Coaches build a sense of community and spirit within their teams and your squad. Prior experience is helpful, but the only requirement is to lead youth as their mentor and hero. We provide the training, equipment and resources to help you prepare and succeed as a Y coach.
All volunteers, including coaches, must pass a background screening.
Fred Manyawu
A volunteer coach for YMCA Challenger sport programs for basketball and soccer.
Spring of 2013
My family and I started looking at local gyms so that my kids could find a youth program to participate in sports, and I also needed to get back in shape. The Y was a perfect fit from day one and reasonably priced.
When my kids enrolled in soccer, I wasn’t too involved with practice or games. One time, I attended a practice session and the level of coaching wasn’t what I expected from paid coaching staff—I wasn’t aware that the coaching staff were just individuals volunteering their time. When I talked to my wife, she gave me the revelation and from that point on, I knew I had to get involved. Once I signed on to coach one session, I realized I was spending more time with my family doing something we all liked. The impact I was making to the other young men and women that I was coaching resulted in me signing on for coaching basketball as well. I have been volunteering my time to coach YMCA Challenger sport programs for soccer and basketball ever since. Coupled with a passion for teaching and having been involved in sports all my life, the need to share those experiences to our young people motivates me. I believe the biggest impact we can make is developing our youth to be health conscious and be socially responsible at a very young age. I find the Y’s cause to be in line with my belief system, and it’s very easy for me to try and make a contribution to that cause. The satisfaction to the whole volunteer process comes from when parents and kids request to be on your roster.
Get involved. The best way to spend time with your family and build lasting relationships is to get involved and stop complaining on the sidelines that something is not done properly. The Y provides you the opportunities to meet all kinds of people from all walks of life, it just takes one hour and 15 minutes a week of your time to do something for someone else.
Find a coaching opportunity and apply online to become a coach. All coaches must complete a background check. Training and resources are provided.