The Youth Program                                     

The USA Softball youth program, also known as the Junior Olympic (JO) program, is among the nation's largest youth sports organization.  

The USA Softball youth program provides recreational and competitive opportunities for boys and girls in both fast and slow pitch. Whether a player views softball as a new sport to learn, as a way to have fun with friends, or as a path to the Olympics, the USA Softball youth program has something for them. Foremost, the goal of the USA Softball youth program is to help aspiring young softball athletes learn a sport they can enjoy for a lifetime in a positive, safe, and supportive environment.

ABOUT RegisterUSASoftball.com

MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION

RegisterUSASoftball.com is the online membership website for USA Softball. The system is operated out of the national office in Oklahoma City, OK, and support is provided by both the national office and the State or Metro USA Softball office.

Many leagues and teams come to RegisterUSASoftball.com to register their individuals before participating in USA Softball events such as tournaments, league play, clinics and other events.

RegisterUSASoftball.com is administrator-based, i.e. each team or league has an administrator that processes his player, coach, staff and volunteer registrations. On teams, the Head Coach is usually the administrator although he can delegate that responsibility to another person associated with the team.

Leagues will designate one person as the League Administrator. League Administrators can upload their members using an Excel file.

Each administrator is responsible for providing required documentation, invoice(s) and payment to one of the USA Softball’s State or Metro associations.

NOTE: Some associations don’t use RegisterUSASoftball.com for individual registration. Requirements and fees for registration are determined by each State or Metro association. Please check with your association before you begin so you’re aware of all requirements, fees and payment types (some associations allow PayPal transactions) to make the registration process as easy as possible.

The USA Softball State or Metro association receives payment for registrations and approves the members of the league or team. Once approved, the administrators have access to insurance certificates and teams get rosters. ID cards for all approved members are shipped from the national office directly to the administrators. Cards are normally shipped the first business day after approval by their commissioner.

Administrators can at any time return to the site to add new members (invoicing and payment apply) to their league or team. On teams, once the new members get approved the administrator will have the option to print an updated roster.

BACKGROUND CHECKS

Protect Youth Sports is USA Softball’s background check provider. Background checks are processed through RegisterUSASoftball.com. In some cases background checks are a mandatory part of registration or ACE Education, however only one background check is needed for each person on an annual basis. For instance, if an individual coach creates a profile on RegisterUSASoftball.com and processes his own background check (using credit card for payment) once he receives clearance for the background check that same clearance can be used for his ACE and for his team or league registration.

NOTE: It is important when this occurs that the coach communicate his member ID to the team or league with which he wishes to register so that another background check is not processed.

ACE COACHING EDUCATION

The ACE Coaching Education program is provided to any coach through RegisterUSASoftball.com. In some cases, ACE education is a requirement before participation in USA Softball play is allowed. Coaches normally log in to take the ACE exam using a username and password (if a profile already exists from a previous ACE or from a registration). After purchase a clear USA Softball background check is required before access to the ACE program is allowed.

Coaching instructions are provided in short video clips categorized by topic which are then followed by an on-screen question and answer section. The ACE exam will be complete once all questions are answered correctly.

NOTE: All missed questions are presented at the end of the exam to allow the coach to review the question again and answer correctly.

Each coach who successfully completes ACE receives an ID card, with background check clearance noted on the card. Level 1 coaches also receive an ACE manual in CD-Rom format. All ACE exams expire on December 31 each year.

It is necessary for each coach to retake the test each year in order to maintain an active ACE status for the current season.