If you're an AYC coach looking to purchase an individual course, click on the Add to Cart tab on the right.

If you're purchasing 25 or more courses, you’re entitled to volume discounts. To receive your volume discount, contact Jennifer Mulcahey at 800-747-5698, ext. 2304 or Jennifer Mulcahey.

Whether you are new to coaching cheer or just want to improve on last year, the second edition Coaching Youth Cheerleading: The AYC Way online course will provide you with the know-how for coaching success.

Due to today’s safety concerns for our AYF youth, all AYF football and cheer coaches are strongly advised to complete the online course for the sport they coach. The course includes $2 million extra liability coverage*—this is twice the amount offered by our competition! All tournament team coaches should be aware that a course completion certificate will be one of the items on the registration checklist for the AYF National Championships.

Developed by the American Sport Education Program (ASEP) in conjunction with American Youth Cheer, the course kicks off by examining some coaching principles designed to improve your skills in the areas of practice and competition-day planning, communication with squad members and parents, safety and first aid, and squad-member training to promote lifelong fitness.

In the second half of the course, you’ll learn the basic cheer techniques and how to teach them effectively. In an interactive format, you’ll see proper ways to perform various maneuvers and how they’re employed in routines.

Upon completing this course, you should be able to

• better understand your role as a coach (unit 1);
• communicate effectively with squad members and others in the cheerleading community (unit 2);
• understand the importance of rules and equipment (unit 3);
• provide a safe environment for your cheerleaders (unit 4);
• teach and shape cheerleading skills (unit 5);
• teach and shape cheer, sideline, and dance skills (unit 6);
• teach and shape partner stunt and pyramid skills (unit 7);
• teach and shape jump and stunt skills (unit 8);
• prepare season and practice plans (unit 9); and
• make the most of game and competition day (unit 10).

The course includes the e-book Coaching Youth Cheerleading, written by ASEP in conjunction with Varsity Brands. The book is presented within the course as a series of PDFs that coaches are instructed to read while progressing through the course. The course also features interactive activities and unit quizzes that put you in team and competition situations.

As we continue to learn more about the cumulative effects of head injuries, it’s of utmost importance that we properly prepare, protect, and instruct our youth participants to minimize their risk of injury. We’ve turned to the leading authority on concussions—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—for course content dedicated to the prevention, management, and treatment of concussions. As part of the final unit of the course, you’ll take the CDC’s Head’s Up: Concussion in Youth Sports course, used as a training resource for thousands of sport organizations across the country.

Another area in which our kids need absolute protection is against abuse and molestation. The final course unit also includes information from the AYF risk management policy encompassing criminal background checks, warning signs of and policies for addressing abuse or molestation, required procedures to follow in the event of an allegation, and communication advice surrounding these topics.

After completing course activities, you’ll take the 35-question online course test, which covers material from the book excerpts and the online course.