2026 MSHYB Coach's Registration and Certification

All individuals interested in coaching in MSHYB must go through an annual registration and certification process. All steps must be completed before you may help out during practices or games. Please read through these instructions carefully to make sure you complete all steps. As a reminder, there were several important changes to the process last year:

Effective with the 2025 season, Babe Ruth League (our chartering organization) requires all coaches, regardless of experience or prior training, to complete online coach training through its education partner, Human Kinetics. This training is a one-time requirement and will be valid for as long as you are a coach for MSHYB. Only coaches who did not complete this course last year must complete it now.

As a result, MSHYB is no longer accepting coach training offered by NAYS to satisfy the coach education requirement under New Jersey state law. The Millburn Recreation Department will continue to use NAYS to satisfy this requirement, so if you coach other sports for the Rec Department, you may decide to keep your NAYS membership active, although this is not an MSHYB requirement.

Concussion awareness training is required every three years, rather than the previous annual requirement. Anyone who was certified as an MSHYB coach during 2024 or 2025 may rely on their NAYS or CDC HEADS UP concussion training to satisfy this requirement for 2026. New coaches and coaches required to renew this training must complete the CDC’s HEADS UP concussion training course to satisfy this requirement.

MSHYB’s live certification sessions will be held in person at the Bauer Center rather than via Zoom. Immediately following these sessions, we will be offering a “Coaching the Coaches” clinic. These voluntary clinics will focus on helping you become a more effective coach. (See below for details.)

SUMMARY OF STEPS TO BE COMPLETED:

 

Step 1: Register online as a coach with MSHYB (all coaches). Please CLICK HERE to access the 2026 MSHYB coach’s registration platform via SportsEngine, where you will provide background information, review required documents and provide required authorizations. Make sure you use your own SportsEngine account to complete the coaching registration, not your spouse’s account; if you don’t have an account, please create your own before proceeding with registration. Once you have successfully completed registration, you will immediately receive a confirmation email from our system.  IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION EMAIL WITH THE SUBJECT “2026 COACH REGISTRATION CONFIRMATION,” YOU DID NOT REGISTER CORRECTLY. A successful registration does not mean that you have been certified as a coach by MSHYB. You must also complete all other steps.

Step 2: Create a Babe Ruth League coach/volunteer safety membership (all coaches). Each year, Babe Ruth League requires all new and returning coaches to have a current “coach membership” which allows for better tracking of compliance with Babe Ruth League’s safety program. This membership is created automatically as part of the registration process in Step 1. After you have reviewed and confirmed your information at the end of the coach’s registration process, click on “continue to check out”. (There is no cost for this membership.) At this point, your profile within your SportsEngine account will automatically populate with your compliance status with Babe Ruth League’s coach education, background check and child abuse prevention training requirements (Steps 4, 5 and 6). To access this information, click on “View my account” and then click on “2025-26 Coach Membership” under “Memberships”.

Step 3: Complete Babe Ruth League Child Protection Program Acknowledgment. Babe Ruth League requires all coaches to complete the Babe Ruth League Child Protection Program Acknowledgment (one-time requirement). If you haven’t done this as part of a previous registration, the Acknowledgment will be in your SportsEngine account under “2025-26 Coach Membership”.

 

Step 4: Complete Babe Ruth League’s mandatory online coach training course (one-time requirement). Effective 2025, Babe Ruth League requires all coaches to complete the online course Coaching Youth Baseball the Babe Ruth League Way through Human Kinetics. Only new coaches who did not complete this course last year must complete it now. Under “2025-26 Coach Membership”, click on “Complete Certification” next to “Coaching Education Certification”. You will be asked to upload your completion certificate, which you will receive once you finish the course. The one-time cost of the course is $19.95 and is payable online directly to Human Kinetics by credit card; unlike NAYS, there is no annual renewal fee. Before continuing with the course, please read the important details at the bottom of this page on accessing and completing this training

Step 5: Authorize Babe Ruth League to complete a background check (if required). Babe Ruth League requires all member leagues to use its safety partner, SportsEngine/NCSI, to perform background checks of coaches and other volunteers every two years. Background checks are authorized online directly with SportsEngine/NCSI. The cost of the background check is $25.50 and is payable online directly to SportsEngine/NCSI by credit card. Per Babe Ruth League guidelines, a background check is valid for two years.

 

You can find your current background check status under “2025-26 Coach Membership”. If your profile indicates that the background screening is required or your previous screening has expired or will expire soon, please click on the “Complete Screening” link to authorize the background check. In general, this will include coaches who have not previously coached in MSHYB and returning coaches who authorized a background check in 2024. If your background screening will expire later in the 2026 season, you will receive a reminder to authorize the background check 60 days before expiration.

  • A background check may only be authorized for the owner of the SportsEngine account. Make sure you are logged in to your account.
  • After providing the required information, authorizations and acknowledgments, you will be asked to submit your payment.

