AYSO's Safe Haven

Go HERE to take the AYSO Online Safe Haven Training. (See bottom of this page for information on how to register to take Safe Haven)

Safe Haven^®Child & Volunteer Protection

Volunteers are the lifeblood of AYSO Region 800. To ensure the safety of both children and volunteers, each volunteer is required to take a short in-person or online training session called Safe Haven. It focuses on safety and appropriate behavior with children as well as other on-field issues. Agreeing to a background check is also required for each volunteer.

Becoming Safe Haven^® certified may take a little time, but AYSO families know their children's safety is worth it.

Safe Haven^® is both a child and volunteer protection program. It was the first of its kind in youth sports.

The child protection aspect is intended to prevent child abuse, promote education and awareness, enforce policies and screen and train volunteers. It includes proactive steps that promote a positive, healthy environment for children.

Volunteer protection is the result of volunteer training, certification and continuing education. The Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 provides certain legal protections for volunteers who have been trained and certified and act in accordance with a written job description and AYSO's policies and guidelines.

What is Safe Haven^®

AYSO’s Safe Haven^® program is designed to address the growing need for Child and Volunteer Protection in youth sports. The components of the program help create a safe, fun, fair and positive environment - “safe haven” - for all participants.

What are the Safe Haven^® program components?

Registering and Screening All Volunteers
AYSO requires all volunteers to complete a volunteer application every year and agree to background investigations. References are checked for all brand new volunteers and every volunteer is subject to screening for sex offender registration and criminal convictions according to AYSO’s National Criminal Background Check Policy.

Training and Certification
In order to ensure the fulfillment of AYSO’s vision and the protection of volunteers and players, every volunteer is required to take AYSO’s Safe Haven training and be properly trained for their jobs (job training). AYSO’s in-house certification program provides every volunteer with the highest level of training at the lowest possible cost and features child-centric curriculum, age and developmentally appropriate activities and AYSO certified instructors.

Child and Volunteer Protection Guidelines
AYSO’s protection guidelines are designed to prevent opportunities for abuse to occur while minimizing opportunities for volunteers to be misunderstood or falsely accused. The guidelines hold coaches responsible for all players, for maintaining supervision protocols and maintaining appropriate adult/child boundaries.

Safety and Injury Prevention
All volunteers are asked to help promote safety and injury prevention by recognizing common emergency medical conditions, risks associated with environmental hazards, weather conditions, field conditions and equipment.

For More Information about Safe Haven^® and our Safety Program, and to learn how you CAN HELP, contact one of our board member.

How to Register for Safe Haven:

Here is the process start to finish:

1. Go into eAYSO and login with the same information that you used to sign up your child for soccer. Once you're in, the first page should have an option to "Apply as a new adult (or youth) volunteer," and complete that volunteer application. (You must e-sign the document to complete the process.)

2. You're almost done. Before logging out of eAYSO, look up your AYSO ID Number**. Go to the eAYSO home, click on "Update Volunteer information." The page that comes up will show your AYSO ID number. Write that 8 digit number down and log out. (**In some cases, a volunteer must go through the approval process before they are issued an AYSO ID #.)

3. Next go to https://www.aysotraining.org/ to take SafeHaven Training. Enter your name and AYSO ID number and log-in. Scroll down and you'll see a "Start Now" button for SafeHaven training on the lower left. Click "Course MT02 - AYSO's Safe Haven" This is a 60-70 minute course with video and questions. Once you finish the course, it will be automatically recorded on your AYSO volunteer record and you'll be good for a while.