Clearances and Training

PFAA, like all organizations involved with youth, requires our coaches and volunteers who supervise children under 18 to submit the following documents to PFAA and Babe Ruth League.  Babe Ruth League (BRL) requires coaches/volunteers working with children to get a free coaching or volunteer membership.  The BRL coaching membership is good for one year and may require  you to submit information so they can run a seperate background and provide mandatory child abuse awareness training. The BRL background check and abuse awareness training are good for two years and cost $25. BRL also requires coaches complete a one time training course.

Required Documents You Must Obtain

To get the basic documents for both PFAA and BRL, click the link below.  Everyone needs a PA State Police Criminal History Clearance, and a PA Child Abuse History Clearance.  Both are free for volunteers and are valid for 5 years, so if you already have them and they are current you are good to submit them.  Please make sure to save these files, as you will need them in the future for Pine Forge AA and other activities you may wish to participate in with your children.

PLEASE NOTE: the PA State Police Criminal History report you initially receive MAY NOT BE the final report, it may just be acknowlogement that the request has been received and that you will need to go back later and check for the completed report.  The final report will either say "No Records found", or will list any convictions.  If it does not say that you will need to go back later to see if the request has been completed.

The third required document depends on your residency status.  If you have been a resident of PA continuously for the last 10 years, you need to provide PFAA and BRL a signed copy of the  "Disclosure Statement for Volunteers" document available a the bottom of the this link.  Otherwise you will need "Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Criminal History Clearance" which can be found near the top of the page, just below the links for the PA State Police Criminal History Clearance,and PA Child Abuse History Clearance links.  If you are asked for a "code" for the FBI background check use "1KG6ZJ"

https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dhs/resources/keep-kids-safe/child-abuse-clearances.html

Records Required by PFAA by Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law 

Once you have the three required documents, please email them to compliance@pineforge.org for PFAA records as required by Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law.

Required One Time Coaching Education

For the team roster to be accepted by BRL, all coaches must now show they have completed the BRL mandated Coach Certification. The Babe Ruth League Coach Certification can be found by clicking here.  This certificate is good for a lifetime, so make sure you save it in case you need it in the future.

Once you complete the BRL Coach Certification and receive you certificate you will need to upload the certificate to BRL.  You can do that as part of getting your coaching membership, or if you have already started that process you can follow the "Upload Your BRL Coach Certification" instructions bellow.

Once You Have Your Required Documents

Required BRL Coaching Membership

As part of getting your BRL Coaching Membership, BRL requires Abuse Awareness training every two years.

The BRL coaching membership is good for one year.   The membership requires that coaches have a current BRL background check and a current Certificate of Completion for their "Abuse Awareness Training" program.  The background check and "Abuse Awareness Training" are valid for two years and cost $25 for both.  The background check can take about 7 business days,  the "Abuse Awareness Training" course is consists of several short videos, total time is about an hour, followed by a 25 question quiz.  The couse can be taken immediately.

 Go to https://memberships.sportsengine.com/org/babe-ruth-league/affiliation/pine-forge-athletic-association-brl to start the BRL Coaching Membership process.  They will start the background check and "Abuse Awareness Training" if you are not current.  If you have just completed the BRL Coach Certification and received you certificate, you will also need to upload your certificate.

To Check Membership Status or Complete A Requirement

Go to www.pineforge.org, login if needed, click on the blue circle in the upper right corner of the window with your initials or profile photo (circled in red in the image below).

The click on the "View my account" link, you can see the link below your name (Tester McBlane in the image above).  When the account window comes up select the "Memberships" link in the left side bar (Step 1 in the image below). When your memberships pop up click in the "2024-2025 Coach Membership" link circled and identified by Step 2 in the image below.

This will give you access to the current state of your coach membership.  As you can see, Tester McBlane,  has a lot of work to do to complete his application.  Each requirement can be satisfied by clicking on the link to the right of the requirement.

Example: Uploading  BRL Coach Certification

To add your BRL Coach Certification certificate click on the "COMPLETE REQUIREMENT" link (circled in red in the image below) this will walk you through the process to upload your certificate.