• Football coaches can join national associations to share ideas.football image by sonya etchison from Fotolia.com
  
  Football coaches consider themselves part of a tight fraternity. Most enjoy bouncing strategy and training ideas off one another, while maintaining a cordial relationship off the field. Nearly every state has a football coaches association. A handful of national associations also work to advance ideas, recognize achievement and keep some of the sport’s history alive.
  
  

American Football Coaches Association

• The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) has grown from 43 coaches at its first meeting on Dec. 27, 1921, to 10,000 members in 2010, according to the AFCA website. In addition to having 90 percent of all American college football coaches as members, it also includes coaches from Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan and Mexico. The association works to reduce football injuries and it has a Code of Ethics its members must adhere to. Additionally, the AFCA partners with “USA Today” to pick the national college football champion and it sponsors awards like a Coach of the Year Award and All-America Teams.
  
  

Youth Football Coaches Association

• The Youth Football Coaches Association (YFBCA) welcomes coaches at the developmental level of football. The youth leagues included Pop Warner, American Youth Football, Police Activities League and local park and recreation department leagues from across the country. Veteran football coach Joe Bouffard, who is based in Connecticut, founded the league with the purpose of putting youth football resources, articles and instructional videos in one spot. The association’s website includes access to online coaching clinics and a range of articles and videos. Additionally, the YFBCA offers a coaching certification, which includes a criminal background check and on online football knowledge test.
  
  

National Single Wing Coaches Association

• The single wing offense was a popular formation invented by legendary coach Glenn “Pop” Warner in 1906 that used a quarterback, fullback, tailback and wingback in the backfield. It used different variations but the one constant was the snap would go directly to the runner and not always the quarterback. Legendary athlete Jim Thorpe played in the offense when Warner coached him at Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Today, some high school football teams still use a single wing, but it’s extinct in the NFL and in major college football. The National Single Wing Coaches Association works to keep alive the offense’s memory, which was considered revolutionary at the time. Every summer, the association has a symposium that has speakers and clinics on the single wing. Their website has historic playbooks available for free downloading.