and wear their ID, and checking these IDs at each game ensures that only individuals who have been cleared through the Glendora PD fingerprinting process are coaching our children.

Enforcing the Coach ID Policy
In order to ensure that the fingerprinting/ID policy is actually providing the protection we desire, GYS will enforce the ID Lanyard policy in the following ways:

  1. Anyone coaching a GYS game must be wearing his or her own Coach ID on a lanyard around his or her neck.
  2. If a team has no Coach or Assistant Coach at the field at game-time with their own Coach ID, the following penalties will be assessed:
    1. First Offense: A coach will be allowed to coach the game but the team's Head Coach will be suspended from coaching the next game. An Assistant Coach will be allowed to coach in his or her place.
    2. Second Offense: No one will be allowed to coach the team from the sidelines. Someone (a coach or parent) will need to fill out the game card and provide it to the referee. The referee will rotate substitutions into the game according to their jersey number. The Head Coach will also be suspended from coaching the next game. An Assistant Coach will be allowed to coach in his or her place.
    3. Third Offense: No one will be allowed to coach the team from the sidelines. Someone (a coach or parent) will need to fill out the game card and provide it to the referee. The referee will rotate substitutions into the game according to their jersey number. The Head Coach will be asked to step down, and will be barred from coach again the following year. An Assistant Coach or parent will be asked to step in as the new Head Coach.

Important Questions

  1. How many coaches can a team have?
  2. How do coaches get fingerprinted?
  3. How do coaches who have completed the fingerprinting process get their ID?
  4. What if the fingerprint process or Coach ID is not completed by game time?

Answers to Important Questions

  1. Each team has one Head Coach. Each team can have as many Assistant Coaches as the Head Coach would like to recruit, work with and coordinate. Every Head Coach and Assistant Coach must complete the fingerprinting process through the Glendora PD in order to receive a Coach ID. No one may perform the coach's role at a game unless they are wearing their own Coach ID on a lanyard around their neck.
  2. The Division Director will coordinate, and GYS will pay for the fingerprinting for the Head Coach, and up to two Assistant Coaches. Coaches will receive information from their Division Director regarding how and when to go through the fingerprinting process. Any additional adults that would like to serve as Assistant Coaches will need to contact the Glendora PD and arrange for fingerprinting on their own.
  3. The Head Coach will receive his or her Coach ID, and those of his or her first two Assistant Coaches from the Division Director. Depending on when Coaches and/or Assistant Coaches are identified, it may be necessary to make arrangements with the Division Director to pick up or drop off IDs when they are completed. IDs for additional Assistant Coaches will be printed at regular GYS Board Meetings, after the fingerprinting process is complete. Since the Board only meets twice per month, Coaches should take care to make sure they are able to complete their process in time to have their ID before they need it. Last-minute Coach IDs for additional Assistant Coaches cannot be accommodated.
  4. The Division Director will work closely with the Head Coach to make sure he or she receives his or her Coach ID in time for the first game of the season. Since the timing of the recruitment and processing of Assistant Coaches is up to the Head Coach, "my ID wasn't ready" will not be an acceptable excuse for the lack of an ID carrying coach at a game. If the Head Coach is going to miss a game, it is his or her responsibility to be sure that he or she recruits an Assistant and completes the ID process in time to receive the printed Coach ID before it is necessary.

Schedule Change Policy

Procedure for changing the final game schedule that has been distributed by the Fields Coordinator.

  1. The cutoff for making schedule changes is 10 days prior to the first game of the season.
  2. A coach with a schedule change request initiates a conversation with the other effected coaches in his or her division (including the Division Director at this point is suggested as well).
  3. If a schedule change solution is found that (1) meets the criteria described below, and (2) all effected coaches agree with, the change request is communicated to the Division Director
  4. If the Division Director approves the change, he or she communicates the change to the Fields Coordinator. Only the Division Director may communicate the change to the Fields Coordinator - not individual coaches.
  5. If the Fields Coordinator approves the change, he or she will make the change to the official schedule, and will communicate the change to the Webmaster to update the published schedule.

Modifications to the game schedule are allowed provided all of the following criteria are satisfied:

  1. The relevant Division Director approves of modifications.
  2. All coaches directly impacted by the modifications approve.
  3. Changes are made more than 10 days prior to the first game of the season.
  4. Modifications do not create any field/time slots not previously allocated.
  5. Modifications do not create an unbalanced schedule. (i.e. it does not unbalance the number of times each team plays each other team in the division)

Examples of modifications that may be allowed

  1. Teams A and B swap entire schedules
  2. Game times on a particular day are swapped. For example, Team A vs Team B is scheduled at 8:00 am, and Team C vs Team D is scheduled for 9:30 am. The A vs. B game is changed to 9:30 and the C vs. D game is changed to 8:00 am on the same day.
  3. On Sept 13, Team A is scheduled to play Team B, and Team C has a bye that day. On Sept 20, Team C is scheduled to play Team B, and Team A has a bye that day. Change schedule so Team A has bye on Sept 20 and Team C has bye on Sept 13.

Examples of modifications that may NOT be allowed

  1. On a particular day the only scheduled games for a division are 8am Team A vs Team B and 9:30 am Team C vs Team D. The request is to change the 8am game to 11am.
  2. Proposed changes would result in Teams A and B playing each other 3 times while Team A only has 1 game with Team C.