Coaching
How do I become a MRC Coach?
The process begins at registration, by registering yourself as a Head or Assistant Coach, indicates your interest in becoming a coach. By registering, this does not mean you are automatically a coach. It means that you are letting the sport know that you are interested in coaching that season. The next thing you must do is become certified.
MRC Coach Certification is accomplished by attending one a RUTGERS Coaching Certification Classes. The cost of the RUTGERS class is paid for by the prospective coach. The course is good forever and does not expire.
After you have completed your RUTGERS Class, you will need to complete an online concussion class certification (free).
Lastly, you will need to complete a background check (online and paid for by the MRC).
Once you have completed all training requirements and you have registered to coach, the final step to becoming a coach is to be chosen by the commissioner/coordinator of your sport with final endorsement by the Executive Board.
Some leagues are more stringent than others and may have additional requirements in order to become a coach. Coaches serve at the sole discretion of the sport. There is no "right" to be a coach, and your coaching privileges may be revoked at any time. Coaches are newly appointed every season with no implicit or explicit guarantee that a coach will be retained from one season to the next or from one sport to another.
Step 1: Visit the Registration page and register for each sport that you desire to coach. You must register to coach each season.
Step 2: Please visit Rutgers Youth Sports Research Council for upcoming virtual clinics hosted by other organizations if the MRC does not have any classes advertised..
Step 3: Complete the Center for Disease Control's - HEADS UP Free Online Concussion Training Course. Please click HERE.
Step 4: The MRC Safety Director will provide a link to a 3rd party vendor to complete your background check. Backgrounds checks are done every two years, if your check is not valid for the upcoming sport season.
Step 5: You must be selected to coach by the Sports Commissioner.
Step 6: The Sports Commissioner selects their coaches from the list of registered coaches to the Safety Director. The Safety Director validates the requirements are met and recommends the coach's list to the Executive Board for approval.
Why do coaches need to be certified?
In the state of New Jersey all volunteer coaches that are coaching for nonprofit organizations are protected from civil liabilities to incidents involving coaches, players and spectators at each and every practice, camp and game. The law that provides this protection is called “The New Jersey Little League Law” and the requirement to be covered under this law is that a volunteer coach for a nonprofit must have a current valid safety training certification. The RUTGERS class used by the MRC is approved and meets the qualifications for this requirement. Certifying our coaches provides both the coaches and the MRC with the immunity for civil liability protection under the New Jersey Little League Law.
Conversely school coaches and trainers are paid professional coaches and not covered under the New Jersey Little League Law. That is why trainers need to show proof of insurance as subcontractors. Without the proof of insurance (COI), no trainer should be allowed on our fields. For the school coaches, the schools that are paying them to coach must insure them for the coaching duties and bear the liability for any incidents that occur while performing those duties for the school. However the schools do not provide them with insurance if they are volunteering for the MRC.
So even though a school coach is more than qualified to provide volunteer coaching duties in the eye of a particular sport, while doing so they are a liability to both themselves and the organization (MRC) that they are volunteering to serve. Simply put, while providing that service, if one of the school coaches had an incident at one of our events both the coach and the MRC would have no coverage under the New Jersey Little League Law and subject to all of the liability in the event of a civil lawsuit.
So the reason that we, the MRC, require school coaches and all coaches to come in and get a RUTGERS Certification card is to insure that both the coach and the MRC are covered under the New Jersey Little League Law. Literally it is the only way to insure that we are protected.
I was not named a coach. Who do I appeal to?
Not being selected to coach is not subject to Grievance Committee review in the Marlton Recreation Council. Coaches serve at the sole discretion of the Sport Commissioner and every coach must be approved by the MRC Executive Board. Neither the Commissioner nor the Executive Board is under any obligation to explain or justify their decisions regarding the appointment of coaches.
I was subject to disciplinary action in one sport while coaching. Will that affect my ability to be a coach in other sports?
Yes and No. Our Commissioners and Executive Board share information about disciplinary actions regarding coaches, and this information may influence a Commissioners decision as to who they will submit for Executive Board approval as a candidate coach. However, the commissioner and executive board are under no obligation to use that information one way or another.
Marlton Recreation Council
(856) 988-4432
Mailing: PO Box 159, Marlton, NJ 08053
Office: 984 Tuckerton Rd, Second Floor, Marlton, NJ 08053
MRC Hall: 15 Oak Ave, Marlton, NJ 08053