NFR - future jobs in sport advice

[Adam87]

Hello,

Long time reader of the board and post occasionally and need some inspiration or guidance in a career change into the sporting world.
I am planning on going to university or going on courses as soon as possible, but cant decide which career direction i want to go in. 

I desperately want to become to study to become a full time coach or get into sports therapy, but from talking to a few people this is probably unrealistic or extremely difficult without having the right contacts.
There is a massive lack of qualified coaches in the country, at the top end anyway...uefa B coaches and above...


Found a very good list and wondering if anyone can point me in a certain direction.....


http://www.jobmonkey.com/sports/html/types_of_sports_jobs.html

If anyone has got any ideas or advice on what might be in demand or a good path to go down it would be very much welcome. This isn't a made decision, just trying to do as much research and information gathering as possible.

Thanks for any help

Adam

[Adam87]

Forgot to mention that psychology in sport and physiotherapy are the future growth areas but im struggling to find something on the active side as the chances are you will have to combine jobs. 

[MJG]

Coaching badges are one thing,  but if I was looking at a way in it would be on the business/commercial side or data/analytics which has only scratched the surface so far.
FPT took a badge last year so I would speak to him. He wanted to be a coach but I think he found it was not quite his thing... Sorry if I have that wrong mate.

[Adam87]

Yeah i agree is who you know, i think coaching would be a bit of a slog and you would have to set yourself apart from the competition to really get somewhere, do your qualifications at ajax or speak Spanish or french fluently to really get noticed at top level.

I think everything is who you know these days, especially as competition is becoming tougher and tougher every single year. I think the media, social networking area is sport is interesting, can only see that becoming bigger and bigger....many potential ideas there, though i do prefer not to sit behind a desk unless it really captivates me.

Just want to work within sport at the end of the day, i think it got to the point that if im going to do anything, i rather do something i am passionate about.

[Huxley]

If you want a foot into the sports leisure industry, there is a company in london called trytagrugby (essentially non contact rugby). They are hiring now. Not knowing your background, but it could be of interest. Check out their website of any interest. They are at a stage where they could expand very quickly. Massive in Ireland and Australia.

[leonffc]

Yeah i agree is who you know, i think coaching would be a bit of a slog and you would have to set yourself apart from the competition to really get somewhere, do your qualifications at ajax or speak Spanish or french fluently to really get noticed at top level.

I think everything is who you know these days, especially as competition is becoming tougher and tougher every single year. I think the media, social networking area is sport is interesting, can only see that becoming bigger and bigger....many potential ideas there, though i do prefer not to sit behind a desk unless it really captivates me.

Just want to work within sport at the end of the day, i think it got to the point that if im going to do anything, i rather do something i am passionate about.

I cant advise you what to do really but as said, coaching badges aren't the answer for a career really. A level 2 takes months to complete, then the UEFA B / L3 takes longer and costs a lot of money. The A licence is recommendation only and then it will cost you another fortune. The pro licence is a fair way off! By the time you get through your L2 and L3 coupled with the CPD hours you may even be bored of coaching or decide it wasn't for you.
After all that there isn't a lot of money involved unless you get lucky or you are bloody good at it but whatever you decide to do it wont harm your future career if you do your L2 and certainly the FA youth modules. The youth mod 3 is another path towards the UEFA B. They may well come in very handy in the future what ever path you take in sport because they cover learning windows and methods and growth issues which don't just occur in football!!

Look at local FA's and see what jobs they have. You may be surprised, but local FA's wont pay too well.
Other than that, the list you posted up covers a fair span.

[Adam87]

Thanks for the info Leon, i did a bit of research actually and what amazes me is that the opportunities and average salary in Germany is far higher than here. I think the average professional football coach is on £42,000 a year over there...compared to something near £20,000......hence why they have far more coaches over there. Whats the point of doing everything if there are no opportunities and the pay is quite low....no wonder we have any coaches over here....i think coaching is part time now, not really a career choice for young people these days.

I think physiotherapy is an area i might go down and Psychology, maybe try and combine the two in courses and training.

Thanks for the idea woolly mammoth, will have a look. If anyone pops by this thread that has any ideas feel free to chip in.