For Coaches & Organizations · Raising Athletes

For coaches & leaders

Coach Development Resource Library

A league should not have to choose between finding enough volunteers and preparing those volunteers well. The strongest systems establish a realistic common foundation, add sport-specific education, and continue supporting coaches after the first practice.

Resource	What it provides	Best starting use
Million Coaches Challenge	Free evidence-based practice guide and 12 strategies for youth development	All youth coaches and mentors
Positive Coaching Alliance	Short online courses and workshops for coaches, parents, athletes, and leaders	Culture, communication, and character
NFHS Learning Center	Fundamentals of Coaching and sport-, safety-, and school-based courses	Middle- and high-school coaches
U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee	Quality Coaching Framework, education, and athlete-development resources	Coach developers and program leaders
USA Baseball Develops	Certification pathways, education, drills, and practice-planning tools	Baseball and softball communities
U.S. Center for SafeSport	Abuse-prevention education and resources for parents and sport organizations	Every youth-serving organization

Build a simple league-wide pathway

Set minimum annual requirements: screening, conduct, safety, and emergency procedures.
Choose one shared youth-development course so every coach begins with common language.
Add one sport-specific skills module and a practical preseason clinic.
Give new coaches a mentor, sample practice plans, and a person to call when challenges arise.
Observe, offer feedback, track completion, and recognize coaches who keep learning.

Youth development and positive culture

School and sport-specific education

Safety and parent partnership

Each organization should also confirm the background-check, abuse-prevention, concussion, CPR/AED, emergency-action-plan, and reporting requirements that apply to its sport and governing body.

For coaches & leaders

High School + Community League Partnership Playbook

High-school programs and local youth leagues can strengthen one another without turning childhood sports into an early recruiting pipeline. The objective is belonging, skill development, role models, and a connected community. It is not identifying the "best" children as early as possible.

Practical ways to connect

Hold one annual planning meeting among high-school coaches, athletic leaders, and local league directors.
Invite community coaches to a preseason clinic or age-appropriate practice observation.
Have varsity and junior-varsity athletes assist at youth clinics, mentor younger players, or participate in youth nights under adult supervision.
Share teaching vocabulary, age-appropriate priorities, and practice ideas without forcing every program into one rigid system.
Coordinate calendars where possible to protect multisport participation and reduce unnecessary conflicts.
Share facilities, equipment, athletic-training knowledge, and guest instruction when practical.
Make recreation, beginners, late starters, and athletes with different goals visible in the partnership, not only future varsity players.

Guardrails that keep it child-centered

Follow every organization's screening, supervision, transportation, communication, and safeguarding policies.
Do not use clinics or mentoring to recruit, poach, rank, or pressure younger children.
Keep access open and communicate opportunities consistently to families.
Measure success through participation, retention, relationships, coach growth, and athlete experience, not only wins or varsity placement.

For coaches & leaders

Put Local Knowledge to Work

Many communities already have experienced coaches, former athletes, educators, health professionals, officials, and program leaders who would help if the invitation were specific and manageable. An expert does not need to run a team for an entire season to make a meaningful contribution.

Small commitments, real value

Lead one 60-minute preseason clinic for volunteer coaches.
Create or review a small library of age-appropriate practice plans.
Mentor two or three new coaches and provide a midseason check-in.
Host office hours or a roundtable for common coaching challenges.
Offer an injury-prevention, mental-health, nutrition, officiating, or inclusion workshop within professional scope.
Run a guest practice or youth clinic alongside the regular coaches.
Use a train-the-trainer model so knowledge stays in the league after one event.

A community coaching skills bank

Local organizations could maintain a simple shared list of people willing to contribute one to three hours per season. Record their sport or area of expertise, age groups, availability, preferred role, credentials where relevant, and required screening status. League leaders can then match real needs with people ready to help.

The invitation

"You have knowledge that could make youth sports better. Would you be willing to teach one clinic, mentor one coach, review one practice plan, or connect one program with a useful resource this season?"

For organizations

Build a Stronger Local Sports Community

A strong community offers more than an elite pathway. It creates multiple entry points, keeps local programs healthy, supports trained coaches, welcomes late starters, protects multisport participation, and connects families with trustworthy information.

Community questions

Can families easily understand every local option available to their child?
Where can beginners and late starters enter?
Can leagues and schools coordinate schedules to protect multisport participation?
How can organizations share coach education, health expertise, facilities, and communication?
Which local organizations are ready to endorse and implement the Children's Bill of Rights?

For organizations

Make the Children's Bill of Rights a Community Standard

The Children's Bill of Rights does not require every organization to operate the same way. It gives leagues, clubs, schools, recreation providers, municipalities, coaches, and families a shared starting point for what every child should be able to expect from sports. Endorsing it is a public commitment to use the eight rights as a lens for programming, policies, coaching, communication, and future decisions.

You would not be doing this alone

Hundreds of organizations, athletes, municipalities, and youth-serving groups have endorsed the Children's Bill of Rights nationally. Examples include the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, Little League International, USA Baseball, USA Hockey, U.S. Soccer Federation, U.S. Tennis Association, PGA of America, YMCA of the USA, National Recreation and Park Association, UNICEF USA, ESPN, DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation, TeamSnap, and the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.

In 2026, Project Play Southeast Michigan launched a regional commitment with the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, Detroit Sports Commission, Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, and Detroit Red Wings. The regional effort is inviting youth sports organizations, schools, municipalities, coaches, and community leaders to join them.

The easy button for your organization

Project Play has already built the framework, implementation resources, and communications tools. Your organization does not need to invent a new youth sports philosophy or create a new program from scratch.

Review the eight rights with your board or leadership team and confirm that they reflect the experience you want children to have.
Get the internal approval needed to publicly endorse the Children's Bill of Rights in Sports.
Complete the Project Play endorsement process and add your organization's name to the movement.
Use the existing program resources to review policies, coach education, parent communication, safety, athlete voice, and developmentally appropriate play.
Share the endorsement with families using Project Play's existing communications and Champion Toolkit materials.
Keep using the eight rights as a practical lens for future decisions. Endorsement is a starting point; implementation can continue over time.

Start here

A simple local challengeIf your organization serves young athletes, review the eight rights, talk about them with your leadership, and consider adding your endorsement. A shared community standard becomes meaningful when more of us choose to use it.

Take one step

What You Can Do Next

As a coach or volunteer

Explain your coaching and development philosophy to families.
Create age-appropriate opportunities for athlete voice and ownership.
Review how your practices, communication, and playing opportunities reflect the eight rights.
Set clear expectations for parent conduct and communication.
Endorse the Children's Bill of Rights and use it in team orientation.

As an organization

Formally endorse the Children's Bill of Rights.
Incorporate the rights into coach training, parent communication, and program evaluation.
Adopt a common coach-development pathway and support new coaches with mentors and practice tools.
Identify barriers preventing children from entering or staying in the program.
Protect recreational, local, multisport, and late-entry pathways.
Build one working partnership with a school team, health professional, or neighboring league.

As a high-school coach, athlete, or local expert

Offer one clinic, mentoring hour, practice visit, or shared resource this season.
Invite community programs into appropriate team traditions and events.
Build relationships that support every child, not only athletes projected for a future roster.
Help create a local coaching skills bank so expertise can be matched with real community needs.