Youth Coaches Academy Info

Why Youth Coaches?

America SCORES and IFC have launched an ambitious new program to train students between the ages of 14 and 24 to serve as assistant and co-coaches for SCORES and IFC youth teams.

The Youth Coach Academy is directed by Program Director Roberto Gil.

The Youth Coaching Academy was created to build the pool of people who can run successful, meaningful soccer practices and enrichment activities. The more caring, competent, coaches we have, the more children we will be able to serve in the seasons ahead.

Likewise, we want to help older students—especially alumni of the SCORES program— learn new career and life skills to help them succeed in their paths forward. The Academy has expanded to include students from outside the SCORES community as well, bringing a rich diversity to the coaching pool.  

READ MORE about the Coaches and Academy Program….

The current trainee class of 21 is now taking part in a 12-week series of online and in-person training sessions on topics such as cultural competencies around diversity, inclusion, and cultural humility. Coaches learn how to create engaging practices designed to develop players’ soccer skills, critical thinking, understanding, and performance through the US GrassRoots Curriculum. 

And they’re learning the big hook: fun. It’s all about creating a positive team environment, actively involving players in the learning process to enhance their task mastery and conceptual understanding.  “We want to make sure that Youth Coaches have a positive experience at every step of the process and gain the confidence and competence to run high-quality soccer practices and enrichment activities,” says Roberto.

The trainees receive a motivational stipend or community service hours they may need to fulfill graduation requirements.

High school students Daniela Hernandez, Vittoria Volpi, and Elodie Griffin-Schmidt are the student leaders or "captains" for this year's cohort of youth coaches.  They help Roberto and SCORES program coordinator Amber Calderon run the training sessions. Amber supports the three capatains in their own progress as coach leaders and student athletes.

The decision to include high-school coaches in the Coaching Academy was deliberate, designed to leverage energetic youth gaining job skills and experience with adult professionals or parent volunteers providing an extra layer of support and program and team management. “The younger players respond really well to high schoolers—in many cases better than they respond to an older coach or parent coach,” says Roberto.  

Stefano Alberti is a parent coach for an IFC team of fifth-grade boys. Elodie Griffin-Schmidt has been their youth coach since the boys were third graders. “The team loves Coach Elodie! She brings the perfect mix of soccer seriousness and fun attitude that gets the kids to enjoy themselves and not even realize how hard they’re working.”

Daniela Hernandez is a SCORES alum and now lead youth trainer. She first joined SCORES in elementary school at E.R. Taylor and has since helped coach teams at E.R. Taylor and Moscone Elementary. She’s discovered that the skills she’s learning through the Coaching Academy are transferable to her studies in the Teacher Academy at Lincoln High School. “I’ve learned a lot about time management, and I’ve become much more comfortable working with younger children,” Daniela says. “Being comfortable and confident in yourself is one of the most important things to have as a coach, especially when working with students. I want to show them it’s OK to make mistakes—I still make them too—and you can still be learning and growing.”

For Elodie Griffin-Schmidt, training new coaches allows her to exponentially expand access to a game she loves. “The culture of pay-to-play soccer is very exclusive, and it only allows for a certain kind of player to secure the highest level of training experience. IFC competes at the same level as the other clubs do, but has a much broader outreach to players who normally would be shut out because of financial limitations. It’s something I think is really important, and being able to make a positive impact on someone else’s life is powerful in my own life.” 

Vittoria (VV) Volpi has thrived coaching young players and training youth coaches through the Coaching Academy. “The idea of mixing leadership with the opportunity to play soccer was super interesting to me, and I wanted to learn as much as I could. Coaching has opened up so much for me. It’s taught me different forms of communication, professionalism, persistence, organization skills, and real practical information on how to properly coach.”

Keeping sessions fun and uplifting has been a priority, especially during the pandemic. “We do everything possible to make our sessions engaging, but also fun, because at the end of the day soccer is something you should be passionate about, and we don’t want to get in the way of that,” VV says. 

New trainee Luca Ortona, a ninth-grader at International High School concurs. “It’s fantastic!” he enthuses.“I like looking at things from different perspectives and points of view. Growing up in multiple places—Rome, Brussels, Tel Aviv, and San Francisco—my eyes have been opened to different cultures and ways of thinking, and the Coaching Academy extends that.” He adds, “It’s offering me another way to look at and understand how I’m being coached as a player. I’m usually skeptical when a new coach comes on board, but now I’m in that position, and I’m thinking about how my players might be receiving and interpreting what I’m sharing with them.” By coaching, he is learning how to be empathetic.

The need for SCORES and IFC programs is anticipated to grow as more families struggle economically in the wake of the pandemic.  The Youth Coaches allow our young players to get an amazing and fun soccer experience. The Youth Coaches are an important resource that will help us extend the reach of volunteers and staff, and in turn, allow more kids to access the beautiful game.