Greetings USA Hockey Coaches: The safety and wellbeing of our 60,000 registered coaches is the top priority of USA Hockey’s Coaching Education Program. As the coronavirus pandemic continues on into the summer, we have decided to extend the registration of the temporary coaching card until Dec. 31, 2020. Please remember that if you sign up for a temporary card you do not have to register for a virtual coaching clinic. Coaches who do both will not be eligible for a refund. Click here to register for the temporary card online or download the form that you will need to complete and submit to the USA Hockey national office. In addition, as part of our continuing efforts to improve educational opportunities for all registered coaches, USA Hockey’s board of directors recently approved legislation designed to expand the guidelines for the Coaching Education Program. The new criteria takes affect starting with the 2021-22 season. The biggest change is that all coaching clinics, from Level 1 to Level 4 will be one-day events and will cost one standard fee ($50). Each year a coach will be required to advance their level of certification by attending a clinic that corresponds with their next level of certification, such as a Level 1 coach this year must complete his or her Level 2 certification next season, and so on until they achieve Level 4 certification. After that, coaches will be required to earn five continuing education credits over the next three years. Credits will be earned through a variety of educational opportunities that will be clarified at a later date. Coaches who complete their Level 4 certification before the start of the 2021-22 season and are not coaching a Tier I or Tier II team will be grandfathered in and will not have to take additional courses unless they choose to. In the meantime, we hope that you and your family are staying healthy and safe and following the prescribed guidelines set forth by state, local and national healthcare agencies. It will take a team effort to defeat the coronavirus so we can all return to the ice in a safe and timely manner. Yours in hockey. USA Hockey’s Coaching Education Program