Career in Sports

Typical Job: Main categories are Athletes, Coaches, Judges. These include Outdoors Adventurer, Camping Guide, Hiking Guide, Extreme Sports Guide, Aerobics Instructor, Baseball Coach, Fitness Trainer, Football Coach, Soccer Coach, Softball Coach, Tennis Instructor

Typical Work
Sports are a large part of society at both the amateur and professional level. There are many career options available in the field of sports as an athlete, coach, judge/referee, coordinator, manager, owner, and instructors. Those who participate in sports as athletes will often perform in front of a crowd for entertainment purposes. This can be on a completely volunteer basis or as a professional receiving a salary. Many times being an athlete is a hobby as opposed to a career. Professional athletes can often make a very decent salary but the work is uncertain and the risk of career ending injury is great. Other careers in the field such as a coach or instructor require being able to teach an athlete skills and fundamentals of a sport. Umpires/Judges/referees make sure that athletes are playing by the rules in their particular sport. Coordinators are often employed by municipalities to coordinate the sporting activities for a sport program within a community. Managers typically work at the professional level and are in charge of hiring and firing athletes and coaches, they are also responsible for evaluating new talent and for determining wages for athletes.

Education and Training needed
Sports do not typically require a great deal of post secondary or higher education. There is a great deal of training involved for athletes, as they need to hone their skills in their field. Coaches and instructors must often attend training seminars and reach different levels of certification. Coordinators are usually educated in the fields of business or have a knowledge of the sport and how it operates. Managers at the professional level are typically retired athletes although many are also business majors with a sport background. For many athletes the opportunities to obtain higher education are there due to sport scholarships. Many universities in North America offer scholarships to outstanding individuals in the area of sports. These scholarships are an excellent way to pay for your post secondary education, even if you are not pursuing a professional career in your sport of choice.

Skills and Interests
For a career in sports, you will need to have an interest in one or more sporting activities. To pursue a professional career you will need either skills in a particular sport or be able to teach or instruct a sport to others. If you are participating in sports as a hobby a great deal of skill is not usually requires. Typically athletes are in good physical condition, are fast, good team players and dedicated. Coaches need to be good communicators, able to command respect and persistent. Managers need to be able to see talent or potential talent in an individual athlete so that they can make the proper decision about hiring the athlete.

Salary Range
The range of salaries in sports is huge. Many times those who participate in sports do so on a volunteer basis therefore they receive no salary. Professional athletes can make annual salaries of over four million dollars. The range given below covers this wide spectrum.

Athletes: $0.00 - $ 2,000,000

The highest paid athletes are in the sports of professional Soccer, Baseball and Golf.

This break down gives a better idea of actual salaries

Coaches and Scouts/Managers: $ 22, 000 - $ 150,000 (some Universities pay coaches over one million dollars per year)

Judges/Referees/Umpires: $15, 000 (mostly part time or for high school students) - $ 50,000 (some professional sports pay their officials a salary close to $100,000/year.)

Other career choices