Coaches Resources
Coaches Training
USA Softball of Sacramento offers many resources to the coaches at the local level so they can learn to teach to the grassroots. Leagues and teams should use these resources to help with their practice planning and game management.
Take me to SOFTBOK
USA Softball of Sacramento is proud to offer SoftBOK™ free of charge to all the coaches in our program. SoftBOK™ is the ultimate education resource for fastpitch softball. It consists of empirical softball instruction and educational content derived from over 20 years of experience training athletes at all levels. SoftBOK™ content ranges from individual drills to complete organizational practice plans. Password: usasoftball23
USA Softball Resource Center
In partnership with USA Softball and MLB, Roseville Girls Softball provides coaches with an outstanding resource for coaches a the grassroots level.
Coaches Requirements
As the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, USA Softball has taken steps in an effort to protect the youth who participate in our sport. USA Softball of Sacramento requires the following from the coaches who participate in our program. The individual leagues and organizations are responsible for monitoring their own programs to ensure compliance.
Background Checks
USA Softball has retained the services of Protect Youth Sports to provide timely background check screenings and all of its background checks are processed online through RegisterUSASoftball.com. Background checks conducted by USA Softball are for the sole purpose of determining eligibility for USA Softball sanctioned events and are not used for employment screening.
USA Softball annually conducts more than 70,000 criminal background checks of its participants. Members who are background checked include adult non-players in youth play, umpires, scorekeepers, staff and other volunteers.
USA Softball of Sacramento coaches will complete all background checks through the individual registration process on RegisterUSA.
Mandate: Every coach participating in the youth program will complete a background check.
SafeSport Certification
SafeSport is the Olympic community’s initiative to recognize, reduce and respond to misconduct in sport. The six primary types of misconduct are: Bullying, Harassment, Hazing, Emotional Misconduct, Physical Misconduct, and Sexual Misconduct, including Child Sexual Abuse.
Safesport discusses how to recognize these types of misconduct and also the process for coaches to report this behavior.
The online Safesport training program is available to all members of USA Softball and the course can be taken by first logging in to the RegisterUSA Softball website and then accessing the SafeSport option under the ACE Education tab.
The cost for Safesport is free for all coaches who participate in a National Governing Body organization.
Mandate: Every coach participating in Championship play in the youth program will complete Safesport.
ACE Program
The ACE (Aspire, Challenge, Encourage) Coaching Program is a coaching education program, developed and designed to provide softball coaches of all levels – from beginning coaches to experienced veterans – an opportunity to be educated as a coach with a national softball organization.
As the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, it is USA Softball’s responsibility to ensure that our coaches achieve a certain level of understanding of what their duties are as coach of a youth softball team. The ACE Education videos and training materials serve as practical guides to the everyday situations you will encounter as a youth softball coach. After obtaining your ACE education, you will be well prepared to coach a youth softball team.
The cost for ACE Education is as follows: $25.00 for Level 1; $20:00 for all other levels.
Mandate: One coach per team participating in Championship Play in the youth program will complete ACE.
Concussion Training
California Assembly Bill 2007 requires softball leagues and organizations to:
• Remove an athlete who may have a concussion during a practice or game to be removed from the activity for the remainder of the day.
• Any athlete removed for this reason must receive a written clearance note from a medical doctor trained in the management of concussion before returning to practice, and after completion of the Return to Learn and Return to Play Protocols.
• Before an athlete can start the season and begin practice in a sport, a concussion information sheet must be signed and returned to the league by the parent/guardian.
• Provide all coaches and administrators with training on concussions, and document completion and understanding of this training.
CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT
CANRA’s primary intent is to protect children from abuse and neglect. Pursuant to CANRA, many individuals working with sports clubs in California are classified as mandated reporters. (See Pen. Code, § 11165.7, subds. (a)(7)-(8).) If confronted with reasonable suspicion of child abuse, mandated reporters are required to immediately report to a local law enforcement or child welfare agency. (Id., § 11166, subd. (a).) Additionally, all local sports clubs or organizations must obtain and retain a signed statement from all employees who are mandated reporters acknowledging their CANRA reporting duties as a prerequisite to employment. (Id.,
§ 11166.5, subds. (a)(1)-(2)) And employers are “strongly encouraged” to provide relevant training to their employees. (Id., § 11165.7, subd. (c)(1).) While volunteers with such organizations are not technically mandated reporters, they are encouraged to report child abuse or neglect, and organizations are encouraged to provide training to them.
