Careers to Consider if You’re Passionate About Sports
If you are passionate about sports, there are several sports industry career options that you may find rewarding and lucrative. Whether you want a career where you can take part in playing sports, work directly with athletes or work in a role where you get to visit the latest sporting events, there are several amazing career options to consider that can be the best choice for anybody who has a keen interest in sports and wants to make it a bigger part of their lives. If you want to create a successful career in sports for yourself, it is not always necessary to be a top sports player – there are many different roles to consider depending on your skills and career goals, with something available that is ideal for every type of sports fan.
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist is a professional who works with athletes who have suffered an injury or are recovering from surgery. They are typically responsible for examining the athlete to see the extent of the injuries before developing a rehabilitation plan that is designed specifically for the player to put them in with the best chance of regaining full use of their joints and muscles so that they can return to the game. They’re responsible for working with athletes to help them make the most of their physical form to prevent additional injuries and reduce pain as they get back to playing sports. Physical therapists also often work closely with physicians, trainers and coaches.
Athletic Director
An athletic director is a professional who is responsible for managing the athletic department of a school or college. They are in charge of managing the day-to-day operations of the department and are responsible for a wide range of roles. They set budgets, hire and train employees, and arrange travel for teams and coaches. The athletic director is also responsible for handling public relations for the athletics department to ensure that it maintains a positive image. An athletic director is usually somebody who has a very strong skill-set of leadership, decision-making and communication skills. To work in this role, you will typically be required to gain a master’s degree in a relevant subject such as sports management.
Sports Journalist
Sports journalists focus on reporting sports news and can work in a range of different journalism areas including print and online media. With a sports journalism degree from SBU Online, you can work in this position where your job will mainly be focused on following athletes and sports teams, attending or watching sporting events and reporting the results in real-time. Sports journalists and editors are responsible for reporting on the happenings and results of a sporting event to the general public, and without them it would be a lot harder for people to get the latest news on their favorite or the biggest sporting events. Sports journalists work for a wide range of different media types including traditional newspapers, online news and sports websites, TV and radio channels, magazines and more. The role often involves performing extensive research into teams and players, conducting interviews and more. Sports journalists can choose to report on several different sports or just focus on one.
Sports Reporter
This is a similar role to sports journalism; like journalists, sports reporters are responsible for making sure that fans are provided with the latest news on their favorite games, athletes, leagues, teams and events. However, sports reporters will usually exclusively work in broadcast media, which is focused on providing this information through a range of broadcast channels including television and radio networks. Sports reporters often tend to be people who are extremely knowledgeable about the sport that they are reporting on. They provide in-depth commentary and analyze athlete and team performance in real-time.
Sports Team General Manager
In the sports team environment, a general manager is somebody who is responsible for overseeing all the employees hired by the team and handling the administrative tasks for the team that they manage. They come up with strategic plans to contract or draft new athletes for the team and are responsible for developing and managing the team budget. They are often the main individual responsible for negotiating contracts with sports players and agents, and provide advice regarding the promotion of players. General managers will often be found working in a wide range of sports team environments including in a range of sports such as baseball, football, soccer, basketball and hockey.
Personal Trainer
Personal trainers are responsible for training the athletes and guiding them through the routines and workouts that are necessary to keep themselves in the best possible shape so that they can continue to play their sport to the best of their ability. Personal trainers work together with coaches and athletes. They are responsible for working with the athlete to determine their fitness goals and develop a personalized exercise and workout routine to help them ensure that these goals are met. Personal trainers will usually work with individual athletes or teams of athletes, and often start small and work their way up to training more and more elite athletes.
Sports Marketer
Sports marketers are responsible for promoting the players, leagues, teams, sporting events and sporting stadiums. The role is less focused on the actual sport itself but more about encouraging people to take an interest, purchase merch and of course buy tickets to the game. Today this role is often mainly about conducting market research and gathering data that is then used to put together ideas and strategies that are designed to increase awareness and interest in the game, player, team, event or sports venue. Sports marketers often need to be very creative people since thinking outside of the box is often essential to ensure that marketing goals are met. To promote games, events, players, teams, leagues, venues and more, sports marketers will often use a range of different media outlets including newspapers, TV, radio, websites, social media, and magazines. They will often work closely with sports reporters and journalists. To get into this role, you will usually need a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in marketing or a related subject.