 

Step 6: Complete the mandatory child abuse prevention training (if required). Babe Ruth League requires all coaches and other volunteers to complete this training through SportsEngine/Abuse Prevention Systems every two years. The cost of this training is covered as part of the background check fee above. Per Babe Ruth League guidelines, the child abuse prevention training is valid for two years. 

 

If your profile under “2025-26 Coach Membership” indicates that the Abuse Prevention Systems training is incomplete, has expired or will expire soon, please click on the “Complete Certification” link to complete the training and take a quiz. In general, this will include coaches who have not previously coached in MSHYB and returning coaches who completed the training in 2024. If your training will expire later in the 2026 season, you will receive a reminder to complete the training 60 days before expiration.

 

Step 7: Satisfy the mandatory concussion awareness training requirement (all coaches). This training must be completed by all coaches every three years. As mentioned above, we now use the CDC’s HEADS UP concussion training program.

  • If you were a certified MSHYB coach in 2024, the NAYS concussion awareness training you completed in 2024 satisfies this requirement for 2026. You will next need to complete concussion awareness training in 2027 via the CDC’s HEADS UP program.
  • If you were a certified MSHYB coach in 2025 but not in 2024, the CDC concussion awareness training you completed in 2025 satisfies this requirement for 2026 and 2027. You will next need to complete concussion awareness training in 2028 via the CDC’s HEADS UP program.
  • If you were not a certified coach in 2024 or 2025, you must complete the CDC's HEADS UP to Youth Sports Coaches Online Concussion Training. Please CLICK HERE to open the training or copy the URL into your browser to access it later. Before continuing with the training, please read the important details at the bottom of this page on completing this training. Once you are done, please make sure you forward your completion certificate to coaching@mshyb.com.

 

Step 8: Attend one of MSHYB’s mandatory in-person coach’s certification sessions. Each coach must attend one of the two scheduled certification sessions, which will cover league structure, safety, schedules, practices, playing rules, etc. These sessions will be held in person at the Bauer Center rather than via Zoom.

  • Session 1: Saturday, February 28, 8:30am-9:45am; please arrive by 8:15am to check in
  • Session 2: Sunday, March 22, 8:30am-9:45am; please arrive by 8:15am to check in

MSHYB will be offering a “Coaching the Coaches” clinic run by professional coaches from Zoned Sports Academy, a baseball training facility in Bridgewater, immediately following each of these sessions. These 75-minute clinics will provide our coaches with instruction on how to teach baseball fundamentals, run effective practices and manage a group of young players. Attendance is voluntary but strongly encouraged for anyone looking to become a more effective coach. Available spaces are extremely limited, with advanced registration required. CLICK HERE to register. 

 

If you have any questions on the coach’s registration and certification process, please email us at coaching@mshyb.com. 

Additional Details on Completing Coaching Youth Baseball the Babe Ruth League Way Course

 

Once you complete the MSHYB coach registration process (Step 1 above), you will have access to this training under your profile in your SportsEngine account.

  • Once you click on “2025-26 Coach Membership” under “Memberships” in your SportsEngine profile, click on “Complete Certification” next to “Coaching Education Certification”
  • Before you can upload your completion certificate, click the link to access the training course via the Human Kinetics Coach Education website
  • Click on Coaching Youth Baseball the Babe Ruth League Way, add to cart and check out; the one-time cost to purchase this course is $19.95 and is payable directly to Human Kinetics via credit card
  • When prompted, create a Human Kinetics account
  • For Organization, choose “Babe Ruth League”; leave Sub-Organization blank
  • After checking out, return to the Human Kinetics home page and click “Access My Course/Test”
  • Take the training by clicking on “Course Materials”, referencing the E-Book as needed
  • After completing the training and passing the test, download and save your completion certificate, return to your 2025-26 Coach Membership in your SportsEngine account and upload your completion certificate by clicking on “Complete Certification” next to “Coaching Education Certification”

Additional Details on Completing the CDC’s HEADS UP to Youth Sports Coaches Online Concussion Training

The link to access this training is provided during MSHYB’s coaching registration process and is repeated here:  CDC HEADS UP Online Concussion Training

Once you click on “Take the Training”, you must create a CDC Train account to access the training. 

  • After creating the account, you will be asked to provide a more detailed group selection; choose “HEADS UP Concussion Training”
  • You will then receive an email confirming your email address
  • Return to the course, click the green “pre-assessment” button and complete your profile
  • Under Organization, enter “Millburn Short Hills Youth Baseball”
  • Under Department/Division enter “Coaching”
  • Under Title, enter “Volunteer Coach”
  • Under Professional Role, choose “Volunteer”
  • Under Work Settings, choose “Non-Profit Organization (Except Healthcare)”
  • Continue by clicking the green “pre-assessment” button again, complete the pre-assessment and take the course
  • After completing the course, exit the course to return to the course website
  • Click the green “post-assessment” button to complete the post-assessment quiz
  • Click the blue “certificate” button to download and save your completion certificate
  • Email the certificate as an attachment to coaching@mshyb.com