All-Sports Seeks to Modernize Coaching Certification Process

The directors of Fair Lawn All-Sports, the borough's youth sports association, are hoping to do away with the organization's current requirement that all coaches be certified annually, and instead transition to a one-time certification administered through Rutgers University.

All-Sports president Jeff Mazzola and former president Don Oliver presented the organization's plan to council on May 1, touting the move to the Rutgers S.A.F.E.T.Y Clinic as a cost-saver to the organization that would protect the borough from lawsuits.

Mazzola said Rutgers certification had become the gold standard for surrounding communities and that it also offered volunteer athletic coaches civil immunity from lawsuits.

"What we’re really looking for is the leeway to follow what the other towns are doing and have really what amounts to a better, more protective environment for us and for the municipality," said Mazzola, pitching council on making the certification switch.

It's unclear whether the coaching certification All-Sports currently conducts offers legal protection.

"We’re not sure what we’re doing right now is the right way to go as far as holding up in court," Oliver told council. "The Rutgers [certification] takes that gray area right out of it."

Mazzola said that after coaches go through one three-hour Rutgers certification class, it's good for life and does not need to be renewed. The $30 cost per coaching certification will be picked up by All-Sports, Mazzola said, which he added also pays for an FBI background check on all of its coaches once every three years.

Throughout the season, All-Sports coaches who have received Rutgers certification will attend regular meetings to have the lessons reinforced.

Councilwoman Lisa Swain, a former volunteer All-Sports coach, said she was very supportive of the certification switch.

"When I was a coach and I had to go through that, there really was some confusion about what Fair Lawn was doing compared to what other towns were doing," she said. "When you talked to parents from other towns and they were doing this Rutgers program and Fair Lawn wasn’t you kind of have this feeling about, well are we doing the best?"

Pending confirmation from Fair Lawn's risk manager that the switch won't have any adverse impact on the borough, council unanimously agreed to permit All-Sports to move forward with modernizing the certification process for its coaching ranks.

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