Why must all coach, assistant coach, referee and board member volunteers provide their social security numbers, birth dates, and driver’s license numbers on their volunteer applications?
It is for the safety of our children. Recent articles in the media have established that youth sports generally present an increasingly enticing target for predators. AYSO conducts criminal background checks on coach, assistant coach, referee and board member volunteers. A volunteer’s social security number, date of birth, and driver’s license number are necessary to ensure the viability of the background check. Collecting this information serves AYSO on two fronts. First, it helps ensure that we exclude those with the highest potential for harm to our children, and, equally important, it helps us avoid excluding a good and valuable volunteer due to mistaken identity. This information, which is collected and managed by our region’s Child and Volunteer Protection Advocate (CVPA), will be kept confidential. The CVPA uses it to run background checks and copies of the volunteer forms are securely archived by National AYSO. We respect that some people may refuse to supply their information.
