How to become a volunteer coach with St Mirren Youth Football Club

Volunteering your time in grassroots football is a big commitment and responsibility, especially in light of Child Protection and Mental Health & Wellbeing. We need a lot of different skill-sets with our volunteers – good communication skills, good interpersonal and social skills, as well as good organisational skills. The Club are always looking for support for people to become Team Secretary’s, First Aiders, Coaches and Team Helpers.

You might have what we need – however ask yourself: “What can I give to St Mirren Youth Football Club”?

Get Qualified for Coaching

If you want to volunteer to help the Club or be part of our community of qualified coaches then the best place to start is here, before completing your free Child Wellbeing and Mental Health in Scottish Football Courses.

You may already have a Coach ID, if so pass on your details to Your Team Secretary, who will ask you to provide two SYFA References to get the ball rolling. If not, please follow the instructions below.

If you need to Create A New Account, please Register a new MyComet account here.

Creating a MyComet account means you will provide your personal information, e.g. – First & Last Names, Address, Postcode, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Nationality, email address & at least one telephone contact number into the Scottish FA Comet system.

2. You may need to verify your MyComet account by reacting to the email the system sends to you – please take note of the email address or username you use to create the MyComet account as this will be your access into the system – and take note of the Password the system generates for you, or change it to something you will remember.

3. You must Complete your free Children’s Wellbeing in Scottish Football e-Learning – this can be found in ‘Courses’ in your MyComet account.

4. You must Complete your free Mental Health in Scottish Football E-Learning Course – this can be found in ‘Courses’ in your MyComet account.

5. Once you have completed these Courses successfully, you need to contact your Team Manager and Club PVG Representative and provide proof of the CW & MH module certificates to them.

6. You can now to organise two references using a Scottish Football Reference Template – your Team Manager will forward you this document. Your referees must be someone that knows you personally and possibly your most recent employer or team leader. References cannot be submitted verbally and cannot be from a club official or family member.

Your Referees must email the completed reference templates to the Club email address – SoccerSchool@StMirrenYFC.org Once in receipt of two clean references, the Club PVG Rep’s will interview you, ask if you have an existing PVG and discuss registering your details as ENTERED into the Scottish FA Comet system.

The Club will need a note of your Date of Birth to find you in the Scottish FA Comet system.

While awaiting the References, you will be asked to provide one Photo ID and one Proof of Address (printed or typed, within three months old) OR three Proofs of Address if no Photo ID.

7. You will then need to log-in to your MyComet account and sign off your Self Declarations in the Events section. At this point you need to have provided the Club with proof of your E-Learning Certificates, Identification documents and two References.

8. You then need to log-in to your MyComet account and ‘book’ an appropriate PVG. This is done through the ‘Courses’ section. Search for ‘PVG’ and select the appropriate one, in general:

Choose PVG (Children) – if you are going to work with children.
Choose PVG (Protected Adults) – if you are going to work with porotected adults (vulnerable people aged 16 years old and over).
Choose PVG (Children and Adults) – if you are going to be a First Aider (you need to be able to apply first aid to players, coaches, officials and spectators).

Select as appropriate and click on ‘Apply’ and work through the questionnaire.

Once this is done, let the Club PVG Rep’s know, who will then organise your Grassroots Football PVG. The Club need a note of any existing PVG membership number, which will be cross referenced with the new football related one.

You cannot be involved in regulated work or volunteering with children, young people and vulnerable groups, if you do not sign off your Self Declarations and receive an approved PVG.

Next stage will be you checking for an email from Disclosure Scotland asking you to complete your application by following a link to confirm your details. You have seven days to complete this task – so check your ‘junk’ mail folders regularly. If this is done correctly you should receive your PVG Certificate within a month. Let your Team Secretary and or the Club PVG Rep know you have received it. The Scottish Youth FA will receive a copy and decide to approve it or not.

9.  Once the Scotttish Youth FA approve your football PVG, the Team Manager will then organise a Coach Registration Form. You need to sign this form digitally and return to the Club email address to authenticate your connection to the Club. On receipt of your signed form, the Club then upload this to your profile which is SUBMITTED into the Scottish FA Comet system.

10. When your Registration is CONFIRMED with the Club, t this point you are able to start coaching.

11. Remember ‘applicants’ are NOT permitted to volunteer with the Club until your Self Declarations are completed and your PVG has been approved and confirmed by the Scottish Youth FA.

Please note it is a criminal offence to be involved in regulated work or volunteering with children, young people and vulnerable groups, if you do not have an authorised PVG.

Scottish FA Coach Education

Typically, all volunteers start off as Team Helpers. If you are keen to ‘coach’ you may want to acquire some Scottish FA Coach Education courses and register for an Introduction to Coaching Course*

*Payment is made by YOU for Coach Education courses and can be claimed back via your Team Funds, if available.

To be kept up to speed by the Coach Education department, please ensure your contact information is up to date on ScottishFAcomet.co.uk You are really only considered a ‘Coach’ by the football authorities when you have completed a Level 1.2 course on the Children’s Pathway. If you desire to coach at Youth and Adult standard, you will require a Level 1.3 qualification on that pathway.