Football Coach
Football coaches play an important role in helping players develop their athletic skills and achieve peak performance. Coaches are required at every level of football and are responsible for developing a training schedule and advising players regarding the best practice methods for them. Football coaches are often people who are very passionate about the sport and are able to build a good relationship with the players so that they can teach and help them develop the skills that they need to get even better at their sport. They are responsible for regularly assessing the mental and physical wellbeing of athletes to ensure that they are able to get the support that they need as soon as possible. Most of the time, football coaches are people who are already experienced football players. They may have often retired from playing. To work in this role, you may need to gain a bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject such as sports science or athletic coaching.
Basketball Coach
Like football coaches, basketball coaches are responsible for overseeing basketball team practice sessions and games. They monitor the progress of the players, supervise workout routines and measure successes. They are responsible for providing advice and support to the players when needed and work with their players to facilitate consistent improvement. They are also responsible for building strong relationships with the players and working together with them to set goals and provide encouragement and motivation. Like football coaches, many basketball players are professional players themselves and can be found working with basketball teams at every level. Basketball coaches come from a range of educational backgrounds. A degree in sports science, physical education or athletic coaching can help you get into this role.
Baseball Coach
Baseball coaches are responsible for keeping baseball teams and individual players motivated to get the best results from their game by performing at their best. They oversee practice sessions and work closely with the players to put together and help them work towards goals for improving their performance and fitness. Like coaches in other sports, they are responsible for building strong relationships with the players, providing advice and support and monitoring the physical and emotional health of players to ensure that the right help is provided when needed. A baseball coach is also responsible for coming up with strategies and making the final decisions when it comes to which baseball players will be selected for upcoming competitions.
Sports Psychologist
If you’re interested in working with sports players and athletes on a more personal level and want to spend your time finding out more about them as individuals and what makes them tick as people, working as a sports psychologist might be ideal for you. A sports psychologist is a mental health professional with a specialist in athletes and sports players. They work directly with athletes to talk about their concerns and mental wellbeing and provide advice and support to help them perform at their based by dealing with issues such as anxiety. Playing sports can often be mentally as well as physically draining, and sports psychologists will often work closely with athletes to help them overcome issues that they might face after losing a game, such as the fear of failure. They can also be helpful when players are fearful about returning to the game after suffering an injury, developing programs of treatments and therapies to support athletes through rehabilitation or simply improve their mental health in general. To work as a sports psychologist, you will need to gain a doctorate in psychology.
Umpire
Working as an umpire involves monitoring baseball games and making sure that the rules and regulations are correctly applied to the game. A successful umpire needs to be an individual who is an expert in baseball rules. To be successful in this role, they also need to be a very observant person who is able to quickly and correctly identify when players have broken rules. Umpires are also responsible for deciding on the penalty that will be issued to a player that has broken the rules. Some umpires will work for just one baseball team, while others travel to different games by different teams to monitor the game and enforce the rules. Anyone with a keen interest in baseball can become an umpire in non-professional games. However, a niche education is required for umpires who want to work in Major League Baseball. Specialist umpire schools are available for training in Florida.
Athletic Scout
If you are skilled at spotting a good performance and want to play a part in choosing the future famous players in a certain sport, working as an athletic scout might be an ideal choice of career for you. An athletic scout is somebody who is responsible for closely monitoring and identifying any amateur athletes who have the potential to be successful in professional sports. Athletic scouts work on behalf of professional teams or colleges to look for players to ideally bring over to the team. Their job involves spending time observing athletes training, working out and playing in games and competitions to find the individuals with the most promise who can bring a lot to their team. An athletic scout needs to be somebody who is very passionate about sports as, to do this job well, they will need to stay up to date with the latest in sporting news and trends. They are often found working together with coaches to find out more about the athletes and players with the most promise to make sure that they are making the correct decisions when it comes to who they choose. Most athletic scouts are people with an expert knowledge of their chosen game; they are often previous professional players or coaches to professional teams. For those who love sports, this industry provides a wide range of opportunities for exciting and lucrative career choices.
