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Incident Report Form

AYSO Incident Reports are a fact sheet to document that something critical has occurred. Filling out an Incident Report immediately after an injury, property damage or any other incident allows us to capture facts and contact information before witnesses leave the field.  Incident Reports are not only a best practice, but also required by AYSO National to ensure proper follow up can made.  They are also required in the event that a player's parent/guardian needs to file an insurance claim.

Incident Reports should be completed by a coach, AYSO official, or other volunteer who witnesses any serious incident. (The form should not be completed by the parent unless the parent is the coach.) Such incidents include, but are not limited to:

• Injuries*
• Threats of bodily harm
• Fighting whether or not a serious injury occurs
• Property damage
• Hospitalization of a participant
• Law enforcement summoned
• Service or notification of pending lawsuit

Completing an Incident Report is not limited to incidents involving players. The Incident Report should be completed for any incident involving any AYSO participant: players, coaches, referees, parents, volunteers and spectators.

*Injuries include, but are not limited to:

• ANY injury that causes a player to be removed from a game and prevents them from returning to the game
• ANY incident severe enough to require the participate to be seen by a doctor
• ANY incident causing the affected participate to bleed; ie. an abrasion

When an incident occurs, please complete an Incident Report form as soon as possible so that all information is fresh in everyone's mind, and to ensure that contact information for all witnesses is collected. Please notify Darryl Levi, Region 42 Safety Director.

Participation (Return to Play) Release

Anytime a player has suffered an illness or injury that required the care of a physician or visit to an emergency care facility, regardless of whether or not the cause was AYSO related, an AYSO Participation Release Form must be completed and signed by the player's parent or guardian and provided to the coach so that the coach is aware that the player can participate. The coach should then deliver the completed form to Darryl Levi, Region 42 Safety Director as soon as possible. It is recommended that the coach retain a copy of the completed form.

For example: A player misses a practice or game because a doctor ordered them to have no physical activity due to an asthma condition. The coach should provide a Participation Release Form to the parent or guardian of the player. The parent or guardian must complete the form before the player can participate again in AYSO activities. (A player that misses a game due to a cold that does not require a doctor's care does not require a form to be completed.)

Player General Release Form

A child should never be unsupervised at after an AYSO event; practices, games, etc. If parents want to permit their child to make their own way home, the coach should have this form on hand after it has been completed by the parent. This applies to players in any age division unless they are 18 years of age.

Goal Safety

The referees are tasked with checking that the goals are correctly assembled and secure prior to starting any game, not just the first one of the day. As a coach, why not check them yourselves. It only takes a few moments to ensure that the side pieces behind the posts have at least 2 stakes securely in place on each side. The net should be pulled pack and secured by 3 stakes. No need to stretch the net so tight that it acts like a trampoline. This is particularly important for you brave souls in 5U–8U where you might officiate your own game as well as coach it. Don't try and do everything yourself, instead, delegate an assistant coach to check the goals.

If you have the first game of the day, you will be responsible for assembling one of the goals (see instructions). Again, engage some of the parents to this task so that you can focus on the players. Click here for goal set up instructions. WARNING: From experience, 'mind yer fingers' when sliding the connector pieces together. It really hurts if you pinch any part of your hand. There should be a hammer in the bag. This is for banging down the stakes. It is not for putting the connector pieces together. If the pieces do not slide on by hand, please inform a board member to obtain a new piece.

During the game, keep an eye on your goalkeeper (no GK in 7U anymore). Not only have I seen them climbing on the nets but they also manage to poke their head through the netting and not able to escape when the ball approaches.