Valley Athletic Association relies on dedicated volunteer coaches and additional volunteers to help run our sports programs. Each season, we look for motivated and conscientious individuals to assist with coaching our players. The success of our leagues depends on the commitment of our volunteer coaches, assistants, and team managers. To ensure the safety of our players, all volunteers in Pennsylvania must comply with PA ACT 15, which requires child abuse clearances and criminal background checks. These clearances are valid for 5 years and can be renewed up to 3 months before they expire.
Please follow the steps outlined below to coach and volunteer at VAA.
A. Get your clearances! There are 3 that you need:
1. PA CHILD ABUSE
Submit an online application at https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home and your results will take 2-3 weeks to be processed and mailed to you. You can also access the results or status of your application online. Download the report to your computer files. Save the expiration in your personal calendar.
2. PA CRIMINAL CHECK
Submit an online application at https://epatch.pa.gov/home and receive your results immediately. Download the report to your computer files. Save the expiration in your personal calendar.
3. CONCUSSION ONLINE TRAINING
All volunteers at VAA should know how to prevent and spot a concussion. Complete a 30-minute online training course at the CDC's Concussion Heads Up webpage and receive your certificate of completion.
B. Once you have all your clearances in PDF or JPG form, you can take the steps to upload them and submit them to VAA.
Effective July 1, 2024, VAA will be using a new secure platform where coaches and volunteers will upload and email their clearances to our membership coordinator Craig Mitchell. We are using this new service to monitor and track all coach and volunteer clearances. It only takes a few minutes to upload your clearances and this last step is mandatory. Make sure you have individual files in PDF or JPG format. These files need to be separate uploads.